Stratfor: China May Set Its Navy on Course for the Persian Gulf
Highlights
* China has long wanted to extend its maritime reach and has major strategic interests in energy supplies that transit the Persian Gulf.
* The U.S. call for nations to join Operation Sentinel, which would see naval escorts for commercial shipping, gives China an opportunity to do both — but Washington might not welcome Chinese participation, and China itself has reservations.
* If tensions continue to escalate in the Persian Gulf, however, Beijing may find it has no choice but to have a security presence in the Middle East.
China has become the latest country to voice interest in becoming involved in the proposed U.S. naval security plan for the Persian Gulf. On Aug. 6, Chinese Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Ni Jian said China is considering having its navy escort its commercial ships in the region, and that Beijing is also looking at the U.S. proposal for Gulf escorts. Ni hedged that China would only move in this direction in the event of a "very unsafe situation" in the Persian Gulf. If the Chinese decide to proceed, this would mark a significant step forward in China's military and naval presence in the region.
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WNU Editor: China is dependent on oil supplies from the Persian Gulf. Any disruption in oil shipments will be be a major disruption to the Chinese economy, with profound political implications to President Xi and his government. The question that needs to be asked is not "will the Chinese Navy set course to the Persian Gulf", but why have they not done so in the past year, and when will they be there in the future.
2 comments:
"China is dependent upon oil supplies from the Persian Gulf." Oil and oil related products are the "life blood" of a semi-modern economy let alone a fully modern one such as China's. As such, any nation would be expected to take steps to ensure that it has access to a stable and reasonably price supply of oil by whatever means are necessary to ensure this.
I tend to agree the question is not will China do this but when and why have they not done so already. they could be positioning themselves to provide security for tankers traveling the Strait of Hormuz. Also, there may be a lucrative oil deal with Iran as part of the deal as well.
I agree, it is obviously in their (and rightfully so) interest to secure the oil line. Especially with Iran acting the way they are. But then again, this is just power play 101, not even worth commenting on. It happens for sure, unless China fears even more backlash.. think about it.. no one likes China's stand on Taiwan. Their stand on Hong Kong. Sending the military against protesters and filming it like this. Would you do this to your brothers and sisters? Like wtf? I know this was all in Chinese and a message for their internal (Hong Kong, and perhaps Taiwan audiences) but they must know this will be circulated.. again and again they make this massive blunders, these huge geopolitical miscalculations, especially in the culture and pr and global alliances division. Holy smokes.. if they make such mistakes in the military and perhaps start a shooting war with Vietnam (like they almost had 2 years ago) or with India (like they almost did 1 year ago) or the Philippines... or the US.. ffs if they make such mistakes in politics, and ignorantly so, then what else will happen if they think they've got it all figured out? We already have had the 1million Urdus in reeducation camps. The torture of book sellers. The observation state. The military/gestapo tactics of intimidation. All that intellectual property theft. We all see it - one plane of the US copied after another. One drone after another. How Xi is an emperor for life. How they claim territory like the 9 dash line. How Xi tells the military not to fear death. How they are sworn in to him personally, like Hitler did. Like wtf!
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