I suppose military airbases eaten by encroaching urban areas is an common issue for nations with limited space. Operation of high-performance aircraft may add considerable amounts discomfort to surrounding residents and land values. They also present somewhat of a security issue, (especially for countries like China) and possibly even a safety issue (even more true for a country like China). Contrast that to a country like Canada whose major high-performance airfields are quite far removed from large urban areas (Bagotville and Cold Lake).

CFB Bagotville – The middle of nowhere

Shanghai is located within the Nanjing Military District which is considered  to be the most important military region within China, given that this is the region that would form the leadership role in any conflict with Taiwan.

There are several airbases in Shanghai, including:

• Shanghai Dachang Air Base
• Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
• Shanghai Longhua Airfield
• Shanghai Pudong International Airport
• Shanghai Jiangwan Airfield

Shanghai’s Urban Airports – Just a quick walk to catch your flight

While Hongqiao and Pudong both have military capabilities (as does Nanjing International), their importance is too great to warrant their use as a permanent base or even as a staging area.  That leaves Jiangwan, Longhua and Dachang as active urban airbases in Shanghai.

Smack dab in the middle of Shanghai, Longhua Airport the 1930’s predecessor to Hongqiao International which opened in the 1950’s. Apparently there is not much left there and it remains largely as an emergency airfield and boneyard for historic aircraft.  It was a former Japanese airbase during the Second World War and the setting for J.G. Ballard’s Empire of the Sun .   It is just southwest of the of the 2010 Expo site.

Longhua Airport – Christian Bale sang songs here

Jiangwan airfield is quite interesting.  It is just northwest of my residence and is within view of my window.  Prior to construction of Pudong International, Jiangwan was the largest airfield in Shanghai and it is said at one point to have been a candidate for expansion as an alternative to constructing the new Pudong facility.  Commercial activity ended in 1996 and the area is presently being redeveloped into a new residential district capable of housing 80,000 people.  I haven’t been able to dig much up about this project except the following from a random Shanghai government press release from 2005.

To the north of the Wujiaochang area, the New Jiangwan Town, an area covering 9.45 square kilometres, will become a modern residential area and is designed to accommodate a population of about 80,000.
The new town’s future development will be based on the premise of ecological protection for the land, which boasts well-preserved resources.
The 10-hectare Jiangwan wetland in the area is home to nearly 40 species of birds, many rarely found in the city. It is said that more than 280 wild plant species and nearly 40 freshwater plants can be found in the wetland.
To help Jiangwan become a garden town, great efforts will be made to develop large areas of green space. Parks, forests and grasslands are expected to cover 67 hectares by 2010.

Redevelopment seems to be well on it’s way, characterized by the ever-present Chinese super-block pattern.  There project region also appears to be going for an exclusive design with the presence of a a ‘moat’ on three sides.  There is quite a problem in Shanghai (and other Mainland cities) with urban continuity…spaces don’t flow, intersect or dove-tail well with one another.

Jiangwan – We used to have airplanes.  Now all we have are these stupid streets.

That leaves Dachang as the likely candidate for Shanghai’s active military urban airbase.  And it isn’t that far from Fudan, completely surrounded by the city.

Dachang Airbase – Where the streets have no name

Dachang is home to units of the People’s Liberation Army Naval Air force.  To clear up that confusing name, the PLANA is is the naval aviation component of the the Chinese navy.  They are responsible for fleet support, anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare and air defence/patrol of China’s coastal regions.  Out of Dachang, the 16th PLANA regiment keeps people up at night using these badboys – the Xi’an JH-7 NATO codename “Flounder” or as it is known here, the “Flying Leopard” which is roughly equivalent to the retired USAF F-111 .

Dachang Airbase – Don’t call us Flounders!

Ok, enough photos of Chinese military bases…the other students in my office are beginning to get suspicious.

Technorati Tags: china, dachang, jiangwan, longhua, military, military planning, pla, shanghai, shanghai airbases, shanghai airports, urban planning

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I draw the line though at this thing.

Of course, it has to be in North Korea.  The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang began construction in 1987 in an effort to ‘one-up’ the South Koreans who were building the Stamford Hotel in Singapore. Slated to have 3000 hotel rooms construction coming to an abrupt stop in 1992…and it has just sat there ever since.  Apparently it was such an embarrassment that the government would airbrush it out of official photographs.

I suspect that is what they were really thinking of.

Apparently construction resumed in 2008 under the direction of an Egyptian company with a completion goal of 2012, just in time for the centennial of Kim Il Sung.

Technorati Tags: architecture, cctv headquarters, hotel, north korea, pla, pyongyang, urban, wordpress, world

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2. Canada’s Top Infrastructure Projects
3. Skyscraper Fire

1. Romaine Hydroelectric Complex Project $6.5 Billion
   • Hydro Quebec’s monster generating project in North-eastern Quebec.  1550 MW with a completion date of 2020.
2. Bruce A Nuclear Generating Station Restart $5.25 Billion
   • Refurbishing of two CANDU reactors 250km north of Toronto on Lake Huron and construction of two additional reactors to be completed by 2013.  It will increase nuclear powers share of Ontario’s power to 25%.
3. Eastmain-1-A/Sarcelle/Rupert Project $5 Billion
   • Yet another Hydro-Quebec mega project!  918MW of hydro-electric goodness built on the Rupert River.
4. Spadina Subway Extension $ 2.63 Billion
   • Toronto’s first extension of their subway network outside city limits into the York Region.
5. Albert Clipper Project $2 Billion
   • Big ass Enbrdige crude oil pipeline to from Alberta to the United States.  Slated to be competed in 2010, it is expected to transport approximately 800,000 barrels a day.
6. Canada Line $2 Billion
   • Probably the best thing about the 2010 Olympics.  A underground/at grade rail-transport system will connect downtown Vancouver with Richmond and the Vancouver International Airport.
7. Port Mann/Highway 1 Project $1.6 Billion
   • The Canada line may be a great step forward in terms of sustainable transportation, but that is probably going to be erased by the lane expansion of the Port Mann bridge.  Nothing like four more open lanes to get one into their car!
8. Keephills 3 Generating Plant $1.6 Billion
   • Tasty coal fired power!  In Alberta, of course.  Apparently clean, due to be online in 2011.
9. Autoroute 30 $1.5 Billion
   • Quebec is home to 30% of the top projects in Canada.  Private-Public highway project in the Montreal area.
10. Edmonton Ring Road $1.42 Billion
    • Roads make people happy!  27 bridge structures, 2 rail crossings, five fly-overs, and eight interchange.

Kingston, clocking in at a mere 152,000 souls managed to make the top 100 three times!  First at #37, the Wolfe Island Wind Project with a price tag of $450 million.  I’m watching this baby go up across from my basement suite. Second is the the renovation and expansion of Kingston General Hospital ($142 million) and at #85 Queen’s own Queen’s Center Phase One at $115 million – which apparently is now up to $250 million, but that could include phase 2….I am not entirely sure.

Technorati Tags: canada, Kingston, nuclear, oil, olympics, Ontario, pipeline, pla, quebec, rail, toronto, transportation, wolfe island

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I do a little bit of editing from time to time for a translation institute, a number of which have been construction proposals for various local development projects as well as the disaster response policy of the Nanjing’s Lukou airport (which was a rather interesting read)….

The airport disaster preparedness plan, obviously given the fact that this is the Nanjing Military District, contained a rather lengthy section detailing response measures in the event of an airstrike on airport facilities. Terrorist actions were awarded approximately two pages compared to the twelve given to airstrike damage mitigation and facility repair operations.

I of course found this interesting, but not unexpected given that Lukou Airport is in the Nanjing Military District, a region of importance in regards to Taiwan (apparently Nanjing’s Purple Mountain has a sizable bunker complex). Terrorism isn’t exactly a urgent national issue, but defense against a US retaliatory strike in the event of a cross-strait crisis is believe by many to be a very real possibility. Watch out for those sneaking Taiwanese… I have (honestly) encountered those whole truly believe Taiwan still sore about losing the Civil War and is aching to take back the motherland. Old school civil defense planning is still thriving this side of the Pacific.

However, I didn’t expect these themes to appear in suburban development plan. But they did…three pages actually, in regards to position of air-raid shelters basic design specification in order to make aesthetic integration easier. Also something about a fine being levied if bunkers are not constructed…not to clear on that one though. Sometimes Mandarin just doesn’t translate very easily into English…take this nugget for example. I think the translator did a pretty good job, as I’m pretty sure that is what the original Chinese text intended to say, but unfortunately, we just don’t communicate in that style in English.

In the east of China, a dragon is flying in the heavens and diving in the green abyss as the symbol of authority and fortune. Clear Luoma Lake has seen thousands of years of vicissitudes, which have also been witnessed by the monarchs of the past dynasties. She has been endowed with the charm of dragon by its adjacency to the heart of dragon; she is able to pass on the spirit of dragon because of keeping a dragon vein in her heart. Its vast emerald wave breeds a noble and distinguished air.

Another interesting one…

Lakeshore New Town witnesses its harmony with its history, creates its fortunes with its harmony and writes a more boundless and brilliant future with its fortunes. Let’s fix this great dream town at the coordinate origin of the development blueprint of the economic circle of the north of the Huaihe River.

Again, I think this passage integrated some local poetry or idiomatic phrase to express cooperation. Unfortuatnely, it just doens’t translate too well.

Can’t say I’m an expert though.

Technorati Tags: china, Mandarin, pla

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1. Urban Air Bases

On the downside, Vietnam is out, as is any traveling this winter due to confusion regarding Spring Festival holidays. I was initially under the impression the school would be closing for several weeks during the massive internal migration that is Chinese New Year, yet I assumed wrong. Currently, I will be given 5 days off which coincide with the mandatory 3 day holiday. An essentially useless amount of time. I’ve considered maybe hopping to Korea, or Japan, but the prices, especially Japan are quite scary. Furthermore, my ideal trip to Japan would include a Mt. Fuji expedition, which could prove difficult during the winter. Serious bummer .

I’ve been reading a lot of Robert Kaplan lately, well, about as much as I can get for free at least. I’ve always like Kaplan since I read his pivotal Coming Anarchy piece a few years ago, but recently I think he’s become my favorite essayist (I’m going to splurge and purchase a Atlantic subscription…maybe a Walrus subscription too). I like the guy for a number of reasons. He’s well traveled, well embedded, he thinks years ahead of everyone else, he’s rational and a realist and he’s critical. But I think what separates Kaplan from others his ability to write in a very neutral, non partisan fashion. His ability to lay out, analyze and critique trends without devolving into political bashing and childish and honestly really, really pointless anti-Americanism, which I find characterizes a lot of international commentary recently. He has a gift for thinking large, thinking beyond Iraq (which he claims to be a merely a blip…I’m beginning to agree), thinking beyond the Middle East. For some examples, take the time to read a recent piece on North Korea and the global implications and likely power shifts of a regime collapse. I think it’s amazing stuff, and yet another example of how the 21st century will truly become the Asian century…while the Western world (on many levels) remains trapped in the 20th.

I feeling rather sorry for the Starbucks workers who are now (In the Christmas spirit) being forced to parade around wearing a set of ridiculous angel wings.

Today is the 69th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre.

Technorati Tags: china, kaplan, pla

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Was wickedly sick this weekend courtesy of evil ganmao (a friday b-day party didn’t help too much either) so posts have been limited.

* Canada.com is a horribly designed website.

Technorati Tags: north korea, pla

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The Pentagon has ordered an investigation into reports that a Chinese Song-class submarine secretly stalked a U.S. naval battle group while conducting routine training near an American base in Okinawa, Japan last month.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman played down the risk of the Chinese sub despite coming within a few miles of the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier.

He said “I think you’re generating more concern than perhaps is warranted.”

But an expert said a Song-class submarine is capable of hitting a carrier from a distance of more than 25 miles.

Richard Fisher, an expert on Chinese subs said, “Any time a potentially hostile submare operates in such proximity to critical naval assets like an aircraft carrier should be of concern to American military leaders.”

I would say it would be a pretty big damn concern having Chinese boats operating within torpedo range of the cornerstone of your Western Pacific military presence, not to say the least that it had being doing this undetected (only being discovered after it had surfaced). Apparently the Kitty Hawk battlegroup wasn’t operating it’s ASW platforms, but even so, I have to admit that I’m surprised…having previously written off PLAAN subs as easy meat for an ASW experienced USN (Supposedly, by the end of the Cold War, the USN was able to track and shadow every single Russian nuclear submarine).

The Song class boat is domestically produced version of the World War Two era Romeo diesel-electric Russian design. Production began in the 90′s and there is an estimated 9 boats currently in service.

I would say this is a marker for the Chinese sub service, and something to be proud of. Not everyone can get the jump on a carrier battlegroup. However, despite this, it’s probably the USN that comes out on top, as they are now totally aware of the ability of the Song to penetrate escort defenses, and probably won’t be caught sleeping again.

Also, it appears that the US, was surprised again by the introduction of the brand-new Yuan class diesel attack sub which hit the oceans this year.

One official said the new submarine was a “technical surprise” to U.S. intelligence, which was unaware that Beijing was building a new non-nuclear powered attack submarine. U.S. intelligence agencies have few details about the new submarine but believe it is diesel-powered rather than nuclear-powered, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The new boat, which appears to be a combination of indigenous Chinese hardware and Russian weapons, suggests that China is building up its submarine forces in preparation for a conflict over Taiwan, defense analysts say.

The Yuan boats are obviously meant to replace the older Ming and Romeo class which forms the bulk of China’s 57 unit submarine service (40 Ming’s and Romeos ). Those older models date back to the 40′s and do little more than pad the numbers, and it is doubtful that the PLAAN will produce numbers of that size, choosing to go lean and mean with numbers similar to previous S ong class. I still believe it’s not enough to take on Taiwan. When the PLA develops a serious amphibious force capable of transporting more than one division across the straits (the current capacity) I’ll be slightly more concerned.

Technorati Tags: china, pla, submarines

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Anyways, my account is back up and running.

Technorati Tags: pla

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A North Korean deterrent is, not surprisingly, a response to perceived threats from the United States. Aside from that, essentially nothing is known regarding their usage doctrine. North Korean nuclear forces are unsophisticated and while posing no real threat the United States, present a challenge to Japanese security as well as South Korean. It is possible that North Korea would abide by a no-first-use policy and maintain a weak, but somewhat credible minimal deterrent as the use of nuclear weapons on Korean soil is not acceptable. However, in the event of a conventional war, North Korean forces could utilize such weapons in a first strike capacity if (and this is the most probably outcome) their conventional forces are defeated and their leadership threatened.

A major goal of deterrence is to always maintain a second strike capability. Holding such capacity is a goal not so much for a revenge factor, but rather to create the foundation of your nuclear credibility….Hence the development of nuclear capable submarines which bolsters nuclear capability to one of minimal deterrent or even possibly MAD (depending on the size and stealth of the forces deployed). Globalsecurity.org estimates that North Korean plutonium reserves (as of 2005) allow for approximately 20 nuclear weapons. Given that North Korea lacks a quality delivery system (missiles tests have failed miserably and aircraft wouldn’t make it over the border) a nuclear armed North Korea lacks even a minimal deterrent. So what do I think this means? Provided that North Korea adheres to no-use policy regarding the Korean peninsula, such weapons would only be destined for use against American and/or Japanese targets which, at present, are out of the park for North Korean delivery systems. Even in the event that a first strike by American/ROK forces that did not destroy all weapons, it’s probable that lack of delivery systems, combined with a blockade would isolate whatever force remained. I suppose that within nuclear deterrent theory, I see an equipped North Korea as lacking credibility as a nuclear power, and as such, not nearly the threat they appear to be. This of course, assumes that North Korea is not invaded (I stress the difference between invasion and air strikes) and also assumes the continued failure of their delivery systems.

Technorati Tags: north korea, nukes, pla

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Esteemed NDP Leader Jack Layton, expressing sorrow at Canadians going above and beyond the call of duty.

What we’ve now seen is two year extension with no exit strategy at the end of it,” he said. “Our party believed that it’s the wrong mission. That the questions have not been answered.

I’ve checked my dictionaries and they have (as they usually do) confirmed my English instincts.

As a verb, exit refers to the act of going out or going away. Noun wise, exits are designated points of departure found in a variety of locations. Few difficulties encountered.

Strategy poses an interesting semantic dilemma as the noun strategy leads to two conclusions. First, the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war

Second: a careful plan or method employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.

Employed in the first case, exit strategy essentially has no meaning, if support is essentially what one desires. Exit (v.) strategy (n.) : The act of abandoning your plans. He is exiting his strategy for purchasing a house.

Using exit as a noun is a little easier. Exit (n.) strategy (n.) I would argue that this refers to the act of creating a strategy to facilitate your act of exiting or creation of a physical exit.

The Crosby dictionary of Bryan: A buzzword. A favorite used by those against involvement in Afghanistan after failing to develop solid arguments. This pseudo-military substance less phrase has an odd habit of being profoundly effective on the Canadian public, as it instills the idea into them that those using it know what they are talking about.

The funny thing about a strategy, is that it device which allows you to reach a goal. In the case of Afghanistan, I believe that the goals are pretty clear. Increase security levels, allowing reconstruction efforts to continue unhindered. Increase security to allow finished projects and basic human rights to flourish. Increase security to prevent aid workers from being murdered. No one is asking for a paradise, just stability.

Achieving stability is not signing up for a one year college diploma. There is no point A to point B. When your mission parameters for attaining stability change daily, how is it possible to develop a plan for leaving? Exit strategy: read…”we will leave in one year, even if we haven’t completed any of our goals”.

What bothers a lot over the ‘exit strategy’ is I fail to see the importance or even significance of developing one. Why does Canada require an exit strategy from Afghanistan? I surmise that having such an outline would make people at home feel warm and fuzzy inside. For the troops? I don’t know, I don’t feel right speaking for them, but I believe that exit strategies demonstrate a lack of faith in the ability of our military and a lack of support and respect for those putting their lives on the line, and those who have already gave their lives to the other side of the line. “Hey guys, guess what? You are leaving in exactly three months, doesn’t matter if you job isn’t finished”.

Come on Jack, let’s be honest to Canadians and tell them what ‘exit strategy’ really means. Its ok, I don’t think much of you anyway, so if you just tell the truth, you won’t have to worry about losing any more dignity. Every watched Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail , Jack?

“Run away, run away, run away”

What annoys me the most about the exit strategy gang is that they are placing all of their energies into this insignificant issue. There are essential problems with the mission that need to be addressed (heavy lift helicopters for instance, more artillery support, coordination with Afghan forces) yet these people choose to direct their energies over which method is best for abandoning the mission. Walking, running, or skipping. Furthermore, within all of this nonsense I don’t believe I’ve ever read ONCE, a proposed exit strategy developed by the usual suspects. Seriously, if you are going to complain and waste time and efforts debating something like this, lets at least see one of these mythical exit strategies.

*200th entry while in country :)

Technorati Tags: afghanistan, pla

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