Interesting times. . .

From The Washington Times:

A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times has learned.

The surprise encounter highlights China's continuing efforts to prepare for a future conflict with the U.S., despite Pentagon efforts to try to boost relations with Beijing's communist-ruled military.

The submarine encounter with the USS Kitty Hawk and its accompanying warships also is an embarrassment to the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. William J. Fallon, who is engaged in an ambitious military exchange program with China aimed at improving relations between the two nations' militaries.

Disclosure of the incident comes as Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet, is making his first visit to China. The four-star admiral was scheduled to meet senior Chinese military leaders during the weeklong visit, which began over the weekend.

According to the defense officials, the Chinese Song-class diesel-powered attack submarine shadowed the Kitty Hawk undetected and surfaced within five miles of the carrier Oct. 26.

The surfaced submarine was spotted by a routine surveillance flight by one of the carrier group's planes. The Kitty Hawk battle group includes an attack submarine and anti-submarine helicopters that are charged with protecting the warships from submarine attack. According to the officials, the submarine is equipped with Russian-made wake-homing torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.


The Navies of the USA and the USSR used to do this kind of thing all the time. The Russians don't have the capability of pulling something like this off any more and the US got slack. We are going to have to keep up our guard now because if that Chinese sub had launched nuclear torpedoes or missiles the Kitty Hawk would be gone now. The submarine would not have survived, but a sub for a carrier is a more than worthwhile trade.

What is important here is that the sub surfaced in order to be seen. The Chinese are sending a message.

The message is that the US surface fleet, which is built around its multi-billion dollar aircraft carriers, is not safe from the Chinese Navy. This is intended to make us think twice before intervening on behalf of Taiwan should the PRC attempt to regain control over what it still regards as a "rebel province".

When we couple this with the decision by the Chinese government to dump some portion of its dollar holdings, an act which will cause a sharp fall in the value of the dollar on world currency markets, we can only conclude that China is moving its relationship with the US into a new and much more aggressive phase.

Is the Chinese decision on the timing of this change in attitude based on the fact that the new congressional leadership is perceived to be more likely to appease than to confront? I can't say, but it is worth thinking about.