.Attention focusing on whether China is militarizing Spratly Islands

The Asahi Shimbun (Feb 18): Attention focusing on whether China is militarizing Spratly Islands

Even as international attention and criticism focused on the installation of surface-to-air missiles by China on one of the Paracel Islands, Beijing had also been quietly but steadily building up its military arsenal on the Spratly Islands farther southeast in the South China Sea.

Several sources with access to sensitive military intelligence confirmed on Feb. 17 that China had installed a number of anti-aircraft guns on the Spratly Islands. Like the Paracels, the Spratlys are subject to a territorial dispute between China, Vietnam and the Philippines, among others.

At a joint news conference in September 2015 with U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing had no intention of militarizing the Spratlys.
Japan will demand a clear explanation from China for its installation of anti-aircraft guns on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Feb. 17.

"Because China has said in the past that it has no intention of militarizing the islands, we will ask for an explanation that is more persuasive and transparent,” Nakatani told reporters.

Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, have said that installing military equipment was only being done as an act of self-defense. Such arguments are intended to deflect criticism from Washington that the moves are nothing more than an attempt by Beijing to strengthen its military capabilities.

Diplomats in Beijing are very interested to find out if Beijing's installation of the missiles on the Paracels could be extended farther to installations on the Spratlys.

According to one Chinese researcher well-versed in Chinese military affairs, the flying within 12 nautical miles (about 22 kilometers) over artificial islands that Beijing is constructing in the South China Sea last December by a U.S. B-52 bomber sent shock waves through the Chinese military.

The source said the incident caused alarm to a greater extent than the "freedom-of-navigation operations" conducted by U.S. Navy ships in those waters.

The installation of the surface-to-air missiles on the Paracels is being seen by diplomatic sources in Beijing as a retaliatory measure by the Chinese military for the incursion into Chinese airspace by the U.S. bomber.

At the same time, excessive guarding against such intrusions could lead to a military encounter with the United States because one way of dealing with fighter jets flying over Chinese airspace would be to shoot them down.

On Feb. 8, during the Chinese New Year holidays, Adm. Wu Shengli, the commander of the Chinese Navy, held a teleconference with the main units stationed on the Paracel and Spratly islands and urged them to protect the nation's "maritime interests."

Depending on the United States’ next move, there is still a possibility that China could argue that the need for self-defense requires it to strengthen its military presence on the Spratlys, even if such a move triggers international criticism.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/china/AJ201602180064