Posted on 05/26/2011 4:57:11 AM PDT by Pan_Yan
(AP) BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese general's call for land attacks on Somali pirate strongholds is being seen by analysts as another sign of the armed forces' growing assertiveness, even if the proposal is unlikely to result in action.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Washington, Gen. Chen Bingde said he believes land bases must be assaulted in order to eradicate piracy.
"I think that for our counter-piracy campaigns to be effective, we should probably move beyond the ocean and crush their bases on the land," Chen said, adding that those funding and organizing piracy must be targeted along with rank-and-file brigands.
Chen's call was interpreted among analysts more as a statement of desire than intent, with the People's Liberation Army ill-equipped to carry out such missions and little appetite among other nations for dispatching troops to the African mainland.
His remarks, however, fit a pattern of greater outspokenness among PLA leaders that sometimes diverges from the official government line, especially in areas outside China's core interests of Taiwan, Tibet and its South China Sea territorial claims.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Chinese General Points Out The Obvious
This is all drifting towards sending in foreign troops to, in effect, re-impose colonial type rule and attempt to train and install a government that will last. This is a very unsavory option, and not guaranteed to work. No one (at least in Africa or the West) wants to go near the C (for colonial word). But Chinese military leaders are pointing out that there is no other option, especially if the pirates are to be shut down. The Chinese are willing to contribute to the invasion force, but not to do it by themselves. Some Western military leaders have also pointed out the need for occupation of the coastal towns used as pirate bases. No one, not even the Chinese, want to go much beyond these coastal towns. Note that the Chinese have no hang-ups about the C word, and have long used a more "practical" approach to working with African governments.
Facing the Threat of Piracy, China Starts to Talk Like a Superpower
On a visit to the U.S. this week, China's top military commander Chen Bingde suggested that the international coalition patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the coast of Somalia ought to take decisive action against pirate dens on land. So far, the counter-piracy strategy has focused on the pirate "mother-ships," usually retrofitted trawlers that tow little skiffs out into the deep sea. Yet the pirate problem emanating from lawless Somalia cost the global economy over $8.3 billion in 2010. And China has a huge stake in securing its ever-increasing economic interests in the region.
Somali Pirates = alQaeda. Do it.
About effing time; it’s embarrassing when the Chinese show the b*lls Western powers used to have...
This also shows that the West’s lack of assertiveness has left a vacuum for the chicoms to fill.
Implement a “No Boat” zone along the Somalian coast for the next 40 years.
“About effing time; it’s embarrassing when the Chinese show the b*lls Western powers used to have.”
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You took the words out of my mouth...I mean, fingers, except I was going to say “balls” ;)
Easy to say, but we’ve attacked enough as the cash rich chicoms sit.
Dead pirates? Go China!
And here's where the circle gets completed: Commerical boats from Asia wiped out the local fish populations, putting the Somali fishermen out of business. They turned to piracy to keep from starving. Now the Chinese want to kill them.
I hope the AP is wrong about the “unlikely to result in action” part.
Now, if we could just persuade the ChiComs to drop a nuke on Mecca.
Vaporize “Allah’s” “holy city”, and Islam will shudder and implode. A billion or so angry religious fanatics will dissolve into a disorganized mass of aimless zombies.
A few of whom will emerge from the Islamic mindfog and become genuine human beings.
“At some point you have to stop swatting flies and go for the manure pile.” General LeMay
They should move inland and look for oil.
Isn’t it about time to start to see the world we will become when China assumes world leadership,and we stay home and mine coal and grow food to ship to them?
Western liberals have been salivating over this for years.
What an opportunity for John F. Kerry to put on his CIA cap, man the PT Boats and take the fight to these Pirates of Arabia. I’m sure there’s a drunken Kennedy or 2 that need to launch their political careers.
China sees the Somali Pirates for what they are, Pirates. We (i.e. Zero) see them as future undocumented Democrat voters.
Why call for it? Just do it.
The Chinese have some huge number - at least 10 million? - excess males in the 18-35 warfighting demographic. What to do with them all?
Wars of conquest in places no one really cares about would seem to be one answer.
Let the ChiComs do it! It will take some of the heat off us!
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