China has plan to isolate India: US
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WASHINGTON - China has a plan to "isolate" India and Japan and project its power with an aim to control the Indian Ocean region, a US lawmaker warned on Thursday. Beijing, he said, has its eyes set on Taiwan, which it claims as part of China. The American lawmaker went on to say that Beijing's plan is to turn neighbouring country Taiwan into "a major nuclear and conventional military base."
By doing so, China will be able to project its influence into the Indian Ocean and be able to control the disputed South China Sea, he claimed.
Expressing concern over China's growing economic and military power, the US lawmaker warned that Beijing's long-term plan and ultimate intention is to "isolate both Japan and India" and have a major influence in the Indian Ocean region.
The American lawmaker, Richard D Fisher, of the International Assessment and Strategy Center told lawmakers on Thursday that Beijing has come up with a strategy for gaining eventual global military access called the "debt trap diplomacy".
"China may be using debt pressure right now to force Djibouti to limit US military access in that strategic base. It recently gained ownership of a new large port in Sri Lanka, again, by debt default. Vanuatu, Pakistan, Thailand and many others are vulnerable," Mr Fisher pointed out.
"A good reason to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which could be perhaps as early as the mid-2020s, is that China will turn Taiwan into a major nuclear and conventional military base," he said.
"This will then trigger Chinese moves to isolate Japan by consolidating even more control over the South China Sea. Beijing will then project its power into the Indian Ocean to isolate India. In Latin America, China will continue to exploit opportunities to cause trouble and gain military access," he claimed.
China claims almost all of South China Sea and has also laid claims on the Senkaku islands under the control of Japan in East China Sea. Beijing has already resorted to aggressive patrols in the region over the last two years. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the strategic and key waterway.
The United States periodically deploys its naval ships and fighter jets to assert and ensure freedom of navigation in the region, which is constantly under threat from China, he said.
"By the 2030s, the Chinese Air Force air mobile projection could be based on 100 to 200 large C-17 size Xian Y-20 heavy transports, and both their lightweight airborne forces and now medium-weight airborne projection forces are anticipated. China is assembling a power-projection Navy that, by the 2030s, may have the world's first totally nuclear-powered carrier battle group," Mr Fisher highlighted.
