China sends missiles to contested South China Sea island
3 replies, posted
Morning all, ready for some news?
[quote]Beijing accused of increasing tensions in disputed area as satellite images appear to show missile batteries on Woody Island, part of the Paracels chain[/quote]
[img]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03527/china-1_3527100b.jpg[/img]
[quote]China has deployed anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island in a major escalation of tensions with the United States over the world’s most lucrative shipping lanes.
Taiwan’s defence ministry told The Telegraph that it has confirmed the existence of the missiles on an island in the Paracel chain that are occupied by Beijing but also claimed by Taipei and Vietnam.
Commercial satellite photographs obtained by Fox News appeared to show that Beijing has placed two batteries of eight missile launchers with a reported distance of 125 miles and radar-targeting equipment on Woody island.
A US official later told the New York Times that the Pentagon also has “evidence”, believed to be satellite imagery, that the Chinese military has deployed surface-to-air missiles on the island.
China later appeared to defended the installation at a regular media briefing. Hong Lei, a foreign ministry spokesman, said that while he was not aware of the specifics of a missile deployment, any armaments would be used for defence and were not part of a military build-up.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi dodged questions when asked about the reports at a press conference, criticising the Western media for the “creation” of news stories.[/quote]
[img]http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/MobileSwitcher/v2/images/1214-14326646251470695055.png[/img]
[quote]President Xi Jinping has previously pledged not to “militarise” the region. But the missiles represented a significant new stage in Beijing’s claim on the 1.35 million-square-mile waters through which ships carrying $5 trillion of international trade pass each year.
The reports of the deployment pose a fresh challenge from Beijing to Barack Obama who had struck a defiant tone over the South China Seas just a few hours earlier at the end of a summit with leaders of South East Asian nations.
To Beijing’s fury, the US has sent Navy ships and Air Force planes on patrols across the waterways recently in a signal that it does not recognise China’s claim.
“The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” Mr Obama said in California before the news of the missiles emerged.
He called for “tangible steps to lower tensions including a halt to further reclamation, new construction and militarisation of disputed areas”.[/quote]
Read more: [url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/12160782/China-missile-island-south-sea-Paracel.html[/url]
It's 8pm here, and what a bugger. Let's hope the Chinese don't bring out their Anti-ship missiles.
Also, today marks the 37th anniversary of the Sino-Vietnam conflict of 1979, which is almost as forgotten and censored as the Tienanmen incident, to the point where all traces of it were removed from our textbooks and monuments.
[QUOTE=alexglitch;49758767]It's 8pm here, and what a bugger. Let's hope the Chinese don't bring out their Anti-ship missiles.
Also, today marks the 37th anniversary of the Sino-Vietnam conflict of 1979, which is almost as forgotten and censored as the Tienanmen incident, to the point where all traces of it were removed from our textbooks and monuments.[/QUOTE]
Rest in piece to your dead countrymen.
I hear from my Chinese lecturer that Vietnam is emerging to become one of the Asian Tiger cubs in the near future, and that your country is beginning to flourish economically a lot better, which is great news!
[QUOTE=Cypher_09;49758575][IMG]http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/MobileSwitcher/v2/images/1214-14326646251470695055.png[/IMG][/quote]
Here's another pic showing what UNCLOS says each country's EEZ is.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/UiVCfGp.png[/IMG]
China's claims seem the most dickish, but seems like every country involved is making ludicrous claims.
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