1 January 2023
Media’s Institutional Memory Failure
Captain Fanell Winds the Clock Back…
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - Recently the Chinese Aircraft Carrier Liaoning passed near Guam. The media described the event as if it was saber rattling on par with the four horsemen.
Wall Street Journal: “China Asserts Military Power Against U.S. With Naval Drills, Air Intercept”
US News and World Report: “China Sails Warships Near Guam in Warning to U.S. Over Taiwan”
EurAsian Times: “China ‘Roars’ In US Backyard! PLA Navy’s Liaoning Aircraft Carrier Sails Close To American Military Base Of Guam”
And on and on it went…
It all sounds dire. In fact, it is more evidence that Western media outlets lack total institutional memory; not to mention a desire to create sensational headlines for click bait.
Let us turn now to actual institutional memory from a man who is a Legend: Retired U.S. Navy Captain James Fanell.
There is a tendency when this kind of article is posted without any commentary for folks to think this is something new and that therefore the PLAN is still "decades" away from being competent Blue Water Navy, able to operate and execute in the Far Seas. Well, let me tell you, I still vividly remember in 2004 the first time I was aware of a PLA Navy warship in the water around Guam. While I can't go into any details, suffice it to say, the PLA Navy has been operating in the waters near/around Guam since 2004. So, spotting CV-16/Liaoning "edging close" to Guam isn't "news" to the extent the PLAN has already operated in those waters above, on and below the waterline for the past 18 years. What is "new" is the PLAN has made a point of pushing their first carrier out towards Guam...in order to fully demonstrate the PLAN's comfort in extending their "counter intervention" forces to the 2nd Island Chain. While the “experts” in DC will comment about whether or not this is a threat or whether or not the PLAN can sustain such an operation...the smart thinkers are already asking themselves what will happen when the PLAN's future aircraft carriers are "edging" closer to the West Coast of Continental USA...something not in the too distant future.
END