China slams planned US Air Force deployment of six B-52 bombers to northern Australia

[oioioi]

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corp.

China has responded to reports the United States is preparing to deploy nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to northern Australia, saying the move could trigger an arms race.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian slammed the planned deployment and said the move would increase regional tensions.

He said the US had "increased regional tensions, seriously undermined regional peace and stability, and may trigger a regional arms race".

"China urges the parties concerned to abandon the old Cold War zero-sum thinking and narrow geopolitical concepts, do more to contribute to regional peace and stability, and enhance mutual trust," Mr Zhao said.

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-31/china-slames-planned-deployments-of-b52-bombers-to-australia/101598442

[ColinC]

1. F them

They the ones that have building up and keep doing it. We’re just protecting our assets.

[Voltaire2]

14. australia is 'ours'?

China does not have a fleet operating continuously off of our coast, does not have military bases installed around us, and spends about 1/5 of what we spend in annual military spending.

The only 'assets' that are 'ours' in the region are Guam Samoa and the Northern Marianas. Nobody, including China, is posing any threat to those 'assets'.

Please consider the possibility that we are being set up through xenophobic propaganda to support conflict with China.

[sarisataka]

15. If China attempts

To take Taiwan by force, would that be none of our business? After all, Taiwan is not "ours".

[Voltaire2]

17. Well again, Taiwan is not 'our asset'.

We agreed to de-recognize Taiwan as an independent nation when we normalized relations with China during the Nixon administration. So Taiwan is not, as far as the US is concerned, officially a nation-state. We have a huge non-embassy there, with which we maintain non-diplomatic relations with the not-a-state.

China is very unlikely to directly invade Taiwan. If it comes to a conflict, an economic embargo is a far more likely scenario, and one that we would be hard pressed to do anything about, despite our massive military presence in the region.

China is more likely to just continue doing what it is doing: building up military bases and capabilities in its coastal regions to effectively counter our blue water fleet forces, and continuing its long term efforts at integrating Taiwan into the Chines economy.

[sarisataka]

19. You didn't answer the question

It was deemed unlikely Russia would launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine.

IF China were to attempt to take Taiwan by force, would that be none of our business?

[Voltaire2]

24. lol. That was not unlikely at all.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and at the same time upped its operations in eastern Ukraine, laying the ground work for future annexation, and openly threatened its invasion of Ukraine for months leading up to the current mess. Who 'deemed it unlikely'?

So the status with Taiwan is that we are continuing our long term policy of strategic ambiguity w.r.t. an invasion of Taiwan. The ambiguity is 'nukes or no nukes'. It is entirely clear that the fleet we have parked off of China will be used to defend Taiwan. The issue is what happens if China's near shore capabilities prove too much for us, and that is where 'strategic ambiguity' comes in, and why we play nuke games every now and then like the current b-52 deployment.

So I'll reframe your question: am I ok with starting a nuclear war to defend Taiwan, resulting in the likely deaths of millions of people? No. I am not. Are you?

[ColinC]

26. Interesting that you seemed to ignore my clarification

…of what I meant by “asset” despite the fact you responded to the post. They are a close ally and the alliance is in itself an asset. We protect our alliances and defend their countries just the same as they would for us in the capacity that has been agreed.

[sarisataka]

28. Who 'deemed it unlikely'?

A large percentage of DU. Just a couple days ago I was told there was no reason to expect an invasion because Putin said Russia would not invade.

I believe China's near shore capabilities are over rated. While they are not a paper tiger (as many often dismiss) the idea that every missile will inevitably sink a US ship is equally unrealistic.

As for the B-52s, that is a signal not a strike group. While they are nuclear capable so are many planes. Including ones on the carriers. The conventional strike capabilities of the B-52 are a greater concern to China.

Nukes would not be needed to defend Taiwan, just to prevent a successful invasion. To do that would not require going near the Chinese mainland. An invasion force is most vulnerable when it is at sea. That the air and waters around Taiwan would be contested are sufficient to prevent the event from happening.

Interesting however that there is much less concern over a nuclear exchange with Russia. A country with far greater nuclear capabilities than China.

[EX500rider]

33. Pretty sure China wants no part of a nuclear war with the US

Nuclear arsenals
United States - 5,550
China - 350

We have 15x's the nukes they do and most of theirs can not reach the US, they only have 70+- long range ICBM's.

American nuclear forces on land consist of 400 Minuteman III ICBMs spread among 450 operational launchers. Those in the seas consist of 14 nuclear-capable Ohio-class Trident submarines with 24 Trident II missiles apiece, nine in the Pacific and five in the Atlantic. Nuclear capabilities in the air are provided by 60 nuclear-capable heavy bombers, 20 B-2 bombers and 40 B-52s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction#Delivery_systems_estimates

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_of_the_United_States#Delivery_systems

[catsudon]

22. elon musk

i didn't know you have an account on du

[Voltaire2]

25. Is that an argument or just an insult?

[dalton99a]

31. You are ignoring their bullshit territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere

China's aggressive land grabbing in the region is what caused the problem

[ColinC]

16. Yes. They are ours. And we are theirs.

That is what it means to have strong allies. We do not own their country, but we do own the responsibility to defend their country as if it was our own. As do they with us. That is what I mean by “asset.”

[Voltaire2]

18. China is going to invade Australia?

That is utter nonsense.

[ColinC]

20. I trust Biden to honor our military commitments as CIC

In the way that he sees best.


He has done a more than adequate job thus far.

[EX500rider]

27. Australia is our Ally

And if they want us to station bombers there nobody else's business... Especially China with their attempts to take over the entire South China Sea.

[Voltaire2]

35. Cuba was the USSR's ally.

We almost had a nuclear war over soviet nukes in Cuba.

Rattling the nukes is not a great way to conduct foreign policy. It’s shit when Putin does it in Ukraine, it’s shit when Kim does it, and it’s shit when we do it.

It has the extra super effect of encouraging other nations to develop their own nuclear capabilities so they too can join in the game.

[EX500rider]

36. No one said we are stationing nukes in Australia

Just some old bombers that can carry nukes like most bombers.
Also Australia is very far from China, Cuba is 90 mi from the US

[Voltaire2]

38. lol

the only point was nuke rattling.

[EX500rider]

39. However it's highly unlikely they are carrying nukes to Australia we have to pick those up at Guam

[MarineCombatEngineer]

37. Nuclear capable aircraft is not rattling,

those B-52's are quite capable of delivering conventional weapons on a target, that's what worries China, not that we will launch a nuclear weapon at them.

China has brought this on themselves by their building artificial islands for military use and attempting to control the S. China Sea by way of intimidation.

[Evolve Dammit]

2. When we allowed Putin to take Crimea it was wrong. China cannot be unchecked. Balance needed.

[David__77]

3. This is indeed Cold War type geopolitics.

…

[JustAnotherGen]

4. It is what it is

[MarineCombatEngineer]

6. Best post yet.

[JustAnotherGen]

13. I point blank don't care

If they are pissed off. They need to get used to it.

[Historic NY]

5. Then that means we are on the right foot

Regional arms race China has been building a mass of new ship and planes, many with stolen technology from the US. They have sacrificed trust for their own geopolitical goals.

Hell, they are even island building for strategic bases.

[JohnSJ]

7. and China's rhetoric about accelerating their takeover of Taiwan doesn't increase regional tensions

give me a break

[Aviation Pro]

8. An airplane that's been operational since the 50s

Is causing the Chinese to quake in their authoritarian boots?

Should tell you something about the readiness of the world's largest marching band.

Stay to the end, they practice this crap for three months.

[sl8]

10. To be fair, the stand-off munitions & cruise missiles they carry are pretty new. nt

[Aviation Pro]

11. But it's all about the airframe

Yes, there is a wide difference between the cutting-edge technology of the 50s and today's modern technology and payload, but the optics of being afraid of the Buff and its eight engines is laughable given China and Xithead's puffery about their 'standing' army.

Don't get me started on their pilots.

[Gore1FL]

9. The people launching feigned attacks against Taiwan are concerned about...

"...increased regional tensions."

Sounds legit.

[Fla Dem]

12. Where is China warning N Korea about their increased missile activity this year?

North Korea’s Missile Activity: Japan’s Response

BY: DANIEL R. DEPETRIS
OCTOBER 21, 2022FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MILITARY AFFAIRS
Facebook

This year has proven to be an especially busy time for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his country’s defense industrial base. North Korea has launched more than 40 missiles of various types and ranges in 2022. Six of those tests occurred this month, including an October 12 launch of two cruise missiles that traveled more than 1,200 miles before landing in the East Sea (Sea of Japan). North Korea’s decision to resume intercontinental ballistic missile tests in March, which broke a nearly four-year unilateral moratorium of such activities, was not only the beginning of a more aggressive testing schedule, but was a direct repudiation of the benign atmosphere that has existed since 2018.

More>>>>

https://www.38north.org/2022/10/north-koreas-missile-activity-japans-response/

[TeamProg]

21. Look at a map. China is a good ways away. It's not like the U.S. is deploying to Taiwan..n/t

[Martin68]

23. "Trigger an arms race?" China is already engaged in one.

[nycbos]

30. It's like Russia. Everything they say is a projection or a confession.

[Martin68]

34. Reminds me of the GOP, too.

[nycbos]

29. Translation...

... we want to bully neighbors into accepting our ridiculous territorial claims America is not allowing us. It's not fair.

[dalton99a]

32. +1. The water molecules in the East Australian Current may have come from

the North Pacific Current which may contain water molecules from the East China Sea

therefore China is entitled to claim Australia - and New Zealand, too