Natuna Island, the scene of a clash between Indonesia and China earlier this year, is 1750km away. militarys latest assessment of Chinese military power, published in September 2020, estimated that China had 50 diesel-powered attack submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines. Midway between it and Vietnam are the Paracel Islands seized from Hanoi in a short 1974 war.Īnd at roughly the midway point between Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines – 1150km from Hainan Island – are the artificial island fortresses of the Spratly Islands. Sitting at the South China Sea’s northwestern extremity, the vast People’s Liberation Army facility is the key to Beijing enforcing its expansive, arbitrary claim. Here, China can assemble its forces without the risk of a diplomatic incident. US surveillance aircraft, some believed to be carrying advanced imaging radars, have been observed operating in the area in recent weeks.īut while territorial disputes plague the South China Sea, nobody questions the ownership of Hainan Island. What is or isn’t happening at Hainan Island’s Yulin Naval Base is of extreme importance to all nations embroiled by Beijing’s assertion of ownership over the South China Sea. “All of China’s other submarines normally stationed here are nowhere to be seen – wonder where they went,” Long wrote. In photos from August 18, these are unusually empty. Three submarines can be seen in the most recent image on Google Maps. The Chinese Navy is struggling undersea, with both their newest nuclear subs, the Shang class (Type 093) attack submarine and the Jin class (Type 094) ballistic missile submarines all noisier than.
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