The John Batchelor Show

VIDEO: China Responds

December 13, 2016

Monday 12 December 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  Gordon G. Chang, Daily Beast & Forbes.com, in re: Russell Hsiao, executive director of Global Taiwan Institute http://globaltaiwan.org/  in re: The PRC decided to fly nuclear-capable bombers war planes, to circumaviate Taiwan – both before (25 Nov) and after  (10 Dec) the phone call: Four planes clockwise around Taiwan.   PRC once (1995 & 1996) shelled the Strait to intimidate  Taiwan into not voting; of course, it had the opposite effect.   Trump will treat Taiwan with dignity and respect. 
Taiwan Min of Defense immediately announced the 10 Dec flyaround; had waited a week to speak of the earlier flyaround and was much criticized therefor.   Such exercises do occur sporadically, but these seem to be signals to Taiwan.  Tsai Ing-wen is seen as [quite different from] Ma. Ninety per cent of people surveyed in a poll wanted to hold the status quo.   PRC often uses military, and squeezing Taiwan in international space – had overseas Taiwanese deported into Mainland Chin!
Analysis: Trump is risking war by turning the One China question into a bargaining chip. 
As China regresses toward a closed economy, it is demanding market-economy status.  See this: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2016/12/11/finally-world-loses-patience-with-malicious-china-trade-practices/#7387c70d1ec2
PRC Anti-Satellite Missile Provocation? Why Now? Bob Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com
China preparing for anti-satellite test?   According to Pentagon officials China is preparing for a flight test of a new anti-satellite rocket  Test preparations for the Dong Neng-3 anti-satellite missile were detected at a military facility in central China, according to Pentagon officials familiar with reports of the impending test. Intelligence agencies were alerted to the impending test by China’s announcement of air closure zones covering the expected flight path of the DN-3.
The flight test could come as early as Thursday, the officials said. No other details of the missile test were available. A Pentagon spokesman and a State Department official both said, “We do not comment on intelligence matters.”  One additional detail: The DN-3 rocket appears to be based on the Chinese commercial rocket Kuiazhou, which a Chinese launch company is pitching to the international market as a vehicle for putting smallsats into orbit.
http://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/china-preparing-for-anti-satellite-test/     The anti-satellite missiles are part of what the Pentagon calls “counterspace” forces, part of China’s large-scale military buildup.  “The PLA is acquiring a range of technologies to improve China’s counterspace capabilities,” the Pentagon’s latest report on the Chinese military said.  “In addition to the development of directed energy weapons and satellite jammers, China is also developing anti-satellite capabilities and has probably made progress on the anti-satellite missile system it tested in July 2014.”  In addition to missiles and lasers, China also is working on small maneuvering satellites that can grab and destroy orbiting satellites.
Richard Fisher, a China military affairs specialist, said the DN-3 appears to be based on the Kuaizhou-1 (KZ-1) mobile space launch vehicle. “It’s about the same size as the DF-31 solid fuel mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),” he said. Fisher, senior Fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said the DN-3 could be capable of hitting satellites more than 18,640 miles away in space—more than enough to reach large U.S. surveillance satellites that occupy orbit 186 to 620 miles from earth.
“In late 2016 or by mid 2017 the PLA may test a larger solid fuel mobile space launch vehicle called the KZ-11, with a 2-meter diameter motor similar in size to the new large and multiple warhead armed DF-41 ICBM,” Fisher said.  http://freebeacon.com/national-security/china-prepares-satellite-missile-test/
Beijing announced Dec. 10 that it would halt the import of coal from neighboring North Korea for three weeks ending Dec. 31, Japan Times reported. The Chinese government says this is to comply with a Nov. 30 U.N. Security Council on sanctions against Pyongyang. The resolution caps North Korean coal exports in 2017 at 7.5 million tons. Between March and October, China imported 24.8 million tons of coal from North Korea. China's relations with North Korea are quickly becoming a liability. Pyongyang has begun to adopt a more provocative approach, combining isolationism with military buildups and nuclear deterrence to hold the world's great powers at bay.