NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
China’s military is increasing its provocative military activities in the Indo-Pacific, as seen in several recent aircraft and maritime incidents involving key regional U.S. allies Japan, Philippines and Australia.
On Feb. 11, a Chinese air force J-16 jet fighter dropped flares within 90 feet of an Australian air force P-8 maritime patrol aircraft flying over the South China Sea. The Australian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the government protested the incident with the People’s Liberation Army air force fighter.
“The PLA-AF aircraft released flares in close proximity to the RAAF P-8A aircraft,” the ministry said Feb. 13. “This was an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver that posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel.”
The action violated the Australian jet’s operation which is permitted under international law and freedom of navigation provisions.
The same day, the ministry also announced that a Chinese naval task force was spotted operating close to the northern Australian coast.
The task force included a Jiangkai-class frigate, Renhai cruiser and Fuchi-class replenishment ship.
In the nearby South China Sea, the Philippines government on Tuesday criticized the Chinese military regarding another incident between a PLA helicopter that flew dangerously close to a Philippines government aircraft flying over the South China Sea.
“We condemn the dangerous maneuvers by a PLA Navy helicopter that endangered pilots and passengers on a Philippine air mission,” U.S. Ambassador to Philippines MaryKay L. Carlson said in a post on X a short time after that incident. “We call on China to refrain from coercive actions and to settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.”
The Manila government said it was “deeply disturbed” by what it called the PLA’s “unprofessional and reckless” helicopter action.
The Philippine Coast Guard said the Chinese helicopter flew within 10 feet of a surveillance flight carrying a group of journalists.
The aircraft belongs to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and was flying over the disputed Scarborough Shoal to observe Chinese vessels around the shoal that is claimed by both China and Philippines.
“You are flying too close. You are very dangerous and endangering the lives of our crew and passengers,” the Philippine pilot told the Chinese navy helicopter by radio, according to the Associated Press, which had a reporter on the aircraft. “Keep away and distance your aircraft from us, you are violating the safety standard set by FAA and ICAO.”
Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo told the Financial Times later that the Chinese military was acting in a “reckless” and “unprofessional” manner.
A week ago and further north around Japan’s Senkaku islands, a Japanese coast guard vessel engaged in a tense standoff with a Chinese maritime militia vessel in the East China Sea that resulted in a ramming incident. The encounter Feb. 12 prompted a formal protest to Beijing from the Tokyo government.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters the Chinese intrusion was “unacceptable” and “a violation of international law.” Mr. Hayashi said Japan’s military would respond to the four Chinese ships that entered Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkakus.
According to reports from the region, one of the Chinese vessels deliberately collided with a Japanese coast guard ship after the ship warned the Chinese vessel to leave the area. The incident was shown on video posted on X.
Australian China expert Malcolm Davis said China’s military recently softened its approach to the United States, but “continues to target the militaries of smaller countries exercising freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.”
“China engages in dangerous intimidation and invariably blames the other party,” said Mr. Davis, with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Beijing weighs in on Pentagon nominee
China’s Foreign Ministry this week weighed in on the controversy surrounding Elbridge Colby, President Trump’s pick for the key post of undersecretary of defense for policy.
Several Senate Republicans are said to be expressing concerns about Mr. Colby’s past statements on Taiwan that appear less supportive of the self-ruled island nation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun was asked by a reporter on Wednesday about a recent article written by presidential son Donald Trump Jr. supporting Mr. Colby’s nomination and stating that the nominee favors “a balance of power in Asia that avoids war.”
“We stand ready to work with the U.S. to address each other’s concerns through dialogue and consultation under the principle of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,” Mr. Guo said. “We hope the U.S. will work with China in the same direction, jointly implement the important common understandings between the two presidents, and promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of the bilateral relations.”
Donald Trump Jr. stated in the article in Human Events that Mr. Colby is a needed “realist” who wants to avoid “poking the dragon in the eye unnecessarily.”
Mr. Colby, who must pass Senate confirmation, has said he favors a policy of detente with China and opposes seeking regime change or the ouster of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. A similar policy of detente with the Soviet Union came under fire from conservatives during the Cold War, who said it perpetuated the communist regime in Moscow and its control over satellites in Europe.
Detente was abandoned by President Reagan when he came to the White House in 1981. Reagan’s national security adviser, Richard Allen, recalled Reagan telling him in January 1977: “My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, and some would say simplistic. It is this: We win and they lose.”
Opponents of Mr. Colby’s detente-oriented approach say a more aggressive policy toward Beijing is needed.
China preparing South China Sea for nuclear missile subs
China is building an underwater research station in the South China Sea that analysts say will operate as both a navy anti-submarine warfare facility and a research station. The facility will be built some 6,500 feet below the surface of the sea, according to a report from the Chinese Academy of Sciences South China Sea Institute of Oceanography.
Construction is slated to begin in the near future with the goal of becoming operational around 2030.
The underwater station will conduct joint work with unmanned submersibles, surface vessels and seabed observatories, with the reported goal of creating a “four-dimensional” monitoring network.
The South China Morning Post reported that the station will host six scientists for up to a month at a time to study unique life forms near hydrothermal underwater vents. For a power source, the station could use a nuclear reactor.
Intelligence analysts suspect the covert military mission of the station will be to create an undersea “Great Wall” of sensors and systems to look for foreign submarines in the South China Sea.
The northern part of the South China Sea near Hainan Island is a known base for China’s growing fleet of nuclear missile submarines.
The station will play a key role in anti-submarine warfare efforts, seeking out foreign submarines and creating a secure “bastion” in the sea for nuclear strikes.
China has deployed six Type 094 Jin-class nuclear missile submarines, at least three of which have been spotted in satellite images at a submarine base on the southern tip of Hainan Island. The submarines are armed with new JL-3 submarine-launched ballistic missiles that the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency estimates will be armed with multiple warheads.
“The purpose of those SSBNs is to put India and the west coast of America at risk from nuclear strike,” said an intelligence source.
The DIA said in a report last year that China’s new Jin submarines allow “China to range [the continental United States] from protected bastion areas such as the South China Sea.”
China denounces U.S. change of wording on Taiwan
China is accusing the U.S. government of going back on past agreements regarding Taiwan after the State Department dropped a reference explicitly stating that the U.S. does not support Taiwan independence from an online fact sheet.
The fact sheet dated Feb. 13, “U.S. Relations with Taiwan,” changed the content by removing the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” and adding that the U.S. will support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations where applicable.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry criticized the altered wording. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the fact sheet “gravely backpedaled” on the U.S. position on Taiwan.
“This is another example of the U.S. clinging to its wrong policy of ‘using Taiwan to contain China,’” he said, urging the Trump administration to correct the policy.
Beijing wants Washington to stop helping Taiwan expand its international presence and to stop supporting Taiwan independence to “avoid further severe damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Mr. Guo said.
In Taipei, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung had expressed gratitude to the State Department for reaffirming support for Taiwan through “positive, Taiwan-friendly wordings.”
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.