Tibet: April 2010 Archives

By Edward Wong | The New York Times
April 26, 2010

The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the United States Navy has long reigned as the dominant force, military officials and analysts say.

China calls the new strategy "far sea defense," and the speed with which it is building long-range capabilities has surprised foreign military officials.

The strategy is a sharp break from the traditional, narrower doctrine of preparing for war over the self-governing island of Taiwan or defending the Chinese coast. Now, Chinese admirals say they want warships to escort commercial vessels that are crucial to the country's economy, from as far as the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca, in Southeast Asia, and to help secure Chinese interests in the resource-rich South and East China Seas.

In late March, two Chinese warships docked in Abu Dhabi, the first time the modern Chinese Navy made a port visit in the Middle East.

The overall plan reflects China's growing sense of self-confidence and increasing willingness to assert its interests abroad. China's naval ambitions are being felt, too, in recent muscle flexing with the United States: in March, Chinese officials told senior American officials privately that China would brook no foreign interference in its territorial issues in the South China Sea, said a senior American official involved in China policy.

The naval expansion will not make China a serious rival to American naval hegemony in the near future, and there are few indications that China has aggressive intentions toward the United States or other countries.

But China, now the world's leading exporter and a giant buyer of oil and other natural resources, is also no longer content to trust the security of sea lanes to the Americans, and its definition of its own core interests has expanded along with its economic clout.

In late March, Adm. Robert F. Willard, the leader of the United States Pacific Command, said in Congressional testimony that recent Chinese military developments were "pretty dramatic." China has tested long-range ballistic missiles that could be used against aircraft carriers, he said. After years of denials, Chinese officials have confirmed that they intend to deploy an aircraft carrier group within a few years.

China is also developing a sophisticated submarine fleet that could try to prevent foreign naval vessels from entering its strategic waters if a conflict erupted in the region, said Admiral Willard and military analysts.

"Of particular concern is that elements of China's military modernization appear designed to challenge our freedom of action in the region," the admiral said.

Yalong Bay, on the southern coast of Hainan island in the South China Sea, is the site of five-star beach resorts just west of a new underground submarine base. The base allows submarines to reach deep water within 20 minutes and roam the South China Sea, which has some of the world's busiest shipping lanes and areas rich in oil and natural gas that are the focus of territorial disputes between China and other Asian nations.

That has caused concern not only among American commanders, but also among officials in Southeast Asian nations, which have been quietly acquiring more submarines, missiles and other weapons. "Regional officials have been surprised," said Huang Jing, a scholar of the Chinese military at the National University of Singapore. "We were in a blinded situation. We thought the Chinese military was 20 years behind us, but we suddenly realized China is catching up."

China is also pressing the United States to heed its claims in the region. In March, Chinese officials told two visiting senior Obama administration officials, Jeffrey A. Bader and James B. Steinberg, that China would not tolerate any interference in the South China Sea, now part of China's "core interest" of sovereignty, said an American official involved in China policy. It was the first time the Chinese labeled the South China Sea a core interest, on par with Taiwan and Tibet, the official said.

Another element of the Chinese Navy's new strategy is to extend its operational reach beyond the South China Sea and the Philippines to what is known as the "second island chain" -- rocks and atolls out in the Pacific, the official said. That zone significantly overlaps the United States Navy's area of supremacy.

Japan is anxious, too. Its defense minister, Toshimi Kitazawa, said in mid-April that two Chinese submarines and eight destroyers were spotted on April 10 heading between two Japanese islands en route to the Pacific, the first time such a large Chinese flotilla had been seen so close to Japan. When two Japanese destroyers began following the Chinese ships, a Chinese helicopter flew within 300 feet of one of the destroyers, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.

Since December 2008, China has maintained three ships in the Gulf of Aden to contribute to international antipiracy patrols, the first deployment of the Chinese Navy beyond the Pacific. The mission allows China to improve its navy's long-range capabilities, analysts say.

A 2009 Pentagon report estimated Chinese naval forces at 260 vessels, including 75 "principal combatants" -- major warships -- and more than 60 submarines. The report noted the building of an aircraft carrier, and said China "continues to show interest" in acquiring carrier-borne jet fighters from Russia. The United States Navy has 286 battle-force ships and 3,700 naval aircraft, though ship for ship the American Navy is considered qualitatively superior to the Chinese Navy.

The Pentagon does not classify China as an enemy force. But partly in reaction to China's growth, the United States has recently transferred submarines from the Atlantic to the Pacific so that most of its nuclear-powered attack submarines are now in the Pacific, said Bernard D. Cole, a former American naval officer and a professor at the National War College in Washington.

The United States has also begun rotating three to four submarines on deployments out of Guam, reviving a practice that had ended with the cold war, Mr. Cole said.

American vessels now frequently survey the submarine base at Hainan island, and that activity leads to occasional friction with Chinese ships. A survey mission last year by an American naval ship, the Impeccable, resulted in what Pentagon officials said was harassment by Chinese fishing vessels; the Chinese government said it had the right to block surveillance in those waters because they are an "exclusive economic zone" of China.

The United States and China have clashing definitions of such zones, defined by a United Nations convention as waters within 200 nautical miles of a coast. The United States says international law allows a coastal country to retain only special commercial rights in the zones, while China contends the country can control virtually any activity within them.

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By Radio Free Asia
April 20, 2010

Chinese authorities tell monks aiding quake rescue efforts to leave.

As China declared a day of mourning for the more than 2,000 people killed in an earthquake in western Qinghai province, authorities told monks from neighboring areas who played a critical role in rescue and recovery operations to go home, regional sources said.

Several sources who asked not to be named also said businesses and individuals in Tibetan areas had been stopped from delivering supplies to the quake-stricken region.

Officials on Tuesday reported the death toll had risen to 2,064, with more than 12,000 injured and 175 missing. China says the quake was 7.1 magnitude. Relief and reconstruction work has accelerated, with power and telecommunications services largely restored and aid convoys arriving.

"Local authorities issued an order today calling on all monks to return to their respective monasteries, as now they are no longer needed," one Tibetan man said, adding that monks had held a candlelight vigil April 19 that officials feared might take on political significance.

"Residents here see this as a major setback to the relief effort if the monks have to leave," he said.

Some 10,000 monks and 10,000 troops had been working to pull bodies from the wreckage and rubble, he said.

A senior lama in Gyegu [in Chinese, Jiegu] town, along with others, confirmed this account.

"Starting today, all outside monks have been thrown out [of the quake zones]. They are not allowed to join the rescue effort. The notice came out today, issued by the government. Some monks will leave tomorrow," he said in an interview. Some monks are refusing to go, he added.

Another local Tibetan said a number of monks from Sichuan province had been asked to leave Monday, as more troops were trucked in--in two convoys of 15 vehicles each--and more roadblocks were set up along the route to the quake-stricken area.

Woeser, a well-known Tibetan writer and blogger living in Beijing, touched on the political sensitivity of the situation, two years after Tibetan frustration at living under Chinese rule turned into a widespread uprising, followed by a major crackdown.

"The Tibetan monks were told to return to their monasteries or face trouble later. As a result, many monasteries have to urge their monks to abandon the rescue work and come back home," Woeser said in an interview.

Bad weather

A foreign reporter in the area, along with a Tibetan volunteer, meanwhile said bad weather and difficult terrain were hindering rescue efforts.

"In the Gyegu area, rain and snow are quite common. Sometimes there's hail. The weather is so unpredictable," the reporter said. "It's hard to breathe because of the altitude."

A volunteer named Wang Jun said a sudden ice storm on Tuesday around noon further slowed relief workers.

"The snow suddenly fell for about 10 minutes. Now the weather is fine, but if the snow comes again, I think we will need to stop our rescue work," Wang said, referring to his team of 40 volunteers.

A Tibetan volunteer said that the weather was especially bad and that many residents believe the death toll is far higher than the government's tally of just over 2,000.

"We had a big snowfall yesterday and today," the volunteer said. "There's white stuff everywhere."

A Tibetan named Tenzin said figures released by the government are likely to be far lower than the actual number of dead.

"The government is always conservative in publicizing death tolls. But one of my friends told me that at least 2,000 bodies were cremated a few days ago. Some even speculated that the death toll could be 8,000 or 9,000," he said.

"Some numbers were tallied by monks who performed prayer services for the victims. But it's difficult to tally the bodies that have already been cremated."

Anger over official controls

Chinese officials are trying to give the impression they have the situation under control, according to residents of Gyegu, but in many cases they have slowed or disrupted relief efforts.

Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the area Sunday in a bid to boost morale, but residents say Tibetans responded coolly.

"Many of the Tibetan residents expressed their dislike for President Hu by not reciprocating Hu's handshake," said a local Tibetan by telephone.

"Also, a monk shouted at Hu in Chinese, 'You visit as if you were the leader of thugs, not to show your genuine love for the people. We do not have enough aid,'" he said.

The caller said that during Hu's visit, tight security caused traffic in the area to stop completely, delaying the treatment of many of the injured and even leading to some deaths.

"When President Hu visited the site, he didn't come to meet the monks at all, even though they are at the forefront the relief work," he added.

Others said Chinese authorities have been restricting the flow of aid into the area and forcing donations to be distributed through official channels.

"A score of Tibetan businessmen in Kham Driru raised 1 million yuan (U.S. $146,000), as well as many trucks of aid supplies. But the local Chinese authorities stopped them from delivering the aid," said a source in the region.

"They were told that the aid should be delivered only through official channels and that no organizations or individuals are allowed to deliver it to the affected regions themselves."

Similarly, monks from the neighboring Sog Monastery in Nagchu were ordered to hand over their raised donations and aid supplies to Sog county officials, according to exile Tibetan Ngawang Tharpa, who cited a source in Tibet.

Tibetan monks from the Sera Monastery in Lhasa hauling donations to Yushu were also turned away.

"They drove a truckload of food to the disaster area. But I heard that the government doesn't want monks from other Tibetan areas to come to Yushu to join the rescue operation," a Tibetan volunteer said.

Original reporting by Rigdhen Dolma, Tseten Dolkar, and Lobsang Sherab for RFA's Tibetan service; by Hai Lan and Lin Qin for RFA's Cantonese service; and by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Tibetan service director: Jigme Ngapo. Cantonese service director: Shiny Li. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Translations by Shiny Li from Cantonese, Jia Yuan from Mandarin, and Dorjee Damdul and Rigdhen Dolma from Tibetan. Written in English by Sarah Jackson-Han and Joshua Lipes.

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