Pentagon to Call Off Planned Amphibious Vehicles

choi

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Christopher Drew, Cutting Deeper at the Pentagon; Landing vehicle for Marine Corps said next in line for cancellation; . New York Times, Jan. 6, 2011 (title in the print).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/business/06marine.html?scp=1&sq=amphibious&st=cse

Quote:

"Mr. [Robert] Gates, moreover, has questioned whether amphibious assaults, which were crucial in World War II and the Korean War, make sense now that adversaries can fire missiles at ships and tanks from many miles away.

"Even though they have handled some of the toughest fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marines have been eager to get back to their traditional role as an amphibious fighting force.

My coment: PLA will do well to heed Quotation 1. There are not many beaches in Taiwan, in the first place (most of its coasts are mud)


------------------------------------Separately
(1) 维基解密：习近平熟悉西方. VOA Chinese, Jan. 5, 2011.
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110105-China-New-Leader-Wikileak-112941544.html

My comment: The report is based on

Malcolm Moore, China's next president 'redder than the red;' The man who will take over as China's paramount leader next year is only of "average intelligence" and women find him "boring", a close friend has reportedly told US diplomats. Telegraph, Jan. 3, 2010.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8237411/Chinas-next-president-redder-than-the-red.html

Do not let RELATED ARTICLES" fool you. I thought it was the ned of the stories but other reports that keep referencing the Telegraph report had more information than it (the latter) appeared to be. At last I ventured below and found the rest of the Telegraph report.

(2) 维基解密：金正日曾表示不再信任中国. BBC Chinese, Jan. 5, 2011.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/world/2011/01/110105_kim_china_hyundai.shtml

Note: 现代主席 玄 贞恩  HYUN Jeong-eun, Hyundai chairman

(3) Seoul says undersea tunnels with Japan, China economically infeasible. Yonhap, Jan. 4, 2010.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/01/04/39/0301000000AEN20110104010300315F.HTML
("KTI has conducted a feasibility study into a project to link China's Weihai with four locations on the Korean Peninsula's western coast, including Incheon, as well as into a project to connect South Korea's Busan with Japan's Fukuoka via Tsushima Island")

Note:
(a) Weihai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihai
(威海; known in Taiwan by its old name 威海衛)
(b)  Take a look at the map in
Tsushima Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsushima_Island
(Tsushima is the closest Japanese territory to the Korean peninsula, lying approximately 50 km from Busan/ The nearest Japanese port Iki 壱岐, situated entirely in the Tsushima Basin, is also 50 km away)
(c) By comparison, the narrowest of the Taiwan Strait is 100 miles (160 km).

If Chinese still want to build a tunnel to reach Taiwan, they are welcome. However, China should shoulder the costs--alone.
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