Den neste kampen kan bli mot Kina. Det må Norge ta konsekvensen av,
skriver Sten Inge Jørgensen.
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«Nå som verden rystes av krig, og Kina står skulder ved skulder med aggressoren, ser vi tydeligere hvilket stoff det kinesiske regimet er laget av.» Les mer … Xi Jinping lyver - Sier Kina ikke har fortifisert ulovlige øyer - P-8 Poseidon tokt beviser det motsatte - Associated Press ombord i flyet OVER
THE SOUTH CHINA SEA (AP) — China has fully militarized at least three of
several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with
anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and
fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations
operating nearby, a top U.S. military commander said Sunday. U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Adm. John C.
Aquilino said the hostile actions were in stark contrast to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s past assurances that Beijing would not transform the artificial islands in contested
waters into military bases. The efforts were part of China’s flexing its military
muscle, he said. “I think over the past 20 years we’ve
witnessed the largest military buildup since World War II by the PRC,” Aquilino
told The Associated Press in an interview, using the initials of China’s formal
name. “They have advanced all their capabilities and that buildup of
weaponization is destabilizing to the region.” There
were no immediate comments from Chinese officials. Beijing maintains its
military profile is purely defensive, arranged to protect what it says are its
sovereign rights. But after years of increased military spending, China now boasts the world’s second-largest defense budget after the
U.S. and is rapidly modernizing its force with weapons systems including the
J-20 stealth fighter, hypersonic missiles and two aircraft carriers, with a
third under construction. Aquilino
spoke with the AP onboard a U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft that flew near
Chinese-held outposts in the South China Sea’s Spratly archipelago, one of the most hotly contested regions in the world. During the patrol, the P-8A Poseidon plane was
repeatedly warned by Chinese callers that it illegally entered what they said
was China’s territory and ordered the plane to move away. “China has sovereignty over the Spratly
islands, as well as surrounding maritime areas. Stay away immediately to avoid
misjudgment,” one of the stern radio messages said in a veiled threat. But the U.S. Navy plane dismissed the
multiple warnings and pressed on defiantly with its reconnaissance in brief but
tense moments witnessed by two AP journalists invited onboard. “I am a sovereign
immune United States naval aircraft conducting lawful military activities
beyond the national airspace of any coastal state,” a U.S. pilot radioed back
to the Chinese. “Exercising these rights is guaranteed
by international law and I am operating with due regard to the rights and
duties of all states,” he said. Navy
commanding officer Joel Martinez, who led the P-8A Poseidon’s crew, said there
has been an incident when a Chinese jet flew close to a U.S. aircraft in a
dangerous maneuver in the disputed region. The U.S. flight crew calmly reminded
the Chinese to comply with aviation safety regulations, he said. As the P-8A Poseidon flew as low as
15,000 feet (4,500 meters) near the Chinese-occupied reefs, some appeared to be
like small cities on screen monitors, with multi-story buildings, warehouses,
hangars, seaports, runways and white round structures Aquilino said were
radars. Near Fiery Cross, more than 40 unspecified vessels could be seen
apparently anchored. Aquilino said the construction of
missile arsenals, aircraft hangars, radar systems and other military facilities
on Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Fiery Cross appeared to have been completed but
it remains to be seen if China will pursue the construction of military
infrastructure in other areas. “The function of those islands is to
expand the offensive capability of the PRC beyond their continental shores,” he
said. “They can fly fighters, bombers plus all those offensive capabilities of
missile systems.” He said any military and civilian plane
flying over the disputed waterway could easily get within range of the Chinese
islands’ missile system. “So that’s the threat that exists,
that’s why it’s so concerning for the militarization of these islands,” he
said. “They threaten all nations who operate in the vicinity and all the
international sea and airspace.” China sought to shore up its vast
territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea by building island
bases on coral atolls nearly a decade ago. The U.S. responded by sending its
warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operation missions. The
United States has no claims itself but has deployed Navy ships and aircraft for
decades to patrol and promote free navigation in international waterway and
airspace. China routinely objects to any action by
the U.S. military in the region. The other parties — the Philippines, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei — claim all or part of the sea, through which
approximately $5 trillion in goods are shipped every year. Despite China’s aggression, the
long-simmering territorial conflicts should only be resolved peacefully,
Aquilino said, and cited the Philippine government’s successful move to bring
its disputes with China to international arbitration in 2013 as a good
template. A U.N.-backed arbitration tribunal that
handled the case invalidated China’s sweeping historical claims in the South
China Sea under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. Beijing dismissed
the ruling as sham and continues to defy it. Washington’s main objective in the
disputed region is “to prevent war” through deterrence and promote peace and
stability, including by engaging American allies and partners in projects with
that objective, Aquilino said.
“Should deterrence fail, my second
mission is to be prepared to fight and win,” said Aquilino, who leads the
largest U.S. combatant command with 380,000 military and civilian personnel
covering 36 nations and territories. The war in Ukraine will determine how China sees the worldAnd how threatening it becomes
Mar 19th 2022 Each day brings new horrors to Ukraine, where Russian artillery fire echoes like thunder across cities and towns. The metropolis of Kharkiv lies in ruins, victim of two weeks of bombardment. Mariupol, on the coast, has been destroyed.
It is too soon to know if a winner will emerge from the fighting. But, on the other side of the planet, the world’s emerging superpower is weighing its options. Some argue that China will build on a pre-war friendship with Russia that knows “no limits”, to create an axis of autocracy. Others counter that America can shame China into breaking with Russia, isolating Vladimir Putin, its president. Our reporting suggests that neither scenario is likely. The deepening of ties with Russia will be guided by cautious self-interest, as China exploits the war in Ukraine to hasten what it sees as America’s inevitable decline. The focus at all times is its own dream of establishing an alternative to the Western, liberal world order. |
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