– Navy Times – A Chinese warship targeted a U.S. naval patrol aircraft with a laser in international airspace earlier this month, Pacific Fleet announced Thursday.

– National Interest – James Holmes writes that “Chinese and American strategists, past and present, delight in invoking sporting metaphors to explain how they intend to do business. Sports talk commonly conjures up the image of two boxers squaring off in the Western Pacific. Defensive-minded pugilists circle warily, but neither relishes being the first to throw a haymaker. The bout may never happen if the contenders deter each other or see little point in a fistfight.”

– From the Office of Naval Intelligence

– News.Com.Au – It’s supposed to be an international airport. It’s supposed to be part of a holiday resort on a pristine piece of coastline. But it’s not.

– Global Times – It has emerged that China’s most advanced destroyer, the 10,000-ton-class Type 055, is larger than previously reported as the Chinese Navy recently revealed it has an actual displacement of more than 12,000 tons. Experts said on Friday that the difference between 10,000 and 12,000 tons could be huge and indicate the warship is even more powerful than expected.

– War on the Rocks – What is the strategic value of China’s Spratly outposts in the South China Sea? Are they a military asset or liability for Beijing? While they allow China to monitor air and naval traffic in the South China Sea, an emerging consensus in American military circles argues that China’s artificial features are more of a headache for Beijing than for Washington. U.S. Navy and Air Force assets could neutralize the Chinese positions relatively quickly if required.

– China Maritime Studies Institute – China’s naval modernization, a process that has been underway in earnest for three decades, is now hitting its stride. The advent of the Type 055 cruiser firmly places the PLAN among the world’s very top naval services. This study, which draws upon a unique set of Chinese-language writings, offers the first comprehensive look at this new, large surface combatant.

– South China Morning Post – Beijing is likely to send more coastguard vessels on port calls to try to take the rough edges off the service’s image as part of a militia fleet used to press territorial claims in the South China Sea

– National Interest – It takes a lot of hard work.

– South China Morning Post – China’s new killer robot ship that can carry out anti-submarine and anti-ship missions has undergone its first sea trial.

– Epoch Times – James Fanell, Former intelligence chief of the U.S. pacific fleet challenges the conventional wisdom that the U.S. military is unsurpassed by any force on this planet. While acknowledging that the Chinese military has strategic vulnerabilities, he warns that the U.S. might go to war with China over Taiwan in the next 30 years not adequately prepared and not confident to win.

– South China Morning Post – Ship is the first Type 055 guided missile destroyer to be commissioned into the PLA Navy and is one of the most advanced warships of its type in the world.

– South China Morning Post – The PLA Navy has started ordering bigger warships as it starts to prepare for missions further away from its shoreline.

– Journal of Political Risk – Whether anyone actually ‘wins’ a war is a philosophical debate. The Germans and Japanese in 1945 might have thought wars do indeed have winners. But perhaps it’s better said that in most conflicts some parties ‘lose more than others.’ Such would be the case if Beijing attempted to militarily subjugate Taiwan.

– BBC – At first it seems like a quirky, what-are-the-chances-of-that headline: “China rewards fishers who netted foreign spy devices.”

– South China Morning Post – With tensions between Beijing and its neighbours riding high over territorial claims in the South China Sea, a Chinese shipyard has begun work on what will be the largest offshore patrol vessel in the nation’s civilian fleet.

– South China Morning Post – China has moved to speed up development of its most advanced submarine-launched nuclear missile, a weapon capable of striking the US mainland.

– War on the Rocks – Couldn’t the United States easily neutralize China’s remote outposts in the South China Sea in a conflict, negating their value? The assumption is understandable given how seemingly remote the facilities are and how accustomed Americans have become to uncontested dominance over the sea and air. But it is flawed.

– War on the Rocks – Bastions are back…

– National Interest – James Fanell writes that China has been preparing for just that fight.

– National Interest – In home water, no. Far away, for sure. One of the world’s top naval experts explains.

– Naval News – The Chinese naval shipbuilding industry maintained its impressive production rate in 2019. In the past week alone, no less than 3 destroyers and a corvette were launched by various yards.

(Thanks to Alain)

– South China Morning Post – The country’s second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, officially entered service this month, but bottlenecks in training could hamper the navy’s effectiveness.

– China Maritime Studies Institute – The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ambitious goals for its power projection capabilities. Aside from preparing for the possibility of using force to resolve Beijing’s territorial claims in East Asia, it is also charged with protecting China’s expanding “overseas interests.” These national objectives require the PLA to be able to project significant combat power beyond China’s borders. To meet these needs, the PLA is building organic logistics support capabilities such as large naval auxiliaries and transport aircraft. But it is also turning to civilian enterprises to supply its transportation needs.

– National Interest – As a new generation of “whiz-kids” takes up the challenge in the post-INF world of confronting Beijing in the Western Pacific, the Chinese are busy assessing possible countermeasures.