PDF(2.7mb) - 國家政策研究基金會

PLAN Looks beyond Taiwan 177
China Sea archipelagoes of the Paracels, Spratlys, and
the Macclesfield Bank. 18
In November 2008, the South China Sea Fleet sent
a 071 amphibious transport dock and a 052C destroyer
as a task group on a patrol mission. The group patrolled
the Pratas Islands, Macclesfied Bank, and the Spratlys.
It arrived at James Shoal, where a boundary mark of the
People’s Republic was submerged. 19
2 . Importance of Sea Lanes
China consumes approximately 7.58 million barrels
of oil per day. By 2015 the daily consumption will
rise to 10-12 million barrels. The People’s Republic has
been the world’s third largest importer of oil and second
largest consumer since 2003. Over 53 percent of oil
is imported and shipped through the Malacca or Lombok
Straits.
The two straits are most important maritime highways
or segments of international shipping routes for
energy and other resources. 20 Increased dependence on
overseas resources will bring Beijing to exert a greater
effort by Chinese naval forces to protect the trade flow
and show the flag in ports of countries that are considered
important trading partners. "The oceans are our
lifelines. If commerce were cut off, the economy would
plummet," says Ni Lexiong, a fellow at the Shanghai
National Defense Institute and an outspoken proponent
18 On October 26 Wenchang municipal party committee
secretary Xie Min disclosed that Hainan will
have the new city of Sansha. China Times, Nov. 21,
2007
19 See www.wforum.com, Dec. 10 2008, “A 052C
guide missile destroyer has put a sovereignty monument
under James Shoal.”
20 As China Grows So Does Its Long Neglected Navy,
GORDON FAIRCLOUGH Article, JULY 16, 2007,
WSJ,
of Chinese sea power. "We need a strong navy," he
adds. 21
China’s naval construction plan indicates that the
PLAN will be called upon to protect the SLOC in the
next few years and to keep open the checkpoints relevant
to China's trade flow. SLOC defense falls under
four categories: coastal, regional, inter-regional, and
global defense. Coastal SLOC defense is solid. First
priority is given the security of the South China Sea to
ensure regional SLOC defense.
The Yalong Bay naval base can accommodate
three or four nuclear submarines in the future. The
PLAN has assigned all their new missile destroyers to
the South Sea Fleet to strengthen its air defense capability.
22 The combat radius of land-based fighters has
been lengthened, the aim being to let the fleet carry out
missions of commanding the sea without the air coverage
from the land.
The PLAN is now capable of carrying out regional
SLOC defense or South China Sea SLOC protection.
But if China wants to conduct checkpoint defense in the
South China Sea, 23 the PLAN must be more powerful
than all Southeast Asian navies combined and cope
with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)
and the Indian Navy. The PLAN has yet to acquire that
much power. Inter-regional SLOC defense, which entails
the keeping of security along the sea lanes from
China to the Persian Gulf with a distance of 5,500 nautical
miles, is a tremendous job. It entails development
of an ocean-going fleet matching that of the JMSDF or
the Indian Navy and acquisition of a series of overseas
bases. The job can be done only if China earmarks an
21 As China Grows So Does Its Long Neglected Navy,
GORDON FAIRCLOUGH Article, JULY 16, 2007
WSJ,
22 See Kanwa News, July 30, 2005.
23 Such as the Malacca Strait, Lombok Strait and Sunda
Strait.