China, which dominates the sea with the help of the world’s largest navy, has elected its most senior naval commander as the Defense Minister. Before becoming the Defense Minister, Commander Dong Jun had served in the theater command responsible for Taiwan and the South China Sea. This is the first time in the history of China that a Navy commander has been made the Defense Minister. Till now only the commander of the PLA (Army) had been holding this post.
From the month of August this year, China’s Defense Minister Li Shanfu went missing under mysterious circumstances. It is believed that due to fraud in the purchase of military equipment, Chinese President Xi Jinping had secretly removed him from his post and sent him to jail. Since then, the post of Defense Minister of China, which has the world’s largest army, was vacant.
On Friday (Dec 29, 2023), China announced that Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice President Dong Jun has been elected as Defense Minister. “Making Jun the Defense Minister shows that China now wants to become a major maritime power. China’s Southern Theater Command, in which Jun has served as Deputy Commander, is responsible for the South China Sea. In this South China Sea, China is having a maritime dispute with neighboring countries like the Philippines and Vietnam. Chinese warships do not allow ships of these countries to enter this area,” explains Neeraj Rajput, Editor in Chief of Final Assault.
According to Rajput, Jun has also served in China’s Eastern Theater Command, under which Taiwan comes. For the last few years, China has kept the whole world awake by conducting maneuvers around Taiwan.
Although Xi Jinping has said that China will not attack Taiwan, strategic experts have little faith in this claim. This is the reason why Jun’s appointment is considered very important.
China currently has the world’s largest navy, which has a large war fleet of more than 350 warships and submarines. Apart from this, China has built its first foreign military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and its militia boats are also reaching the Atlantic Ocean in the name of fishing. It is clear that like America, the dragon now wants to spread its dominance in the seas around the world.
Today, the Chinese Navy wants to establish its footprint in the Indian Ocean in the name of anti-piracy patrol. Although the Indian Navy has made it clear that India is the net security provider in the IOR (Indian Ocean Region), the Chinese Navy is not desisting from its activities.
Recently, the Chinese Navy launched its special VHF channel 16 for the Gulf of Aden and Somalia maritime area to help merchant ships and oil tankers in trouble. China launched Channel 16 at a time when the Indian Navy could not save a Malta cargo ship from the capture of Somalian pirates. Also, there was a drone attack on a Liberian ship in the Arabian Sea.
But “China’s new Defense Minister will also be challenged to improve the ‘silent response’ image of the PLA (Navy). Recently, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) had alleged that when Houthi rebels (or Somalian bandits) tried to attack a ship belonging to Israel in the Red Sea, Chinese warships ignored requests for help.