FORUM

China’s next target: Hawaii, nay, the United States

China’s eyes now seem to be set on the island of Hawaii in the United States in the Pacific Ocean. The recent re-election of the pro-Beijing Taneti Maamau as the President of Kiribati in June this year, according to Christopher Pala in his report filed with the FP News on June 19, will raise the “tantalizing possibility of China getting a foothold in Kiribati’s Christmas Island, which is the world’s largest atoll with a land area of 150 square km, located 1300 miles south of Honolulu, home to the US Pacific Command. “

While the ostensible reason for building port facilities on the Christmas Island could be tourism, it could very well be used to park the Chinese warships. Incidentally an analysis by a retired US Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt Chinese Navy will be the Largest in the World in 2035 has warned both the US and its ally Australia about the growing naval capabilities of China.

While Japan used air planes to attack the Pearl Harbour in 1944, state of the art technology could enable China to attack Hawaii from the Christmas Island. That this development has raised concern for the US military is evident from the hush-hush meeting held by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in June with a key Chinese Foreign Ministry Official Yang Jiechi in Hawaii. During this meeting Yang is reported to have told the Secretary of State that the US should respect Chinese positions on key issues, stop interfering in the matters like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang.

The message was loud and clear. If there were to be an attack on Honolulu that could trigger worldwide repercussions. Retaliation has no meaning as only Kiribati will suffer. Even when the world is still reeling under the onslaught of the corona virus, it neither wants the repeat of an attack on Pearl Harbour nor another Hiroshima and Nagasaki after seven decades. The telling fact, however, remains that the sky seems to be the limit for the territorial ambitions of China.

Dr Sitharam Gurumurthi IAS (Retired)

Chennai

 

In CSS, stagnation galores

This is on account of cadre restructuring of various All India Service Cadres. In the Central Staffing Scheme they continue to stagnate in the posts in which they are at the level of Director and Joint Secretary. Whereas their batch-mates in their own cadre become Joint Secretary level and Additional Secretary level. Why will one like to loose financially ?

BBS

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