SP's Military Yearbook 2009-2010 by SP Guide Publications Pvt Ltd

365 SP's MILITARY YEARBOOK | 2009-2010 | 39th Year of Issue

CONCEPTS & PERSPECTIVES TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS INDIAN DEFENCE ASIAN WHO’S WHO

 Abbreviations & Index toward rear of yearbook

and scope of China’s military transformation has increased in recent years, fuelled by acquisition of advanced foreign weapons, continued high rates of investment in its domestic defence and science and technology industries, and far reaching organisational and doctrinal reforms of the armed forces. China’s ability to sustain military power at a distance remains limited, but its armed forces continue to develop and field disruptive military technologies, including those for anti-access/area denial, as well as for nuclear space and cyber warfare, that are changing regional military balances and that have implications beyond the Asia-Pacific region.” Tensions between North Korea and the US resurfaced during 2008 due to disagreements over the six-party talks over the disarmament process. The talks began to break down after the US insisted on more intrusive verification measures than North Korea was prepared to accept. On October 8, 2008, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors were forbidden by the North Korean government to conduct further inspections of the site. But two days later, the US removed North Korea from the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list and the Yongbyon deactivation process was expected to resume. On April 25, 2009, however, the North Korean government announced that the country’s nuclear facilities had been re-activated and spent fuel reprocessing for arms-grade plutonium has been restored. On May 25, 2009, North Korea confirmed to have performed a second “successful” underground nuclear test. The same day a successful short range missile test was also conducted. The confirmation came little more than an hour after the US Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.7 seismic disturbance on the proximity of the site of North Korea’s first nuclear test conducted in October 2006. This was confirmed by other agencies such as the International Data Center of the Comprehensive Nuclear-TestBan Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), and the Japanese Meteorological Center. Thereafter, North Korea began insisting on bilateral discussions with the US which were not accepted by the latter and North Korea was asked to join the six party talks on denuclearising Korean Peninsula, which they had quit in April 2008. The US spokesman said that in future they would be guided by what North Korea does, not by what North Korea says. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton while welcoming North Korea’s return to the talks, said that any improvement of relations would depend on credible actions by the North Koreans. No normalisation of ties was possible with a nuclear North Korea, she said. Taiwan poses another threat to peace in East Asia. Unification of Taiwan with the mainland is central to China’s thinking and it has not ruled out the use of force. Most Taiwanese, however, continue to remain opposed to the

ast Asia and the Pacific Rim cover all the Asian countries east of Myanmar. Australia, though not strictly a part of the region, has been included because of its strategic location astride the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The three important powers in the region are the United States, China and Japan. China is the largest country in this region and a major concern for the other countries of the region who wish to cope with its growing economic and military might. China, while being apprehensive of the US hegemony and assertiveness, is also aware that the latter’s presence in the area prevents an independent military role for Japan, its historical antagonist. Four major issues continue to impact the security environment in East Asia: China-Japan relations, North Korea, Taiwan, and international terrorism. Japan’s long chain of invasions and war crimes in China between 1894 and 1945 as well as modern Japan’s attitude towards its past are major issues affecting the current and future Sino-Japanese relations. Sino-Japanese relations had worsened because of the repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine by former Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi. One consequence was a complete freeze in mutual visits at the highest political levels between 2001 and 2006. Even exchanges at other levels were affected. The ice was broken in 2006 when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited China, and the ice began to thaw when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Japan in 2007. These two Prime Ministerial visits set the stage for President Hu Jintao’s “warm-spring” visit to Japan between May 6 and 11, 2008. On August 30, 2009, after fifty-four years of essentially one-party rule, the Japanese people voted overwhelmingly to usher in a completely new government and a new way of thinking. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which ruled Japan since 1955, was completely rejected. Obtaining only 119 out of 480 seats of the House of Representatives (the lower Diet), the LDP took a second seat to the younger and fresher Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The DPJ won 308 seats in the House, ensuring that their leader, Yukio Hatoyama, would become Prime Minister. The DPJ’s victory guarantees that much change will come to Japan. In the first few weeks of tenure, Prime Minister Hatoyama called for the complete transformation of the traditional government-bureaucracy relationship, the need to rework Japan’s economic recovery plan, and has called for a review of the US troops stationed in Japan. The US has continued to express concern over the growth of China’s influence and military power in the Asia-Pacific region. In its annual report to the Congress in 2009, the US Department of Defense note, “The pace

REGIONAL BALANCE

East Asia, Paciﬁc Rim & Australia

WEAPONS EQUIPMENT VEHICLES

CONTENTS