The John Batchelor Show

Sunday 31 March 2013

Air Date: 
March 31, 2013

Photo, above:  Chinese Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) in action along with the Type 071 999 井冈山 Jinggang Shan amphibious warfare ships of the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy.  See below: Hour 4, Block C:  People's Liberation Army Navy: Combat System Technology, 1949-2010 by James C. Bussert and Bruce A. Elleman

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A fully equipped PLA amphibious task force has reached China's southernmost claimed possession in the South China Sea in an unprecedented show of force that is raising eyebrows across the region.

The four-ship flotilla headed by the landing ship Jinggangshan visited James Shoal - some 80 kilometres [50 miles] from Malaysia, less than 200 kilometres from Brunei and 1,800 kilometres from the mainland coast - close to the outer limits of China's "nine-dash line", by which it lays claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.  A Xinhua report yesterday described marines and crew gathering on the deck of the Jinggangshan - one of the PLA Navy's three 200-metre landing ships - to pledge to "defend the South China Sea, maintain national sovereignty and strive towards the dream of a strong China".

"It was a surprisingly strong message in sending out this task force, on such a new operational role from previous PLAN [PLA Navy] patrols in the region," said Gary Li, a senior analyst with IHS Fairplay in London.  "It is not just a few ships here and there, but a crack amphibious landing ship carrying marines and hovercraft and backed by some of the best escort ships in the PLAN fleet," he said, adding that jet fighters had also been used to cover the task force.  "We've never seen anything like this that far south in terms of quantity or quality ... it is hard to know whether it is just coincidence, but it does seem to reflect [President] Xi Jinping's desire for more practical operationally based exercises."

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21 March 2013  China today defended its naval ships conducting training missions near Malaysia and Brunei, asserting that its navy has a right to patrol the disputed South China Sea.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-28/news/38099638_1_...

The Chinese navy has a right to patrol the South China Sea, a Foreign Ministry spokesman Hone Lei said responding to questions of four-ship Chinese Navy fleet conducting patrol and training missions near James Shoal, called by China as Zing Reef, the southernmost part of the South China Sea.The fully equipped PLA amphibious naval task force created flutter yesterday conducting exercises near James Shoal, some 80 km from Malaysia, less than 200 kilometres from Brunei and 1,800 kilometres from the mainland coast.

On Tuesday, a simmering row between China and Vietnam over the disputed Sea came to the fore with Hanoi protesting over a Chinese patrol vessel firing on its fishing boat and Beijing defending its action as "legitimate and necessary" to protect sovereignty. China virtually claims sovereignty over entire South China Sea, a claim contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia.

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Taipei Times, 2011: Last week, Chinese media also announced that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) had officially launched the Yuzhao-class Type 071 Jinggangshan landing platform dock (LPD). At 19,000 tonnes, the Jinggangshan — the second Type 071 in the PLAN — is the heaviest LPD in the Chinese fleet.  Defense reports say a third Type 071 is being built.  LPDs, which can accommodate helicopters, armored vehicles, boats and soldiers, can be used in both humanitarian and war-fighting missions.  Reports said the official launch appeared to be timed to send signals as tensions continue to rise in the South China Sea.

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

(Photo, below)  Eastertide 2013: Pope Francis has begun his first Easter as pontiff; as part of the celebrations, he travelled to Casa del Marmo, a youth prison on the outskirts of Rome, where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 inmates. For the first time two women, both Muslim, were included in the ritual.  Pope Francis addressed the young before the rite. “Among us the one who is highest up must be at the service of others. This is a symbol, it is a sign – washing your feet means I am at your service.” The ceremony commemorates Jesus’s humility towards his apostles on the night before he died. On Good Friday, he is to preside over two services including the “Via Crucis” procession around Rome’s Colosseum.

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 1, Block A: The Accidental Capitalist: A People's Story of the New China by Behzad Yaghmaian

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 1, Block B:  The Accidental Capitalist: A People's Story of the New China by Behzad Yaghmaian

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 1, Block C: . Chinese Girl in the Ghetto by Ying Ma

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 1, Block D:  Chinese Girl in the Ghetto by Ying Ma

Hour Two

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 2, Block A:  . The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 2, Block B:  . The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 2, Block C:  . Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival by Dean King

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 2, Block D:  Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival by Dean King

Hour Three

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 3, Block A:  Bowing to Beijing: How Barack Obama is Hastening America's Decline and Ushering A Century of Chinese Domination... by Brett M. Decker and William C. Triplett II

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 3, Block B:  . Bowing to Beijing: How Barack Obama is Hastening America's Decline and Ushering A Century of Chinese Domination... by Brett M. Decker and William C. Triplett II

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 3, Block C:  . Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Death of Mao's China by James Palmer

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 3, Block D:   Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Death of Mao's China by James Palmer

Hour Four

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 4, Block A:  Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles by Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 4, Block B:  Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles by Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein

. . . Schelling specifically differentiates deterrence from compellence, which he defines as "the threat intended to make an adversary do something." Glenn Snyder makes the same point by noting that deterrence "is the power to dissuade as opposed to the power to coerce or compel."  This is in sharp contrast with the term wei she, which embodies both deterrence and compellence. The PLA Encyclopedia, again, defines a strategy of deterrence, or wei she zhan lue, as "the display of military power, or the threat of use of military power, in order to compel an opponent to submit."6

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 4, Block C:  People's Liberation Army Navy: Combat System Technology, 1949-2010 by James C. Bussert and Bruce A. Elleman

Sunday 31 March 2013 / Hour 4, Block D:   People's Liberation Army Navy: Combat System Technology, 1949-2010 by James C. Bussert and Bruce A. Elleman

From China Defense Mashup:  On Jan 4th, “International Herald Leader”, a Chinese state-run newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, publishes a commentary to advise PLA Navy to build oversea naval bases to protect its energy line in Indian Ocean area. . . .  PLA Navy still can not play a key role in blue water without overseas military bases.  The article mentions that the Chinese navy is not to establish a U.S.-style military bases, but does not exclude the establishment of a number of so-called “Overseas Strategic Support Bases” in accordance with international prevailing rules. China has right to build oversea replenishment, staff rest and berthing-maintenance bases in foreign countries under equality, mutual benefit and friendly consultations.  The article also predicted that in future the Chinese Navy will establish its first batch of support bases in Indian Ocean. The article summarizes that these bases can be divided into three levels: First, ship fuel and material supply bases in peacetime, such as the Port of Djibouti, Aden port of Yemen, and Salalah Port of Oman. The replenishment method is in the light of international business practices; the second is relatively fixed supply bases for warship berthing, fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft and the naval staff ashore rest, such as the ports of Seychelles. China can build those bases by sign a short-term or medium-term agreement with Seychelles; the third is fully-functional center for replenishment, rest and large warship weapons maintenance, such as in Pakistan under medium-and long-term agreements.

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Music

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