By Ankit Panda

December 11, 2014

"A few mid-week defense and security links:

IHS Jane's 360 reports on a Chinese PLA air-and-sea exercise in the Pacific this December in close proximity to Japan's Okinawa. The exercise takes place just south of Japanese territory and involves a variety of hardware including a Type 052 Luhu-class destroyer, a Type 051C Luzhou-class destroyer, and two Type 054A Jiangkai II-class frigates. The exercise comes at a time when relations between China and Japan have improved ever so slightly despite their territorial dispute in the East China Sea over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. China has also reduced aerial and naval provocations in the region over the past few months.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry announced earlier this week that it will move ahead with plans to purchase two frigates from the United States despite China’s opposition to the sale. The bill to authorize the sale of U.S. Perry-class missile frigates to Taiwan received unanimous approval in the U.S. Senate. Back in April, a similar bill cleared the U.S. House of Representatives with vocal Chinese protest. According to a spokesperson for the Taiwanese Defense Ministry, the deal will run Taiwan around $176 million. As Flashpoints columnist J. Michael Cole has noted, the strategic utility of these frigates to the Taiwanese navy is questionable. In any armed conflict between China and Taiwan, the latter would be unable to protect these frigates from Chinese attacks."

Read more:

http://thediplomat.com/2014/12/china-holds-air-and-sea-exercise-near-okinawa/ 

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