"This is the Chinese navy ... You go!"

[Steelgrave]

Good breakdown, LB. I tend to agree with your points. I would be very interested in who this dude is and what his qualifications are, but even without that I thought it made for interesting reading. Kinda wish he would sign up here at Grogheads, might make for a good back and fourth  8)

[JasonPratt]

One of my Dad's best friends for many years is a Chinese (not Taiwanese) import/exporter with multi-citizenship in America (here in West TN, at the county capital) and in Toronto, Canada.  His family definitely lives here or in Toronto.

While I haven't ever heard him talk about such things in detail (directly or secondhand through Dad), I can add some validation of the general assessments of the article.

Ditto from a Chinaphile missionary author friend of mine, who loves the country and the culture and the people, and visits for a few weeks to study (and I suspect to visit secret house churches) whenever he gets the chance. (He's got a good reputation with the government for his role back in student days of helping find and return mainland Chinese girls sold into Taiwanese prostitution.) I'm not sure he wouldn't say the male/female breeding-age ratio is worse than 140:100; that ratio would include all ages! Of course the goal was to reverse unsustainable population growth, so in that sense the policy could be considered a win?

[mirth]

More Chinese deployments in the South China Sea

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/chinese-j-11-fighters-deployed-to-woody-island-in-south-1739919796

[LongBlade]

More Chinese deployments in the South China Sea

How many got splashed?

[Centurion40]

Hehehehehehe... he said "Woody"... ahhhhahahahahahaha!

[LongBlade]

China has built a second 12,000-ton Coast Guard cutter, the largest cutter in the service of any coast guard in the world. The ship is as large as a U.S. Navy destroyer and will be used for maritime search and rescue, law enforcement, and territorial boundary marking.

The two cutters, CCG 2901 and CCG 3901, were built in Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard. Each features a single 76-millimeter cannon in the bow, two machine gun or light cannon mounts on the superstructure, and a hangar and landing pad for helicopters. The ships can zoom up to 25 knots.

The huge size of the cutters has raised some eyebrows. While Coast Guard cutters do spend extended periods of time at sea and travel long distances, they don't really need to displace 12,000 tons. Because they're primarily law enforcement ships, cutters don't need warship-quality sensors and heavy weapons that increase overall weight. The U.S. Coast Guard's latest National Security Cutters, for example, weigh only 4,600 tons.

The most likely explanation for China's colossal vessels, then, is simply that they are meant to be bigger and more intimidating than other ships when they show up in disputed territory. China currently has disputes with more than half a dozen neighboring nations in the East and South China Seas. Countries on both sides of the dispute often "show the flag" in these areas with Coast Guard ships, which is less inflammatory than sending warships.

source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a18990/china-launches-second-monster-coast-guard-cutter/

[Sir Slash]

That's a Big-Ass Cutter.  :o

[Bison]

I'm sure it's intent is purely altruistic.

[Gusington]

If it's made like everything else in China we won't have to worry about it in three months.

[JasonPratt]

We'll be hungry for a new cutter by then anyway.

[Gusington]

Ha(n)!

[OJsDad]

These cutters are larger than a Burke class destroyer.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

They train their national ping pong team on board... moar challenge on rolling seas.

[Sir Slash]

I like that one.

[jomni]

Coastal? Those are long range sea-faring boats.  They are guarding more than the coast now.