The China Money Report

China has disclosed the successful tests of new weaponry, including
the launch of its most advanced Type-096 Tang class nuclear submarine
which can fire 24 JL-3 ballistic missiles, each with a range of more
than 10,000 km. The submarine will join two other Type-094 Jin class
nuclear submarines already in service. Each of the two Jin class
submarines can carry 12 JL-2 ballistic missiles boasting a range of
7,000 km. The country has also commissioned a Type-052D guided missile
destroyer, bringing the number of its guided missile destroyers to 16,
the largest fleet of warships in Asia and equivalent to the US Aegis
class destroyer.

Additionally, China completed the launch of the 16th satellite in its
Beidou satellite navigation system last year and now has its own
global positioning system to direct nuclear missiles and cruise missiles
to their targets, while coordinating the movement of its aircraft,
warships, submarines and ground troops. Before the system was in place,
China had to rely on the US Global Position System to aim its missiles
at targets, though the US could deny China access to its system during
times of conflict. The country’s naval buildup is aimed at boosting its
capability to stage joint operations in the Yellow Sea, Taiwan Strait,
South China Sea and East China Sea.

Plans also call for improving the command and control system for ithe
country’s nuclear and diesel submarines to pre-empt US intervention in
a conflicts in the Taiwan Strait. Officials note that the Beidou system
allows China to combine its fleet of submarines, stealth jet fighters
(still in development), nuclear missiles and cruise missiles into a more
effective deterrent in Asian waters.

The US believes that the PLA Navy has not yet had the capability to
conduct joint operations, nor the ability to maintain air superiority
over a battle zone at sea. Further, US officials do not believe China
can field an aircraft battle group which could carry out joint attacks,
because of the country’s lack of capability in anti-carrier and anti-
submarine warfare, or to counter ground attacks.

In spite of the deficiencies in China’s naval buildup, the US, Japan
and Australia are in partnership to check Beijing’s military rise, with
the defense chiefs of the three countries meeting frequently to discuss
ways to cement their alliance.

Washington has also expanded its security ties with Tokyo, including
focusing on possible conflicts on the Korean peninsula and countering
China’s military buildup in the western Pacific. The US has stationed
its F-22 stealth fighter jets on Japan’s Ryukyu island chain and staged
a five-day military drill off the coast of Shikoku, one of Japan’s four
main islands.

(The author is a national security adviser at the National Policy
Foundation, a non-profit think　tank based in Taipei