Mystery Giant Chinese Hospital Ship: Prep For War?

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Mystery Giant Chinese Hospital Ship: Prep For War?



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Mystery Chinese Hospital Ship: What's It For?
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Wired
By David Axe
November 13, 2008

http://blog. wired. com/defense/2008/11/mystery-chinese. html

Late last month, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) accepted its first purpose-built floating hospital, the 10,000-ton "Ship 866." While seemingly innocuous on the surface, ships like this are windows into an evolving military strategy for an emerging world power.
Hospital ships can be used for a wide range of missions, from supporting full-scale amphibious assaults against heavily defended targets, to humanitarian "soft-power" expeditions winning hearts and minds

The question is: what is Ship 866 intended for? I asked two leading naval analysts for a new piece in World Politics Review

It's for soft power, contends Bob Work, from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He says Ship 866 has its roots in the 2004 tsunami. Many world powers sent ships to help out in the aftermath of the storm, which killed more than 200,000 people in countries bordering the Indian Ocean. But not China: the PLAN didn't have any ships capable of assisting. "The tsunami embarrassed them," he says. "The Chinese respond to embarrassments in very focused ways.
" In this case by building a hospital ship

John Pike from Globalsecurity. org disagrees. He says Ship 866 is probably intended to support the growing Chinese amphibious fleet, which in turn is meant for enforcing China's claim to South China Sea oil reserves.
It's a far cry from humanitarian soft-power missions

Of course, intentions are only intentions. Regardless of the original motive, the PLAN now has a ship capable of both humanitarian missions and supporting amphibious assaults. The Chinese are still decades from matching the U.S.
Navy's huge amphibious and humanitarian fleet, but it's a start



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30000-ton Displacement! A Larger Naval Hospital Ship found in China
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Beijing, Nov12, 2008 (China Defense Mashup Report) — A few days ago, defensenews reported China’s East Sea Fleet took delivery of its first 10,000-ton hospital ship. Yesterday a newer and larger 30000-ton displacement hospital ship was found in some military harbor in south China, probably in Sanya, Hainan province.
According to Chinese resources, this hospital ship was modified from a container ship, which added some medical modules























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War is Boring: New Chinese Naval Ships a Window into Evolving Strategy
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David Axe | Bio | 12 Nov 2008
World Politics Review

http://www. worldpoliticsreview. com/Article. aspx?id=2908

In late October, USS Kearsarge, a 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship, arrived off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago laden with hundreds of doctors, nurses and engineers, and tons of medical supplies. The tiny developing country was the fifth stop in Kearsarge's four-month tour of Latin America, advancing a new Pentagon strategy for creating security through good deeds.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates calls it "soft power" -- and it's all the rage in a military exhausted by five years of hard combat

The Navy's three-dozen amphibious ships, with their extensive medical facilities, along with its two specialized hospital ships, are at the forefront of this soft-power strategy, delivering humanitarian workers across Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.
What's more, the Navy is drafting a study reportedly calling for a 20 percent increase in the size of the amphibious fleet, partly to boost these soft-power missions

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, at the same time that Kearsarge was steaming towards Trinidad and Tobago, the Chinese navy was building its own fleet capable of soft-power "projection." In October, the People's Liberation Army Navy accepted its first purpose-built hospital ship, the 10,000-ton "Ship 866," fitted with "comprehensive functions and facilities equivalent to level-three class-A hospitals," according to People's Daily.
Ship 866 joined the fleet just three months after the acceptance of the first of six 14,000-ton Type 071 amphibious assault ships, themselves fitted with surgical bays

To some observers, the new vessels' acceptances have signaled Beijing's determination to compete, or even cooperate, with Washington in the realm of soft power. Others say the vessels are intended for more conventional military tasks, but could find themselves pressed into humanitarian missions during major disasters. Either way, Ship 866 and the Type 071s are windows into an evolving military strategy for an emerging world power. In recent years, China has stepped up its investment in developing countries, especially energy-producing states in Africa.
Chinese engineers and consultants are fixtures in even the most remote nations, such as Chad and Somalia

For all that, influential naval analyst Bob Work, from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, says Ship 866 has its roots in an event that took place in Asia: the tsunami that killed as many as 225,000 people in 11 countries bordering the Indian Ocean in 2004

In the aftermath of that disaster, many countries rushed aid to affected countries by way of amphibious ships. China was virtually alone among major powers in having no ships capable of helping out, Work says. "The tsunami embarrassed them," he says. "The Chinese respond to embarrassments in very focused ways.
" In this case by rushing new ships into production

Another analyst disagrees with this assessment John Pike from the Alexandria, Virginia-based think-tank Globalsecurity. org, says Ship 866 and the Type 071s were designed to give China military options for claiming disputed natural gas and oil reserves in the South China Sea that only recently have become cost-effective for recovery. "One would enforce a claim to the South China Sea by possessing islands.
How does one possess island? By amphibious assault"

Such assaults, Pike adds, require both assault ships and the medical support provided by dedicated hospital ships.
"If they were only building a hospital ship, I'd be prepared to start thinking about it on humanitarian assistance level, but when they build this [Type 071] landing ship dock simultaneously, I tend to think the decision to build them was made at the same meeting, part of a common plan" for potential island attacks

"But you can use amphibious ships for human assistance," Pike stresses. "The U.S.
does that all the time"

On that point, Work agrees.
"It's not an either-or thing"

Nor is competition between the U.S. and China a foregone conclusion as both nations roll out soft-power strategies and new ships capable of advancing them. "The Chinese acknowledge our economic and military superiority.
That puts us in the driver's seat in terms of steering the relationship toward greater competition or greater collaboration," James Blaker, from Washington-based American Security Project, wrote in a report published this month

Blaker recommends that the U.S. Navy invite the Chinese to participate in more joint naval operations.
That would be "an initial step toward expanded cooperation in other areas," he writes

Indeed, the U.S. Navy has used its soft-power initiatives as vehicles for international cooperation, albeit not with the Chinese -- not yet.
Kearsarge, on her Latin American cruise, hosted doctors and nurses from Brazil, Canada, the Netherlands and other countries

David Axe is an independent correspondent, a World Politics Review contributing editor, and the author of "War Bots." He blogs at War is Boring.
His WPR column, "War is Boring," appears every other Wednesday



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Analysis: Who are China’s enemies?
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UPI News
October 24, 2008

http://www. upiasia. com/Security/2008/10/24/chinas_prime_potential...

Hong Kong, China —
China’s military preparedness and strategic deployment of weaponry take into consideration a whole range of potential enemies, an analysis of internal People’s Liberation Army documents has revealed

In order of importance – that is, the likelihood of actual military engagement – those enemies are Taiwan, the United States and Japan (as potential defenders of Taiwan), India, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Russia and NATO

Chinese military journals consistently criticize the United States for seeking to isolate and contain China. The PLA’s indignation and frustration over this perceived U.S.
interference is a reflection of its ambition to become a global hegemon, or at least a regional one

As evidence of U.S. hostility, the military journals cite Washington’s sales of arms to Taiwan, its military alliance with Japan, its support of NATO’s eastward expansion, the stationing of a permanent force in Afghanistan, the expansion of its nuclear arsenal and its influence in restricting European arms sales to China. The journals claim that these U.S.
actions all pose a direct or indirect threat to China’s national security

As for Japan, despite warmer political relations between the two countries in recent months, there are two prickly issues that will not be easily resolved.
One is the territorial fight over the Diaoyutai Islands – which Japan calls the Senkakus – and the other is the dispute over the exact location of the border in the East China Sea, in the midst of rich oil and gas reserves that both sides claim

For now the two sides are working together to develop these resources, but the lack of a legally defined border makes the situation unpredictable.
Also, China remains highly wary of any Japanese steps to strengthen its military

On the Indian front, mistrust between the two countries has become more heated.
New Delhi is wary of China’s increased deployment of ballistic missiles aimed at India, the activities of the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean, and China’s intentions with regard to territorial disputes

On the other hand, China is also keeping an eye on India’s active development of its Flame III intermediate-range ballistic missile, the activities of the Indian navy in the South China Sea, and India’s constantly changing attitude with regard to border disputes

Differences between China and Vietnam focus on disputed maritime territories.
At the same time, China is watching closely Vietnam’s rapprochement to India and the United States

As for ASEAN countries, they too have disputes with China over territories at sea. China thinks it will eventually recapture the Nansha Islands – better known as the Spratlys – located between Vietnam and the Philippines and claimed by both, as well as by China. The area is a rich fishing ground and may also contain oil and gas.
There may one day be a struggle over ownership of these islands

In the midst of these disputes, since the mid-1990s Chinese military strategists have focused on one key issue – the economic, political and national security benefits of expanding the military and centralizing all forces to “solve the Taiwan issue.
” Their position was that after Taiwan was reunited with the mainland, there would be additional economic benefits and national security gains resulting from the military build-up

One argument held that the South China Sea disputes could be easily resolved when the time was right.
Toward that end, there was a need to develop major maritime combat platforms, including an aircraft carrier

As far as Russia is concerned, China is concerned about the resurgence of extreme nationalism within Russia, which could lead to territorial demands on China

China is also constantly worried about NATO’s eastward expansion.
The existence of NATO forces in neighboring countries would undermine its border security

Against this background of regional tensions, improved relations across the Taiwan Strait are not reason enough for the PLA to relax its level of preparedness.
All of the issues outlined above have frequently been discussed in numerous military and diplomatic documents over the past 10 years

China’s development and deployment of military equipment corresponds to all the conflict scenarios it foresees.
First, priority attention has been placed on the development of combat equipment related to the air force, navy and landing operations, all of which are directed at Taiwan

Second, in response to possible intervention by U.S.
forces, China has actively developed and deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, intermediate-range ballistic missiles, anti-satellite weapons, space warfare capabilities, and ballistic-missile and attack submarines

Third, to cope with frontlines in Vietnam and India, China has developed mountain warfare armored vehicles and medium- and short-range ballistic missiles.
An upgraded IRBM is now deployed in Yunnan province, which borders Vietnam

Fourth, in the direction of Japan, the PLA has deployed DF-3A IRBMs in coastal Shandong province and reinforced the combat capabilities of its No.
19 Division based in that region

Fifth, with an eye to Southeast Asia and India, a large submarine base has been established on Hainan Island and electronic surveillance stations set up on the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea at China’s southern tip

Sixth, in response to the presence of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, China has sped up the deployment of HQ-9 long-range ground-to-air missiles in major metropolitan centers and strengthened its No. 6 Fighter Division in the Lanzhou Military Region of central China.
In the direction of Russia, China is now actively developing and upgrading new main battle tanks and armored vehicles

Given the need to cover all the scenarios described above, it is likely that China’s military spending will continue to rise, with the 2009 military budget reflecting at least a 10 percent increase over this year

Some equipment intended for combat operations against Taiwan will be replaced, and there will be some adjustments in the deployment of this equipment.
The pressure to maintain a vigilant “military deterrence” against Taiwan is expected to continue

It is worth noting, however, that with the warming of cross-strait relations and the balance of military power in the Taiwan Strait already tilted in China’s favor, the PLA will likely focus its military build-up in other directions, particularly in the upgrading of long-range military projection capability

Close attention should be paid to China’s building of a new aircraft carrier fleet, its development and deployment of more ICBMs, SSBNs, new bombers and new-generation fighters.
The Chinese military industry will also take this opportunity to put greater effort and expenditure into upgrading and expanding its research for the development of new weapons systems

(Andrei Chang is editor-in-chief of Kanwa Defense Review Monthly, registered in Toronto, Canada)