Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported on Monday that China is making fresh inroads in the Indian Ocean region by selling cheap submarines to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand.
The bargain-basement sub sales are said to be alarming India, which is increasingly concerned about Beijing’s continuing naval advances in Asian waters, as well as the Pacific.
China also has a submarine presence in the Indian Ocean. Asahi quotes Indian military sources as saying that the Chinese Navy has been operating submarines since 2013 in the Indian Ocean. The missions are said to occur twice yearly and typically last about three months.
Bangladesh was the first to acquire relatively inexpensive Chinese subs when it bought two used Ming-class diesel-powered vessels in 2013. The subs became operational in March 2017.
Low as $100 million
One local military source estimated the cost of each of the Bangladeshi subs at US$100 million. This is said to be one-tenth of the price of a new European submarine.
In April 2017, Thailand agreed to buy two new Yuan-class subs. The Yuans are reportedly two classes more advanced than the Mings bought by Bangladesh. Asahi quoted a Thai government source as saying each sub will cost about US$424 million.
Bangkok is considering purchasing two more Yuan subs.
A proposal was also made during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan in 2015 for Islamabad to acquire eight Chinese submarines. China confirmed the existence of the plan in 2016. The eight will be Yuan-class subs. Four are expected to be constructed in Pakistan.
Asahi says China’s new focus on the Indian Ocean is part of a shift in maritime strategy from coastal and near-sea defense to one that extends to the Pacific and Indian oceans. The strategy puts more emphasis on aircraft carriers and submarines — which China has been building at an accelerated rate.
Spin-offs for Beijing
The purchase of Chinese submarines by Indian Ocean littoral states has several spin-off benefits for Beijing. Asahi notes it allows Beijing to extend its influence in related maritime areas. For example, harbors capable of hosting the submarines will be constructed.
Nations that buy Chinese subs must also install repair and supply facilities that match specifications required for handling these types of Chinese vessels.
“This gives China the option of asking that its submarines be allowed to temporarily berth there for repairs or to acquire weapons,” Asahi said.
The more submarines China sells to regional nations, the more data it will amass that is related to operations and potential challenges. All this can be used to improve China’s sub technology, experts told Asahi.
Countries purchasing Chinese subs must also rely on Chinese naval officers and technicians for advice on operations and maintenance. “Those personnel could also play a key role in gathering vital information, including seabed mapping, as China strives to improve its submarine capabilities,” Asahi said.
Egypt and Cuba are reportedly among the other countries that have expressed an interest in buying Chinese submarines.
Haav Bline
The Japanese Samurai, has a very sharp sword 😀
Wayne Yu Wai Ngok
That’s a very good indicator of repressive CCP tactics in China.
What you gonna shoot me?
Is that all you have after weeks of spy school?
Well, days…..
Well, a couple of hours….
OK, they threw you out of spy school…… I can see why. 😀
Are you the buyer ? If not ,keep your big mouth shut !
Why do only European & Japanese submarines can be sold & not the Chinese ? They should have the monopoly, of the market share , do you find it funny & the same time sarcastic ?
Cris Alojado really?
Comment area is more interesting than the news.????
Mon Mah
Poor Mon, has trouble with Engrish and Chinese…:-D
Cris Alojado If the USA and Western countries are so evil, why do you try so hard to copy them? Huh?
What you can’t seem to copy is freedom, but maybe you will learn that.
Then China will have a life, outside of working for the Western employers and bullied, surveilled and curtailed by the CCP
Mon Mah Sorry to disappoint you, but Honda Toyota and Nissan are Japanese products, made in workshop China, under supervision of Japanese masters.
True Chinese products come from the Chinese Communist Party, and as such are imprisonment, surveillance, spies (like you Mon Mah) and the main product a big internet wall, so that the hard working people of China cannot see what freedom of choice and opportunity mean.
Without Japan, USA and Europe, China is back to the 18 century, fighting wars and eating each other.
Learn your history and respect those who have given you a chance to modernise. 😀
Re 我要求你改变你的礼貌:
I hate babble and roseta stone… they screw the translation up….
Re Cheap subs:
Eat your heart out!
Put pressure on Washington to help you set up a plant to build your own subs then if this bugs you so much. After all, isn’t that what Tillerson was doing while on visit to your country and promised to help you deal with China when he visited? Envy won’t get you anywhere.
Commitment to better yourself does…
.
Eat your heart out Merlin. Truth of the matter: Chinese products are no cheap walmart toasters no more, my friend. Chinese products are like the Hondas, the Toyotas, the Nissans, of today, meaning it keeps going and going and going just like the energiser bunny while 100K caddies fall apart before its warranty runs out…
Sorry, but the words of asashi shimbun is never the words of asashi shimbun but the words of UNCLE SAM’BUN. And, UNCLE SAM’BUN is the one who have it’s filthy hands on that filthy stick that stirs up all of the honey pots around the world.
Cheap low cost subs! Believe me one gets what pays for! They will get stuck in the ports for parts and maintenance! It is for show only! What will Bangla Desh do with a sub or two?
Where is this ‘Thaiwan’?
Good points. But there is an important point to this story though. Noticed that it is Japan’s Asahi Shimbun who is trying to stir up the pot.
We also supply bhramos hypersonic misslies to Thaiwan and Vietnam
mutt
The subs will be cheap, poorly made copies of another nation’s submarine.
As long as the CCP supresses creative thought and innovation, it cannot hope to achieve much in the way of creative and innovative technology.
This is why the CCP authorises the PLA to do so much illegal espionage hacking.
So the world’s largest arms importer is concerned that other nations around it are importing arms? And that other countries dare to send their military vessels into an ocean which India does not claim? It would seem that there is no point to this story. ????