A convoy of Chinese military vehicles are seen in Fangchenggang City in Guangxi City near the Vietnam border (Weibo)
Chinese Military Said To Be Massing Near The Vietnam Border (+Photos) -- Epoch Times
Troops, tanks, trucks, artillery, and armored personnel carriers of China’s military were seen heading to the Vietnamese border on May 16 and 17, according to photographs taken by by residents near the border.
Chinese netizens have been posting photographs of the large movement of the People’s Liberation Army, many of them showing Chinese troops in full combat gear heading to the local train station in Chongzuo, along with military vehicles.
One netizen said the Chinese military was taking the train from the Chongzuo station to Pingxiang City, which shares a 60-mile border with Vietnam. The netizen said that the Huu Nghi Border Gate to Vietnam is also now closed.
Read more ....
Update #1: PLA troops spotted near China-Vietnam border -- Want China Times
Update #2: Large number of Chinese troops seen heading for China-Vietnam border -- China Daily Mail
Update #3: “Conflict Between China And Vietnam Is Imminent" - China Piles Troops, Tanks, Artillery And APCs Near Vietnam Border -- Zero Hedge
My Comment: The Chinese are not even hiding their deployment .... I guess they are sending a message to Hanoi.
6 comments:
Note four coincidences:
1. The Chinese tow the oil drilling rig into disputed waters.
2. Frustrated by their inability to thwart the Chinese at sea (without shooting) anti-Chinese riots suddenly happen in Vietnam. I suspect that the Vietnamese riots were every bit as spontaneous as those in Benghazi. Alarmed by the bloodshed and potential hostage situation, the Chinese are trying to get their people out.
3. Putin visits China. In addition to discussing trade, I'll wager that Putin and Hu discuss possible war in the South China Sea.
4. Chinese troop movements near the border with Vietnam. From this, I infer that if Vietnam makes a serious effort to interfere with the drill, such as an air strike against it, the PLA wants to have forces in place to invade Vietnam to teach them a "lesson". The last such lesson, in 1979, was a Chinese tactical victory (i.e. Chinese troops advanced 10 miles or so into Vietnam) but a strategic defeat (i.e China lost 50,000 men in 4 weeks and China's inadequate logistics were revealed). From China's perspective, a war with Vietnam is a great way to test their new military against a nation with no allies. China calculates: if Vietnam fights, China will win. If Vietnam does not fight, they are humiliated and China retains de facto control over the disputed waters.
The problem is that splendid little wars rarely go as planned. This reveals just how aggressive China is at the moment.
This is why I always read the comments thread in this blog. There are sometimes nuggets of analysis that deserve a large audience. In this case .... your analysis is spot on Publius.
I dont see any winners in the case of war.. if something history has teach us is that Vietnam is a fierce country to go against in their territory. All I see is a Huge bloodshed about to happen.
Specially when the vietnam population is angry at China right now
It's the lead-up to China's Short Victorious War.
We need to consider a policy of aggressive containment.
We live in interesting times. With the perceived decline of the US, the inaction of Syria and meaningless sanctions on Russia has probably emboldened China to these actions.
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