A rude shock to American military superiority

US was surprised and shocked to see a Chinese submarine apeeared suddenly from nowhere in the midst of US / Japan naval drill in the East China Sea. The uninvited guest: Chinese sub pops up in middle of U.S. Navy exercise, leaving military chiefs red-faced When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed.At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders.That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory. Uninvited guest: A Chinese Song Class submarine, like the one that sufaced by the U.S.S. Kitty HawkAmerican military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board.By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier. According to senior Nato officials the incident caused consternation in the U.S. Navy.The Americans had no idea China's fast-growing submarine fleet had reached such a level of sophistication, or that it posed such a threat.One Nato figure said the effect was "as big a shock as the Russians launching Sputnik" - a reference to the Soviet Union's first orbiting satellite in 1957 which marked the start of the space age. The incident, which took place in the ocean between southern Japan and Taiwan, is a major embarrassment for the Pentagon. Battle stations: The Kitty Hawk carries 4,500 personnelThe lone Chinese vessel slipped past at least a dozen other American warships which were supposed to protect the carrier from hostile aircraft or submarines.And the rest of the costly defensive screen, which usually includes at least two U.S. submarines, was also apparently unable to detect it.According to the Nato source, the encounter has forced a serious re-think of American and Nato naval strategy as commanders reconsider the level of threat from potentially hostile Chinese submarines. It also led to tense diplomatic exchanges, with shaken American diplomats demanding to know why the submarine was "shadowing" the U.S. fleet while Beijing pleaded ignorance and dismissed the affair as coincidence. Analysts believe Beijing was sending a message to America and the West demonstrating its rapidly-growing military capability to threaten foreign powers which try to interfere in its backyard. The People's Liberation Army Navy's submarine fleet includes at least two nuclear-missile launching vessels. Its 13 Song Class submarines are extremely quiet and difficult to detect when running on electric motors. Commodore Stephen Saunders, editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, and a former Royal Navy anti-submarine specialist, said the U.S. had paid relatively little attention to this form of warfare since the end of the Cold War. He said: "It was certainly a wake-up call for the Americans. "It would tie in with what we see the Chinese trying to do, which appears to be to deter the Americans from interfering or operating in their backyard, particularly in relation to Taiwan." In January China carried a successful missile test, shooting down a satellite in orbit for the first time. The above was posted by Southglory in redbeanforum. What else does Admiral Michael Mullen wants to know from the Chinese? In this case, the Chinese is telling the American to buzz off or else...they have the capability to down the carrier if they wanted to. The Chinese could keep quiet about this technology and capability and let the Americans continue to have war games in their coastal waters or operate happily thinking that they can do it with impunity. This is a piece of friendly advice from the Chinese. Don't play in out backyard and think you can walk in and out anytime you like. The Chinese can close the door on the Americans.

Foreign talents in loan shark activities

Cheaper, better, faster and no strings attached. Foreign workers are now recruited to be runners for loan sharks. They are cheaper, hungrier, and nothing to lose. The last part spells big trouble. The more nothing to lose foreigners on the loose, the more dicey things will become. They will do anything. For the moment these foreign runners are still at the level of spray painting doors, locking doors and throwing shoes and slippers over the balcony. When else will they do when they graduated and move to a higher level of operation and higher risk? The police are confident that they can manage this problem. Why manage the runners when the loan sharks are the real source of the problem and weeding them out is like uprooting the grass? How many loan sharks have been caught? So far it seems that only the runners are caught. This problem does not seem to go away.

Joker of the Year - Admiral Michael Mullen

Below is a quote that warrants the award of Joker of the Year. ‘Raising a military to provide for the country’s own security, It’s own needs, that’s fine. That’s what we do. But some of the specific capabilities are very clearly focused and pointed at the USA. They are anti access capabilities. Talk to me about why you are developing these capabilities, other than thinking that we are the enemy…Those are the kinds of discussions I can’t have right now because I’m not sitting down with them. Admiral Michael Mullen. And this Joker even called on the Chinese to rein in Pyongyang. China should simply ignore him or tell him to get his 7th Fleet out of its economic zones before talking to him. China should also ask him to rein in the South Koreans from conducting provocative military exercises simulating attacks and landings on North Korean soils, and that including reining in the American forces too, from being the major partner of such exercises in the Yellow Sea. What an arrogant prick.

Celebrating Singaporeans - Professor Kishore Mahbubani

Foreign Policy Magazine Honors Professor Kishore Mahbubani as One of the World's Top 100 Global Thinkers SINGAPORE, Nov. 29, 2010 /Standard Newswire/ -- The National University of Singapore (NUS) is pleased to announce that Professor Kishore Mahbubani, a distinguished diplomat and Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) at NUS, has been selected by Foreign Policy magazine as one of its "Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2010", alongside prominent thinkers who shaped the world in 2010. Other prominent international global thinkers who were honored this year include Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair Bill Gates, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Robert Zoellick, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, US President Barack Obama and Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan. This is the second annual list of top global thinkers who shaped the world, and half of this year's top 100 Global Thinkers hail from outside the United States. Prof Mahbubani is honored by the magazine "for being the voice of a new Asian century." .... He is in good company except for Barack Obama. He is lucky that George Bush Jr is not in the list.

Time for China to conduct naval wargames with North Korea

The US-South Korean war game in the Yellow Sea ended yesterday and immediately South Korea announced that more war games will follow. It is time that China and North Korea also conduct naval war games in the same spot and see what the US and the South Koreans will say about it. If the US and South Koreans can do it, there is no reason why China and North Korea cannot do the same.