Massive military movements spotted near China-N. Korea border, China warning N.Korea 'stop it...or else'.

@rConflictNews: Tank Destroyers Near North Korea's border seen on trains In Yanji #China - @Breaking911 pic.twitter.com/Giz00KiBXS #tcot #ccot

— sleeptalker (@AdamsAncestor) August 24, 2015

Massive military movements spotted near China-N. Korea border.(NKNews).

Military experts see China telling North Korea to halt further inflamations of current tension.

The movements of a mechanical unit at least the size of a brigade were spotted in the city of Yanji, China, in the autonomous region of Yanbian bordering North Korea.

According to pictures released on Chinese blogs, the mechanical units of the People’s Liberation Army were composed of PTZ-89 tank destroyers (Type 89), a PGZ-95 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (Type 95 SPAAA) and 155 mm self-propelled guns.

Pictures were first uploaded on the China-based microblogging service Weibo around Saturday. Despite the sudden and irregular movement of troops, the Chinese government has not confirmed or officially reported on the incident yet.

“The Chinese authorities appear to be censoring posts on the topic of the Yanji deployment by Weibo users and independent bloggers, as well as preventing media coverage of the troop movements,” said NK News China specialist Jennifer Dodgson. “Nevertheless, posts on Chinese internet forums citing overseas Chinese media reports on the matter continue to surface, including on state-owned platforms.”

“From what I know, it is not the first time they have sent units as big as this near the China–North Korea border,” said Kim Min-seok, researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum. “During the bombardment of Yeonpyeong in 2010 and after the purge of Jang Song Thaek in 2013, Chinese units were quickly sent to the area to prevent any unexpected surprises from the China-North Korea border.”

Kim also said that these mechanized units have one purpose, which is “to quickly resolve the inflamed situation by marching in North Korea, if necessary.”

“China’s message is simple: Their units are focused on quickly invading North Korea as fast as they can, suppressing all opponents with the maximum fire power that Chinese mechanized units can provide,” Kim said. “Also, these light-weight mechanized units will survive North Korea’s poor road conditions, which conventional heavy tanks can’t.”

He also noted that China’s PLA has repeatedly trained for crossing the Yalu River many times before, meaning that the Chinese Army would not find it hard to cross the river into North Korea should such an action become necessary.

“That mechanical brigade alone is powerful enough to obliterate the border defenses of North Korea, even before they realize it is coming. But they are certainly not strong enough to stand against the ROK-U.S. joint forces.”

The message, one expert said, is a reply to one the North previously sent China’s way.

“This is no joke, China is sending a very simple message to North Korea,” said Cha Du-hyeogn, the former secretary to President Lee Myung-bak for crisis information. “Back on (Friday), North Korea publicly stated that ‘no country in the world can stop’ North Korea from further escalating the current situation, and that message was directly aimed to tackle China, for them possibly trying to interfere and disrupt the goal that North Korea was trying to achieve from these recent provocations.”

Cha said that this movement is for demonstration purposes only, not for an actual invasion of North Korea.

“These movements are certainly not just for enhancing the border defenses between China and North Korea. Armed police forces are responsible for the China-North Korea border, but these units have nothing to do with border defenses, nor do they belong to the armed police.”

“But China won’t invade North Korea as it would only increase international tension. If there is one thing that China and the U.S. have in common, is that they neither one want to see North Korea become the center of an international incident,” he said. “China’s message is strong and simple: ‘Yes, we can stop you, if necessary.’”

He said, however, that this demonstration was not aimed against the U.S. or South Korea.

“If China really wanted to send a message against South Korea and the U.S., they would have used the navy or air force as weapon of choice, as none of the countries mentioned above share a land border with China. But why would they want to agitate South Korea and the U.S. when North Korea is clearly causing mayhem for the world?” Read the full story here.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says reports of North Korea deploying landing craft are not true.

— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) August 24, 2015

#SouthKorea to remove speakers from border with #NorthKorea if tensions ease http://t.co/fc6ld5xvgO pic.twitter.com/h6F4q0Q5ZS

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 24, 2015

Reports of North Korea deploying landing craft towards the frontline are not true: http://t.co/CE3fQk1hXh

— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) August 24, 2015

North Korea Sends 20 Assault Hovercraft to Yellow Sea http://t.co/G1yTYuiS0B

— Hussain (@HussainAlfa) August 24, 2015

North Korea Is Deploying Largest Submarine Fleet Since Korean War http://t.co/1AMSl0wcgb pic.twitter.com/AaY07rN0l7

— Y u no breaking news (@discoveringabot) August 24, 2015

Projections of #NorthKorea’s missile range. pic.twitter.com/ytwkIKvUNU

— Abishur Prakash (@AbishurPrakash) August 24, 2015

The US is ready to send B-52 bombers to South Korea if tensions with North Korea get any worse http://t.co/K0ZLpaS1TP

— Business Insider UK (@BI_Europe) August 24, 2015

#Russia #news If North Korea strikes, the West will shudder http://t.co/tJcm9hylex

— Pravda (@Eng_PravdaRu) August 24, 2015

Below The loudspeakers that started it all.

"To Lose Face or not?" - Chinese jets shadowed US and Japanese planes in new air defense zone.

"To Lose Face or not?" - Chinese jets shadowed US and Japanese planes in new air defense zone.(RT).

Two US surveillance aircraft and 10 Japanese F-15 jets were ‘tailed’ by Chinese pilots on Friday.China ordered an urgent dispatch of its Su-30 and J-10 fighter jets to an area in the East China Sea after the foreign aircraft “invaded” the air defense zone, they said. 

The reported intrusions came in defiance of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), established by Beijing last week.

China’s move has triggered outrage from several states in the region and critical rhetoric from the US, as the vast zone covers disputed areas, including the islets claimed by both China and Japan. 

Earlier on Thursday, the Chinese Air Force conducted its first air patrol flights over the zone, as Japan and South Korea sent their own military aircraft into the zone's airspace in an act of defiance.

China has stressed its decision to enforce the airspace identification zone - which requires all aircraft flying over or near it to identify themselves - follows common international practices and “is a necessary measure in China’s exercise of self-defense rights.”

No international flights will be affected by the setup of the zone, Chinese Air Force spokesman, Shen Jinke, told Xinhua.

Japan and its US ally blasted the decision as “unacceptable” and rejected the “unilateral” declaration, saying it would create dangerous tension. However, Chinese officials gave a reminder that both countries have long had their own ADIZ, and that the Japanese never discussed theirs with their neighbor.

“If they want it revoked, then we would ask that Japan first revoke its own air defense identification zone and China will reconsider it after 44 years,” China’s Defense Ministry spokesman, Yang Yujun, said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website on Thursday.

While possible action against the zone’s infiltrators has been vaguely defined as “defensive emergency measures,” The Global Times, a Chinese state media newspaper, on Friday called for “timely countermeasures without hesitation,” should Tokyo violate the new ADIZ.


At the same time, the paper suggested China could ignore violations by some other states, including the US. Two US military B-52 bombers flew over the area on Monday without prior notice, with a Pentagon spokesman telling Reuters we “have continued to follow our normal procedures.” 

Chinese 'Red Lines': China sends warplanes to newly declared air zone

CHINA – China has sent warplanes to its newly declared air defense zone in the East China Sea, state media reports.

The vast zone, announced last week, covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. China has said all planes transiting the zone must file flight plans and identify themselves, or face “defensive emergency measures.”

But Japan, South Korea and the U.S. have all since flown military aircraft through the area. Japanese restraint in the face of Chinese efforts to modify the status quo is currently keeping the peace, potentially to the detriment of Japan’s claim to the island.”

The new dispute in an already tense region has raised concerns it could escalate into an unplanned military incident.

China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted air force spokesman Col Shen Jinke as saying several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft had been deployed to carry out routine patrols as “a defensive measure and in line with international common practices.”

He said the country’s air force would remain on high alert and would take measures to deal with all air threats to protect national security. In Xinhua’s Chinese language version of the article, the colonel said the aircraft would “strengthen the monitoring of targets in the air defense zone and do their duty.”

B-52s sing the ‘pivot to Asia’ song....Another 'Obamination' in the make?

B-52s sing the ‘pivot to Asia’ song....Another 'Obamination' in the make?(RT).


The twin B-52s took off from a US base in Guam and breached China’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) only a few days after it had been announced. Lost in the usual ‘exceptionalism’ fog was the fact that both the US (in 1950) and Japan (in 1969), not to mention Russia, Indonesia and others, also imposed their own ADIZ – which essentially means planes entering a particular airspace must identify themselves.

Predictably, the Washington/Wall Street reaction to the B-52 show was loud cheers for the “cause of global security” against “China's increasingly aggressive military actions,” “Beijing's brinksmanship,” “serious violation of international law,” “threat to freedom of navigation” and attempt of “naked aggression.”

Even US ambassador to Japan, Carolyn Kennedy, went out on a limb to scold China for “raising tensions”.

Nonsense: The Pentagon – via Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel – and the State Department – via Secretary John Kerry – gave the game away when both condemned China’s ADIZ as an attempt to change “by force” the “status quo” over the Senkakus.

Worse: Washington insists Beijing is allegedly trying to “control” an immense area of the Western Pacific, which, of course, are God-given American waters. Thus Washington had to “send a message”; otherwise President Obama’s “pivot to Asia” will be stuck in credibility limbo.

So it’s all here, in a nutshell: the “pivot to Asia” once again proved to be a fundamental military strategy to “contain” China, part of the Pentagon’s Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine, which has been the US military Bible since 2002.  It’s always crucial to remember the “pivot” was officially announced by Obama at the Pentagon.

SUBHEADER: There will be payback

The US Air Force insisted the B-52s were unarmed and there was “no communication” with the Chinese. That implies the Chinese had to infer, in a flash, that the B-52s were not lethal. China’s Ministry of Defense duly confirmed they “monitored” the B-52s all along.

An ADIZ is essentially a notification zone. Even Taiwan – not exactly a cheerleader of Beijing – officially announced that China’s ADIZ is peaceful. And the islands in fact are closer to Taiwan than to either Japan or China. So the B-52 adventure cannot be construed as anything else but a provocation.
Now imagine if Beijing had decided to scramble jet fighters to intercept the B-52s, followed by the US Air Force scrambling their jet fighters from Japanese bases. The whole B-52 adventure could have gone lethally wrong.

The provocation, on top of it, has made a mockery of the “international law” so prized by Washington. Nothing now prevents China or Russia, for example, to fly their own nuclear bombers through Japan's ADIZ.

Chinese media accused both the US and Japan of overreacting, stressing China has an equal right to impose its own ADIZ, which is not targeted at “any particular country.”
What makes it even more absurd is that China and Japan made a deal in 2008 to cooperate on the joint development of the East China Sea. Yet nothing concrete came out of it.

There’s also a crucial factor that Beijing cannot admit publicly. Based on reams of ancient texts, Beijing is adamant that the islands have been Chinese territory since “immemorial times”, until they were captured by the Japanese in 1895. So it’s back to those venomous strands of mutual nationalistic hatred and their manipulation by current Japanese Prime Minister Shinto Abe. One of the reasons Beijing has imposed the ADIZ is to prevent deranged Japanese nationalists from parachuting into the islands to literally plant the flag.

This post by The Saker argues the definitive case about Washington’s cowboy behavior and its implications for the geopolitics of the Western Pacific. When it comes to the Pentagon’s Full Spectrum Dominance and its offshoot, the “pivot to Asia,” there’s no room for soft power and diplomacy, not to mention the alleged superpower’s “responsibility.” The B-52s splendid adventure is the equivalent of the NSA snooping on the mobile phones of political leaders around the world. 

Did Beijing get the message? You bet they did. Professor Sun Zhe at Tsinghua University in Beijing observes China won’t allow itself to be in a position of being a paper tiger: “If the United States conducts two or three more flights like this, China will be forced to respond. If China can only respond verbally it would be humiliating.”

There will be a non-verbal response. Expect stealth, lightning fast developments regarding Chinese nuclear submarines, missiles with multiple nuclear warheads, and all sorts of asymmetric strategies. 

Yet, most of all, don't expect a spectacular response. Sun Tzu rules. Payback will come. It will be swift. And when US exceptionalism least expects it.