Posted on 04/16/2015 10:12:01 AM PDT by NRx
BEIJING — China is building a concrete runway on an island in the South China Sea’s contested waters that will be capable of handling military aircraft when finished, satellite images released Thursday show.
The first section of the runway appears like a piece of gray ribbon on an image taken last month of Fiery Cross Reef, part of the Spratly Islands, an archipelago claimed by at least three other countries. Adjacent to the runway, work is underway on an apron for taxiing and parking planes.
The runway, which is expected to be about 10,000 feet long — enough to accommodate fighter jets and surveillance aircraft — represents a game changer in the competition between the United States and China in the South China Sea, said Peter Dutton, professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Rhode Island.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Create an island, declare it sovereign soil, then declare a 200 mile economic exclusion zone around it.
Dare anyone to do anything about it.
I know.... let’s buy cheap imports from China and make them rich while putting Americans out of work.
Possession=9/10 of the law. No?
Another benefit of Free Trade™.
Hank Johnson says that’s a terrible idea. The political pressure will make it capsize.
“Possession=9/10 of the law. No?”
In this case, it likely already is.
We aren’t going to go to war with China to protect the Phillipine or Vietnamese interests in the Spratley’s.
They can cry about it all they want to, but the Chinese know they (and we) will do nothing about it, in the end.
And at the same time continue importing millions upon millions of low wage illegals and foreigners into the U.S.
This will give middle class America the boost it needs. A genius plan.
There will soon be an unsinkable Chinese aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
Overkill for those aircraft types. More likely, the length is required for heavy transport and the H-6 bomber. The H-6M (the series is basically a copy of the Russian TU-16) is their variant which carries cruise and anti-shipping missiles.
If/When you see those deployed, their intentions will be more than clear.
didn’t the Japanese try something like this a guadalcanal?
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