The first three links [1, 2, 3] detail the rapidly-expanding presence of Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean. The first link (the most detailed) reports that “at least 22 contacts” of Chinese subs have been made in the Indian Ocean by India and the USA, and that the presence of so many Chinese submarine sorties into the Indian Ocean is a “grave threat'” to India’s security. That is surely true. It is also a grave threat to all shipments of oil from the Persian Gulf which sail on oil tankers to many foreign destinations via the Indian Ocean. Furthermore, it is a very grave threat to the security of America’s large military base on the island of Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In the event of a conflict between China and the USA, how many Chinese submarines could suddenly surface and fire salvoes of cruise (or ballistic) missiles at all the US military assets on that island? The USA’s military ought to be greatly increasing its anti-missile defense capabilities at Diego Garcia if it wants that base to survive in any future war between China and the USA.
China is already ignoring international norms in its bellicose claims to all of the South China Sea and it is now increasingly present in the Indian Ocean as well. A recent post detailed the Chinese bases being built (or which have already been activated) at Gwadar, Pakistan as well as bases in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tanzania and the Maldive Islands. China clearly is implementing a military strategy to dominate the Indian Ocean, isolate India and such nations as India, the USA, Japan and all nations dependent on Persian Gulf oil need to unite to counter the rapidly-growing Chinese military threat in the Indian Ocean. India is the nation most threatened. The severity of the Chinese threat is making an Indian-American alliance steadily more imperative for both nations.
In a related (but less threatening) development, the Iranian navy has deployed warships into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in decades (see last link). This is meaningful as Russia, China and Iran are the three most prominent nations who have allied themselves together against the USA, Israel and the West–precisely fulfilling the prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 that this would occur in the “latter days” (Ezekiel 38:8 and 16) just prior to the end of this age when Divine intervention by the Creator God of the Bible occurs (Ezekiel 38:20 when God’s “presence” comes to the earth. China is clearly transforming its navy from a coastal/regional force into an oceanic, “blue-water” navy which intends to challenge the USA in many global locations.
These links indicate that 22 Chinese submarine contacts have been made by India and the USA. This begs the question of how many Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean were not detected by India, the USA or anyone else? China’s Navy department knows how many Chinese subs have sortied into the Indian Ocean so it can subtract the number of detected missions (22) from the number or actual missions and know what percentage of its subs were undetected. Maybe. It is standard procedure for all nations to try to make your potential rival underestimate your capabilities. With this in mind, it is possible that the Indian and US Navies are detecting far more Chinese subs than they have publicly acknowledged. That is what I would do if I were in charge of the US Navy. I wouldn’t dream of letting China actually know how many of its subs we were really detecting. I would acknowledge a sufficiently-large number of the detections just to let China know that its subs were being detected and monitored, but I would not reveal how successful the detection efforts really were. I hope the heads of the Indian and US navies are doing that same thing.
China’s strategic threat to the USA and its allies is growing steadily and globally, but few Americans are being told this truth.
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http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/04/16/intel-on-presence-of-chinese-subs-in-indian-ocean-makes-waves/
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http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/03/04/irans-navy-enters-the-pacific-ocean-for-first-time-since-1979/
