1st Island Chain + Submarines on CN Shopping List

choi

(1) Peter Enav, Disputed Asian Islands Part of ‘First Island Chain’ That Could Restrict China’s Navy. Associated Press, Dec 24, 2012.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wo ... 0daa43_story_1.html

Note:
(a)
(i) Su-ao, Yilan  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su-ao,_Yilan

View the map only.
(ii) 宜蘭縣 蘇澳鎮公所
http://www.suao.gov.tw/releaseRe ... 183&pageID=3039
("歷史由來：　蘇澳古為番社盤居，漢人鮮人，當時稱『港口』、『東港』、內地稱『施八坑』，相傳於清嘉慶二十五年間，有一位福建泉州人氏蘇士尾者率鄉勇四十四人扺此墾荒有成而定居，後人為紀念先賢蘇氏開疆拓土功績，將其姓『蘇』字與港灣的『澳』字結合，稱之為【蘇澳】")
(b)
(i) first island chain
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/first_island_chain
(Etymology  From a Mandarin term)
(ii) Yesterday in a local bookstore I browsed through
Robert D Kaplan; The Revenge of Geography; What the map tells us about coming conflicts and the battle against fate. Random House, 2012.
http://www.robertdkaplan.com/

, which said the same thing as Wiktionary. In fact, up until yesterday I thought the term was invented by Westerners. (He maintains in the book that taking control of Taiwan (the island alone, setting aside human resources) would provide China liberating effect psychologically on prohjecting naval power.) Mr Kaplan's book also asserted that Mongols' incursion from the north ended Ming dynasty's foray into Indian Ocean; before both Taiwnaese and Western books said the foray ended inexplicably. Because Mr Kaplan's book is for general audience, he does not supply proof for these two propositions.
(iii) I left Taiwean in 1984. Before that, I had not heard of the term in Taiwan.
(c) NI Lexiong/ Shanghai University of Law and Political Science
倪 乐雄/ 上海政法学院

(2) It's Quiet Out There, Too Quiet. Strategy Page, Dec 19, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/articles/20121219.aspx

(3)
(a) 仿制遇困境 俄中军火交易又趋活跃.
http://www.voachinese.com/conten ... 121222/1570336.html

Quote:

"俄罗斯商人日报最近以头版头条的方式报道，俄罗斯同中国在今年8月签署了一项框架协议，双方将联合研制并建造4艘阿穆尔级柴电潜艇。这笔军火交易的总金额达20亿美元。中国可能抢先印度和委内瑞拉，成为第一个购买和装备这种新式俄罗斯潜艇的国家。潜艇交易项目已被列入普京总统同中国领导人高峰会谈中的一项主要议题。

"从上个世纪90年代中期起，中国总共从俄罗斯采购了12艘基洛级柴电潜艇。但阿穆尔级潜艇的静音和水下隐蔽性能，以及战力都要超过基洛级潜艇。阿穆尔级的第一艘潜艇圣彼得堡号在2010年装备俄罗斯海军。

Note: Amur class submarine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amur_class_submarine
(latest Russian submarine class which are advertised as the export version of the Lada class, a highly improved version of the Kilo-class submarine)

* The Russian noun "lada" is "swan" in English.
(b) Ilya Kramnik, Russian subs for Chinese Navy. Voice of Russia, Dec 21, 2012.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_12_21/Russian-subs-for-Chinese-Navy/
(c) "China may become the first buyer of the Amur-1650 submarines, beating out India and Venezuela, both of which previously expressed interest, Kommersant said."
The Moscow Times, Dec 20, 2012.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/bu ... marines/473437.html

* There is no need to read the rest of this report.
(d) Expert: China's Submarines Close to World Level. People's Daily, Dec 17, 2012.  
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90786/8060235.html