Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: January 10, 2016 Edition

The Pakistani Navy and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) have concluded their first-ever exercise in the East China Sea. The exercise, which took place from December 31, 2015 to January 1, 2016, was part of a seven-day visit to Shanghai by a Pakistani naval taskforce consisting of a frigate and a supply ship. According to the Chinese defense ministry, the exercise included a joint drill focused on ship formation movement, search and rescue, and live-fire exercises striking aerial and sea targets. The exercise also included an anti-piracy component and, according to a CCTV report, an anti-submarine warfare component.

Iran reached a major milestone in the implementation of the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the international agreement to place restrictions on the country’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. Almost all of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was shipped out of the country, fulfilling a key requirement of the nuclear deal. According to Reuters, a ship carrying more than 11,000 kilograms of low-enriched uranium (LEU) left Iran. Per the nuclear agreement, Iran may retain 300 kilograms of LEU on hand. That amount of enriched uranium is inadequate for a nuclear weapon.

In response to the North Korean nuclear test on Wednesday, South Korea will resume anti-North propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone that separates the two.

Cho Tae-yong, the deputy chief of national security at the Blue House (South Korea’s presidential office), said the broadcasts would begin at noon on Friday – Kim Jung-un’s birthday – according to Yonhap.

In August 2015, South Korea resumed the propaganda broadcasts for the first time since 2004. The decision came after an incident in which two South Korean soldiers were injured by landmines. South Korea’s loudspeakers blared not only anti-North Korean rhetoric, but weather reports, global news, and K-pop music. North Korea responded by launching artillery shells at the loudspeakers and announcing a “quasi-state of war.”

A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that China is currently building an aircraft carrier in Dalian, a port city in northeastern China. The carrier will be China’s second, but the first to be indigenously-built. China’s current aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was Russian-made and purchased from Ukraine. The Liaoning was totally refitted by Beijing and commissioned in 2012.  

Ashton Carter:

On October 27, 2015, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Lassen (DDG-82) conducted a FONOP in the South China Sea by transiting inside 12 nautical miles of five maritime features in the Spratly Islands — Subi Reef, Northeast Cay, Southwest Cay, South Reef, and Sandy Cay — which are claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. No claimants were notified prior to the transit, which is consistent with our normal processes and with international law.

Arguably the most influential people in the world of sports are FIFA President Issa Hayatou, Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, International Cricket Council CEO Dave Richardson and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. These men oversee the four most widely watched sporting events on the planet.

Other contenders are ESPN Executive Chairman George Bodenheimer, Nike CEO Mark Parker, and, as of quite recently, Wanda Group owner Wang Jianlin. Wanda is currently China’s largest real estate developer and the world’s largest cinema operator, and according to a report last week by The Australian Financial Report, it will soon be the world’s largest sports company as well.

Wanda has already purchased the Ironman Triathlon for $650 million and plans to bring the event back to China. Before triathletes rejoice, they should bear in mind that the reason the Ironman has been discontinued in China for the past five years is because China failed to meet the brand’s quality standards. Hopefully its return signals more than a change in the owner’s nationality.

Wanda has also acquired a 20 percent stake in the Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid, which Forbes lists as the 16th most valuable football club in the world (at $436 million). It has announced the construction of a billion-dollar sports facility in Guangzhou. It recently bought InFront Sports and Media, which televises the FIFA World Cup and represents all seven Olympic winter sport federations. And there are rumors that it plans to purchase the three big tours of cycling — the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France.

At approximately 10:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, January 6, North Korea detonated a nuclear device of an unknown yield. In an announcement on state television, the North Korean regime claimed that the device was a hydrogen bomb and that the test was successful. The test was conducted at  41.326°N 129.010°E, near the location of North Korea’s last test in February 2013, which was conducted at  41.302°N 129.066°E. Both test sites are a short distance from the North Korean nuclear facility at Punggye-ri. According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center, the epicenter of the detonation was approximately 2 kilometers underground.

In announcing the test, the North Korean government emphasized that the device was to protect against powers hostile to the country. The timing of the attack is somewhat surprising as Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s address was less focused on the country’s military and the nuclear program than it was on economic issues. However, January 8 marks Kim’s birthday, suggesting that the nuclear test was something of a preemptive birthday celebration for the North Korean leader who took over after his father Kim Jong-il died in 2011. This is the second test on Kim Jong-un’s watch.

On January 7, the Indian Navy commissioned into service the second out of four planned Kamorta-class anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes. The ceremony was presided over by the Indian Navy’s Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral RK Dhowan, at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh.

According to Admiral Dhowan, the commissioning of the second Kamorta-class corvette, the  INS Kadmatt (P 29),  is another milestone in the self-reliance of Indian Navy. “[N]ow [the] Indian Navy is a builders navy, not buyers Navy,” he said during a speech, NDTV reports.

Taiwanese citizens will head to the polls on January 16 to vote in their latest general elections. Preliminary opinion polling suggests that a victory for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), led by its presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen, is likely. The ruling Kuomintang party may find its rule at an end in Taiwan. Should Tsai prevail in the elections, Taiwan will see its first female president and possibly some changes to its foreign policy and positioning vis-a-vis the mainland. The Kuomintang government’s most recent term has seen a controversial period of rapprochement with the mainland. Though the DPP and Tsai have said that they will largely avoid rocking the boat with China if they win, Beijing remains wary. In any case, the outcome of Taiwan’s election next month will be worth watching early in 2016.

On December 31, China inaugurated three new military forces: a general command for the army, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Strategic Support Force, and the PLA Rocket Force. The latter, which replaces the Second Artillery Force, will be in charge of China’s nuclear arsenal.

General Wei Fenghe was named the new force’s first commander. Wei has a long history with the Second Artillery Force; he served as its chief of staff from 2006-2012 and then as commander-in-chief from 2012 until the service was reconfigured as the Rocket Force.

The creation of the Rocket Force is part of a larger move to restructure China’s military with a streamlined command under the direct control of the Central Military Commission. The new force is considered the fourth branch in China’s military, on equal footing with the PLA Army, Navy, and Air Force, according to Global Times. Unlike the Second Artillery Corps, the Rocket Force will command all three legs of China’s nuclear triad, rather than just controlling land-based nuclear missiles. The Rocket Force will also be in charge of conventional missiles. Global Times reported that the force has already held its first drills, practicing mobile combat operations and missile launches.