StraitTimes: US plans huge show of force in Pacific

The United States is planning a massive show of force in the Pacific Ocean near China to register a point with Beijing.
WHAT THE NUMBERS MEAN:
ONE aircraft carrier is sent to a trouble spot as a reminder of US presence. This was done several times in the past, when tension was high in the Taiwan Strait.
TWO carriers show serious concern, as was the case when China test-fired missiles over the strait in 1996.
THREE OR FOUR are sent in combat situations - as in the Gulf War in the early 1990s and the recent Iraqi war.
Sending SEVEN carriers in peace time to the same region is unprecedented. The US plan to do this after mid-July, in the Pacific Ocean near China, is a message to Beijing for its threat to use force to stop Taiwanese independence.
In an exercise codenamed Operation Summer Pulse 04, it is expected to arrange for an unprecedented seven aircraft carrier strike groups (CSGs) to rendezvous in waters a safe distance away from the Chinese coastline - but still within striking distance - after mid-July.
This will be the first time in US naval history that it sends seven of its 12 CSGs to just one region. . . .
Sources in Beijing say China's reading is that Summer Pulse is being mounted with it as the target audience, a suspicion reinforced by reports that Taiwanese forces are slated to join in the drill.
Clearly, given Beijing's repeated warning that it will use force, as a last resort and whatever the cost, to stop Taiwanese independence, the US feels it needs to send Beijing a message. . . .
But never before has it sent in peace time seven CSGs to the same theatre.
The implications for China are grave.
According to Kanwa Defence News, which specialises in Chinese military matters, Beijing can cope with just one CSG currently.
'But in five to 10 years, it can certainly take on seven,' said Mr Chang Hong-yi, head of Kanwa, in an interview with The Straits Times. 'China's military potential is enormous and in terms of military technology, the gap with the US is closing fast,' he added.
However, a Chinese military source who declined to be identified is more sanguine.
'Even now, China can easily take on two CSGs,' he said but conceded that there was no way it could face seven all at the same time.
This means that if China has to wage war over Taiwan, it has to be able to land and seize control of the island within the first 30 days.Otherwise, under the FRP, six CSGs may well arrive to join in the battle.
'All this leaves China with no choice but to start and end the war with lightning speed,' said the source.
Politically, Summer Pulse is likely to be seen by many Chinese as naked intimidation.
'This is gunboat diplomacy in the 21st century,' the source remarked, adding that it would remind the Chinese people of their century-long deep humiliation by Western powers - and put Sino-US relations at peril."