Rule Brittania? No, Nay, Never.
In response to Canada's half-assed efforts to defend its sovereignty in the Arctic, the Brits have offered to throw us a lifeline.
Nobody in Ottawa has been paying much attention to the militarization of the high Arctic by Russia and also China. To counter this, Canada's underwhelming response has been to order a bunch of over-priced Arctic patrol vessels, what any possible adversary would call "targets." It's been a real boost to the security of Irving shipyards but that's about it. If they were ever needed to resist an adversary they could well be resting on the bottom within 24 hours, 48 at the outside.
Her Majesty's Royal Navy wants to put some teeth in Canada's Arctic defence with a nuclear submarine presence and taking part in land and air exercises while there's still some ice up there.
Canada fears that its Arctic sovereignty, that it's not prepared to defend, will be compromised if the Brits pick up our slack. The Brits operate six fleet submarines, nuclear powered but not carrying ICBMs. Canada has four diesel powered fleet submarines but rarely can more than one be ready for service. They're old. They were junk when Chretien ordered them second-hand after they were rejected by the Royal Navy. They're junk now.
Trying to keep Canada in line while AUKUS starts a war in South CHINA Sea?
ReplyDeleteOn what basis do you say that, NPoV?
Deletehttps://www.counterpunch.org/2021/09/23/meet-the-biden-advisor-who-wants-a-cold-war-with-china/
DeleteSorry, NPoV, but that's a bit tenuous for me. It's got the makings of a good conspiracy theory.
DeleteTell Boris to fuck off , he's nothing but an arms trader with a fetish for submarines as France found out.
ReplyDeleteThis older article by Gwynne Dyer says it all..
https://www.straight.com/news/gwynne-dyer-race-arctic-resources
TB
I fail to see any military use of the Arctic Ocean by any body: Canada, China, US, Denmark, Russia the UK. All this silly blathertalk is about denying China the economic freedom to ship across an international ocean. China has as much right to use the Arctic Ocean as Canada has , international law being what it is.
ReplyDeleteLook at a map: Canada's maritime Arctic is an archipeligo where ice melts slowly. Russia's Arctic waterway will be ice free decades before Canada's. We can't overlook the anti Arctic sentiment in Canada. Russia has cities with maritime services and big icebreakers to facilitate commerce. Canada has refused to invest.
When are we going to figure out that Russia has as much right to their Arctic territory as Canada has to ours and that China has the right to international water passage. Silly Canadians want protection in international law while demanding the ability to deny it to other nations. Silly Canadians.
Rumley, you remain hopelessly naive about China's interests in the Arctic. This has bugger all to do with shipping routes that, you correctly note, are vastly better through Russia's territorial waters.
DeleteAs far as China is concerned, the Law of the Sea is of no application to the Arctic seabed.
"Arctic resources, in my opinion, will be allocated according to the needs of the world, not only owned by certain countries," Qu Tanzhou, director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail. "We cannot simply say that this is yours and this is mine."
Through semi-official publications, such as the South China Morning Post and others, China has announced that it seeks to establish a permanent and substantial military presence in the Arctic waters and has a "first come/first served" approach to seabed resources that defies international law.
We already have seen drilling rigs in Arctic waters built on artificial islands. We have seen China extend its territorial claims in the South China Sea based on artificial islands it creates on atolls, transforming them into military installations.
http://books.sipri.org/files/insight/SIPRIInsight1002.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/04/china-arctics-mineral-riches
https://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.com/2018/02/china-real-threat-to-canadas-arctic.html
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-north/for-china-north-is-a-new-way-to-go-west/article16402962/
So, what use for submarine other than impressive photos of them breaking through arctic ice?
ReplyDeleteDrones and long range manned aircraft will be more than enough to police the area and more reliable and cost effective.
TB
Mid sixties in Ontario grade school, our teacher informed us that the Chinese were going to invade Canada via the arctic. It would be easy she said ... they would simply disguise themselves as Eskimos.
ReplyDeleteIronically, many seem to have sunk to her level of paranoia.
Who do we hate this week?
Ruskies or Chinese?
Eurasia or Eastasia (ask Winston Smith)
Who do we hate this week?
ReplyDeleteRuskies or Chinese?
No idea; ask British aerospace or Lockheed Martin!
Peace is so unprofitable!!
Wag the dog.
TB
Well, we could order some of those brand spanking new nuclear subs that the US just ordered Australia to buy from them under AUKUS, 8 for $90 billion, instead of a dozen French subs for $50 billion, which caused France to withdraw its ambassador to the US, pissed off to the absolute limit. Oz was told to be anti-China or else be a US enemy a couple of months ago, and that rattled PM Fatty Scotty Morrison. Too bad that China takes the majority of Oz exports, the Aussies have to salute the Stars and Stripes. Big fat US base or two on OZ soil anyway. Been following it all this past week on Oz media and Oz bloggers. The message got through to Australia: You're arn, boys!
ReplyDeleteJust one more reminder that Democrats are neocon war hawks. Yee haw! If I have to listen to any more of that joker Boris's plummy tones about sending a Brit sub to save us from China, it would shorten my life expectancy. With 800 US military bases around the world ringing those two dastardly evil empires of Russia and China so full of fiendish socialist devils inimical to the great American way of life, I haven't been surprised China is building atolls to deter the US or Brit navy and their swashbuckling capn's from swaggering around off its shores like a bunch of loons daring their "enemy" to come out of harbour and try it on. Talk about our useless Irving patrol boats, the US Navy is a sitting duck for Russian and Chinese hypersonic cruise missiles, but promotion in the US Armed forces comes from active duty like the war in Afghanistan and baiting Commies. It's the American Way!
Meanwhile, just as Scotty Morrison got blindsided and his Purchase Order to France torn up with no notice, then GrandPa WarHawk Joe let Meng go without consulting Trudeau. Rule of Law, wassat? International rules based order is how the US runs the world, rule of law is a farce. We're the minnow between two whales. At least, the Chinese let the two Michaels go. Which just goes to show what a farce and illegal under international law are US sanctions. US and European 5G equipment is expensive crap compared to Huawei's, which also doesn't come standard with an NSA/CIA port for Gov't Use Only. But hey, Trump and now Biden got Huawei fixed but good by sabre-rattling so Meng can go home.
Man, do we get fed deep and thick prefried bullshite in this country or what? The minute the Chinese start mining in the Arctic, the US will be on them like a shot anyway, and expropriate a lot of our North on DeeFense grounds. It'll be the Alaska Highway Part II. We should just advise Boris to keep his sub back in the bankrupt UK to save a few quid. They need it.