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US plans huge show of force in Pacific
(Ching Cheong, TheStraightsTimes, June 30, 2004)
Seven aircraft carriers to move within striking distance of China; Taiwan forces slated to join in drill . . . The United States is planning a massive show of force in the Pacific Ocean near China to register a point with Beijing. . . . In an exercise codenamed Operation Summer Pulse 04, it is expected to arrange for an unprecedented seven aircraft carrier strike groups (CSGs) to rendezvous in waters a safe distance away from the Chinese coastline - but still within striking distance - after mid-July. . . . This will be the first time in US naval history that it sends seven of its 12 CSGs [sic] to just one region. . . . Although the statement does not say where the seven CSGs will exercise, the Status of the Navy website said the USS Carl Vinson, Abraham Lincoln, John C Stennis and Kitty Hawk were in the Pacific Ocean as of yesterday. . . . Sources in Beijing say China's reading is that Summer Pulse is being mounted with it as the target audience, a suspicion reinforced by reports that Taiwanese forces are slated to join in the drill. . . . Clearly, given Beijing's repeated warning that it will use force, as a last resort and whatever the cost, to stop Taiwanese independence, the US feels it needs to send Beijing a message. . . . From past deployment patterns, the US usually despatches one CSG to a trouble spot as a reminder of its presence. . . . In a combat situation, it deploys three to four, which was what it did in the Gulf War in the early 1990s and the recent Iraqi war. . . . But never before has it sent in peace time seven CSGs to the same theatre. . . . The implications for China are grave. . . . According to Kanwa Defence News, which specialises in Chinese military matters, Beijing can cope with just one CSG currently. . . . 'But in five to 10 years, it can certainly take on seven,' said Mr Chang Hong-yi, head of Kanwa, in an interview with The Straits Times. . . . 'China's military potential is enormous and in terms of military technology, the gap with the US is closing fast,' he added. . . . Politically, Summer Pulse is likely to be seen by many Chinese as naked intimidation. . . . 'This is gunboat diplomacy in the 21st century,' the source remarked, adding that it would remind the Chinese people of their century-long deep humiliation by Western powers - and put Sino-US relations at peril.

posted by LoZo 6:57 PM