U.S. carrier sails in disputed sea as China shows own force
A U.S. aircraft carrier is sailing through the disputed South China Sea in the latest display of America’s military might after China built a string of islands with military facilities in the strategic sea it claims almost in its entirety.
The U.S. Navy flew a small group of Philippine generals, officials and journalists on April 10 to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, where fighter jets landed and took off by catapult with thunderous blasts.
Recent U.S. deployments of aircraft carriers, backed by destroyers, to the disputed waters for freedom of navigation challenges to Beijing’s territorial claims are reassuring allies but also sparking concerns with China’s own show of force in the busy waterway. AP
China defends South China Sea military buildup
China is entitled to strengthen its defenses on islands in the disputed South China Sea but those measures aren’t directed at any specific countries, a defense ministry spokesman said April 10, amid the latest surge in tensions in the crucial waterway.
China’s military deployments are “the natural right of a sovereign nation that helps safeguard national sovereignty and security,” Ren Guoqiang said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.
They also help protect navigation safety, “serve to ensure regional peace and stability and are not directed at any country,” Ren said.
Ren gave no details, although his statement was a reply to a question about whether China’s deployments were a response to missions by the U.S. Navy to challenge Beijing’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.
That followed the U.S. Navy’s dispatching of three aircraft carriers to the South China Sea and a report in the Wall Street Journal newspaper on April 9 that China has installed military jamming devices on two islands in the area.
China’s military buildup has focused on several islands in the Paracel group and seven that it built atop reefs in the highly contested Spratly group, topping them with airstrips, barracks and other defense infrastructure.
China has also reportedly been holding large-scale naval exercises in the area featuring its sole operating aircraft carrier, while its air force says it recently sent some of its most advanced fighters and bombers for “joint combat patrols” over the sea.
Those included H-6K long-range strategic bombers that carry DH-20 long-range land-attack cruise missiles, giving them the ability to hit targets as far away as Australia, along with Russian-made Su-35 fighters.
China’s claims in the South China Sea overlap in whole or in part those of Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and U.S. treaty partner the Philippines.
Washington doesn’t take a formal position on sovereignty claims in the area but regards the South China Sea largely as international waters in which its navy has the right to operate within legal confines. AP
Australia, New Zealand warn China against Vanuatu base
Australia and New Zealand warned China April 10 against building any military base in the South Pacific, following media reports that the Chinese have proposed a permanent stronghold in Vanuatu.
Fairfax Media reported that China had approached the former French colony about building a permanent military presence in the South Pacific.
China and Vanuatu denied the reports. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Vanuatu also assured his government that “no such request has been made” by China.
“We would view with great concern the establishment of any foreign military bases in those Pacific island countries and neighbors of ours,” Turnbull told reporters.
New Zealand Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern said her country takes “a strong position in the Pacific against militarization.”
Vanuatu government spokesman Hilaire Bule said there were no plans to host a Chinese base in his nation of 280,000 people, which has received large sums of infrastructure finance from China in recent years.
“There are no such discussions regarding a military base in Vanuatu,” Bule said.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the report as “fake news” and referred reporters to Vanuatu’s denial.
China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, while the United States is Australia’s most important defense ally.
Australia has a growing U.S. Marine Corps presence in the northern city of Darwin as part of the U.S. military pivot toward Asia. Darwin is not defined as a U.S. military base because the troops are not permanently stationed there and leave during the southern summer months. AP
SAS invests nearly $4 billion in 50 Airbus planes
Scandinavian Airlines says it is placing orders for an additional 50 Airbus A320neo aircraft to create a single-type fleet, in a deal worth nearly $4 billion.
SAS says the aim is to “further simplify” its existing fleet and says that the planes have 15-20 percent lower jet-fuel consumption compared to the aircraft being phased out of traffic.
The carrier’s chief executive Rickard Gustafson says the deal “gives us access to the market’s most efficient aircraft thereby enabling us to further improve our operational efficiency and to continue to reduce our climate-impacting emissions.”
Delivery is to start in the spring 2019 and go through 2023.
SAS already has 17 such Airbus planes in service from a previous order for 30 Airbus A320neos. AP