Tuesday, June 05, 2012

The Taipei Thunderbolt

Strategypage says that a new Chinese airfield might turn out to be an expensive mistake (The Fujian Folly) if no oil is discovered around the Senkaku Islands:

China has built a new airbase on the coast of northeastern Fujian, which is opposite northern Taiwan. The new base was built on a long ridge and is guarded by S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. Su-30 and J-10 fighters have already been seen at the base. The new airbase is the closest one to the disputed (with Taiwan and Japan) Senkaku Islands near Okinawa. The new airbase enables Chinese fighters to be over those islands in less than 15 minutes.

China carves a base at great expense opposite northern Taiwan to host modern fighters and long-range air defense missiles, and the target is assumed to be the potential oil resources of the Senkaku Islands rather than the actual capital of Taiwan, a core interest of China whose capture our Department of Defense continues to say is the focus of China's military build up?

The Fujian Folly? More like the Taipei Thunderbolt, if you ask me.

We should really make China work harder for their deception campaign than believe something as flimsy as this excuse.