China Reform Monitor: No. 1127

September 28:

On September 26, 194 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers and men of the first peacekeeping force arrived home after completing a year in Mali. The second tranche, another 395 Chinese peacekeepers, have arrived in Gao, Mali to continue the mission. For more than 9 months the first group completed various tasks under the United Nations auspices and “won high praise from the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the local government and people,” the officialPLA Daily reports. The Shenyang Military Area Command, the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense, and the PLA’s 16th Group Army participated in the deployment.

September 30:

China has halted weapons sales to South Sudan amid allegations that Beijing sold millions in arms to the war-torn country in an attempt to undermine the peace process,RIA Novosti reports. “No more weapons are heading to South Sudan. There are some media reports that were alleging that the Chinese government was behind this business operation and wants to undermine this peace process. That is totally untrue,” said Lan Kun, an attaché at China’s Embassy in South Sudan. In June, China North Industries Group Corp, also known as Norinco, sent $38 million in arms to South Sudan. Since the deal came to light, however, Beijing decided to discontinue the sales. Violence erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused his ex-deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. Tens of thousands have been killed during the South Sudanese Civil War.

October 2:

To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China the PLA has conducted flag-raising ceremonies on nine islands and reefs in the disputed Paracel and Spratly island groups in the South China Sea. To solidify China’s claims, flag raising ceremonies were held on Woody Island, Tree Island, North Reef, Drummond Island, He Duck Island, Robert Island, Observation Bank and Antelope Reef in the Paracels and on Mischief Reef in the Spratlys. The events were reported by 40 official Chinese news websites simultaneously, Want China Times reports.

[Editor’s Note: Woody Island, the largest island of the Paracels, acts as the capital of Sansha prefecture established by China in 2012, comprising the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank – all disputed territories. Various buildings and facilities including a city hall, a bank, a post office, shops and an airfield have been constructed on the island. The Spratlys are claimed by China, Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Sovereignty over the Paracel Islands is contested between Taiwan, China and Vietnam.]

China’s development and reclamation of disputed reefs in the South China Sea is part of a plan to set up an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the region, Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Captain John Andrews, said in comments carried by Want China Times. Andrews warned that once China gains full control of the region through the construction of military facilities on numerous reefs in the Spratlys it will declare an ADIZ. Aerial survey data reveal that there are numerous construction projects on the reefs including hotels to cater to Chinese tourists. Andrews said China is accelerating construction to speed up its deployment of fighter jets and fleets to establish the ADIZ.

October 3:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has told Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh that Washington will lift its arms ban and sell lethal maritime security and surveillance capabilities to Hanoi, including air and sea assets that increase the Vietnam’s military capabilities in the South China Sea. Russia already provides Vietnam advanced fighters, submarines and warships, and if the U.S. sells advanced weapons systems such as helicopters and fighters, Vietnam will become a more formidable adversary for Beijing. Pham Binh Minh said China should not be concerned about where Vietnam purchases its weapons: “If we do not buy weapons from the United States, we still buy from other countries,” the Wall Street Journal reports him saying in New York. “Why should China bother?” Vietnam has earmarked hundreds of millions to strengthen its capability against China’s expansion into the South China Sea, he said.