Japan-China COLD WAR / Senkaku ‘choke points’ to check China’s Pacific advance
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Yomiuri ShimbunThis is the fifth installment in a series on the worsening relations between Japan andChina.
In October last year, about one month before China established an air defenseidentification zone (ADIZ) in the East ChinaSea, the People’s Liberation Army Navy carried out a large-scale military drill called Maneuver-5 on the high seas about 700 kilometers south of Okinawa Island.
All three major fleets of the PLA Navy—theNorth Sea Fleet, East Sea Fleet and South Sea Fleet—participated in the drill, which was one of the largest naval exercises China had ever performed in the Pacific Ocean.
The PLA Navy has demonstrated “the unswerving will and determination of the PLAN to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and maritime interests,” Rear Adm. Liao Shining, the navy’s deputy chief of staff, said proudly.
China has adopted an anti-access/area denial (A2AD) strategy, with which it aims to prevent U.S. forces from coming close to the mainland.
The strategy is designed to stop U.S. forces at the defense line, dubbed the “second island chain,” which stretches from the Izu Islands to Guam (anti-access), and refuse the entry of U.S. forces to the area between the “first island chain,” which extends from Kyushu to the Philippines, and the Chinese mainland (area denial).
The primary focus of the strategy is to prevent direct attacks on Beijing by keeping the U.S. forces’ powerful strike capabilities, including those of aircraft carriers, at a distance from the mainland.
In addition, if Chinese nuclear-powered submarines can freely enter the Pacific Ocean, China will be able to attack the U.S. mainland, giving it a major advantage in negotiations with theUnited States.
“The ultimate goal of the Maneuver-5 exercise was to secure naval supremacy in the northwestern Pacific. The maximum range of U.S. cruise missiles is 3,000 kilometers. The sea area where Maneuver-5 was conducted matches the area including points where the U.S. forces are assumed to fire cruise missiles at Beijing [if the United States has to attack Beijing],” said Keiichi Kawanaka, former associate professor at the National Defense Academy.
However, there are two major hurdles that the Chinese Navy must overcome to move around freely in the western Pacific.
One is to establish “air superiority” to a degree where Chinese battleships would not be attacked by U.S. fighter jets. During the period of the Maneuver-5, Chinese Y-8 airborne early warningaircraft and H-6 bombers participated in the drill, passing over the high seas between Okinawa Island and Miyakojima island of Okinawa Prefecture daily.
Such moves by Chinese military aircraft into the airspace over the Pacific have been conspicuous since last summer.
Setting up the ADIZ in the East China Sea is the first step to securing air superiority, some experts say.
“China deepened its confidence over air command in an airspace distant from the mainland during the Maneuver-5. This became a strong motive for the country’s setting-up of the ADIZ,” Kawanaka said in his analysis.
Another hurdle is to secure safe passage in the Nansei Islands, including the Senkaku Islands.
At a symposium hosted by a U.S. Navy-related organization on Jan. 16 in a Washington suburb, retired Vice Adm. Yoji Koda, former commander in chief of the Self-Defense Fleet of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, emphasized, “From China’s A2AD strategy point of view, Japan’s Nansei Islands constitute to be ‘hard choke points’ against the PLA forces’ advancement into the Western Pacific in trying to realize the strategy.”
He said in the same context, “Stable and firm control of these ‘choke points’ will surely be one of most important roles and missions of Japan and the SDF under the Japan-U.S. alliance to counter and suppress China’s challenge to realize the A2AD strategy.”
If Japan steadily defends the Nansei Islands, continuing to allow the SDF to be deployed at any time, Chinese military vessels will be unable to easily venture out to the Pacific, as they fear attacks, including those using antiship missiles. For such military strategy-based reasons, China has been adamant about changing the status quo of Japan’s effective control over the Senkaku Islands.
China eager to develop, deploy
China has been eagerly advancing the development and deployment of weapons and equipment needed to realize A2AD.
Preliminary stage deployment of the antiship ballistic missile Dong Feng (DF)-21D has already begun, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
The PLA Air Force is reportedly developing next-generation stealth fighters J-20 and J-31, with a timetable for practical deployment seen within several years. There were reports last year that there had been a test flight of the stealth combat drone Ligian (Sharp Sword). China has been hastily developing unmanned vehicles, it was also reported.
The PLA Navy has been moving forward with the deployment of its first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier, a version of the Aegis destroyer known as Chengdu, as well as submarines. The Chengdu is seen as an important part of an aircraft carrier battle group.
Chinese military forces are also equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), a Chinese own version of the Global Positioning System (GPS), designed to improve the precision of missiles and operate drones.
The BDS already covers almost all of Asia, the western Pacific Ocean and Australia. Employing fishing boats equipped with the BDS, the Chinese military has been gathering intelligence on foreign naval vessels and aircraft.
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