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The latest Pentagon report on China is a sobering tale of advancing capability and agression intentions inside Beijing. The report also illustrates newly developed weapons being fielded by the Chinese military based in part on advanced technology exported by the United States. "China has the most active ballistic missile program in the world. It is developing and testing offensive missiles, forming additional missile units, qualitatively upgrading certain missile systems, and developing methods to counter ballistic missile defenses," notes the 2008 Defense Department report. "By November 2007, the PLA had deployed between 990 and 1,070 CSS-6 and CSS-7 short range ballistic...

BEIJING — Thousands of Buddhist monks and other Tibetans clashed with the riot police in a second Chinese city on Saturday, while the authorities said they had regained control of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, a day after a rampaging mob ransacked shops and set fire to cars and storefronts in a deadly riot. Skip to next paragraph Multimedia Protests in Tibet and NepalSlide Show Protests in Tibet and Nepal Related Times Topics: Tibet Back Story: Somini Sengupta Discusses Mt. Everest Decision (mp3) Enlarge This Image Reuters Residents in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, walked through Barkhor, an ancient part of the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer in the Pacific voiced new concern on Tuesday about China's rapidly growing military and said the United States has only a limited understanding of Chinese military intentions.

Inside the Ring March 7, 2008 By Bill Gertz - China missiles One little-noticed intelligence disclosure contained in the Pentagon's annual report on Chinese military power says China now has ballistic missiles designed to hit U.S. aircraft carriers and ships at sea. The missiles are described in the report as part of China's "anti-access/area denial capabilities" that include "anti-ship ballistic missiles designed to strike ships at sea, including aircraft carriers." Using a ballistic missile to target ships requires a degree of sophistication not shown by Chinese missiles in the past, and indicates China's military has mastered precision missile targeting, no...

(BEIJING) — China's official Communist Party mouthpiece on Thursday said a Pentagon report exaggerated Chinese military capabilities to justify US sales of military hardware to Beijing's rival Taiwan. "The report maliciously exaggerates China's ability to wage computer warfare and its space capabilities," said a commentary in the People's Daily news headlined, "An Outmoded Report." "These reports by the US Defence Department have been used in the past as a pretext to justify continued weapons sales to Taiwan," it said. The editorial marked the latest salvo in a verbal tit-for-tat since the Pentagon report earlier this week expressed a range of...

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008 – China not only is a rising international economic power, but also is a rising military power with new and developing capabilities that have global implications, according to the 2008 China Military Power Report released today. David Sedney, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, announces the release to Congress of the 2008 Defense Department Report on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China, during a March 3, 2008, Pentagon news conference. Photo by R.D. Ward  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The annual report mandated by Congress analyzes China’s military development...

China and the United States signed a formal agreement in Shanghai to open a military hot line between their defense departments. China also agreed to release records about missing American soldiers long sought by the United States military and relatives of thousands of American servicemen missing from the Korean War and other cold war-era conflicts. More than 8,000 servicemen are still unaccounted for from the Korean War.

Chinese Submarine Fleet Is Growing, Analysts Say By DAVID LAGUE BEIJING — Several recent events, from an eagle-eyed spotting of an image on Google Earth to an overt military delivery from Russia, suggest that China is continuing its rapid expansion of a submarine fleet that would be particularly useful in a conflict with the United States over Taiwan, analysts and military officials said. American and other Western military analysts estimate that China has more than 30 advanced and increasingly stealthy submarines, and dozens of older, obsolete types. By the end of the decade, they say, China will have more submarines...

Beijing is looking to take the lead in an increasingly militaristic space race, and it wants Washington to keep out. China plans to launch more than 10 spaceships and satellites this year, Agence France Presse has reported. This will be a record number of spacecraft for China, coming after 16 launches over the past two years. The announcement, made by China Academy of Space Technology chief Yang Baohua, comes at a time when tension is high over the military use of space. The United States announced late last week that it was preparing to shoot down a defunct reconnaissance satellite...

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- As of midnight Friday, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China had deployed 306,000 soldiers to combat the effects of the snow in the southern parts of the country, a military source said. About 1.07 million militia and army reservists were participating in the weather relief effort, the PLA's emergency response group told Xinhua. The PLA currently has 2.3 million troops. Irregular tactics, including shooting power lines with submachine guns to shatter the ice, and resorting to tanks to crush ice on the road, were used frequently by soldiers. In the southern city of Guangzhou,...

Battle with heaven - therein lies endless joy Armored car crushes down ice covered the road at Lujiang section of He'an Highway in Lujiang, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 1, 2008. An armonred car was ordered to deice thick ice covered the road due to continuous icy weather in recent days. (Xinhua Photo) Armored car crushes down ice covered road at Lujiang section of He'an Highway in Lujiang, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 1, 2008. An armonred car was ordered to deice thick ice

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Monday it was "troubling" that China's weapons systems capability exceeded the level Beijing defined as necessary for self-defense. The head of the US armed forces in the Asia-Pacific, Admiral Timothy Keating, said he was told by Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing that its so-called "area denial weapons" were "to protect those things that are ours." But he said, "we find it troubling that the capabilities of some of these weapons systems would tend to exceed our own expectations for protecting those things that are 'ours.'"

WASHINGTON -- China is modernizing its military in ways that give it options for launching surprise attacks, potentially far from its borders, the Pentagon said Friday.

China navy floats three-carrier plan By Russell Hsiao On December 31, a Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Pao cited a report that no one in the Western media has detected concerning a Jane's Defence Weekly article which reported that China has plans to develop three-carrier battle groups over the next decade. News about this development has been widely discussed in the Hong Kong and Taiwanese press. Citing Jane's, Wen Wai Pao reported that as a part of its carrier battle group plans the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN) intends to establish an even stronger submarine fleet; having added 20 nuclear-powered...

China has introduced a number of new weapons lately and that has more than a few people upset. For example, the most recent estimate of Chinese missiles now opposite Taiwan is 1,000. This cold fact has drawn the attention of the Pentagon, Tokyo, and Taipei. Those 1,000 missiles are just about the right number to start and win a war over Taiwan. China has also introduced a brand new air-to-air missile that should be operational by 2010. The PL-10 heat seeking missile looks and acts almost identical to the European ASRAAM air-to-air missile. This deadly new weapon will equip the...

China's ability to sustain warfare HONG KONG, China, Jan. 4 ANDREI CHANG Column: Military Might Should a conflict break out across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwanese forces would face a grave shortage of ammunition after just seven days of fighting. Even though China has a much greater stockpile of ammunition than Taiwan, it would also encounter similar problems in a sustained conflict. The PLA Air Force fleet of third generation fighters comprises 281 Su-30s, Su-27 SKs, J-11A/Bs and 64 J-10As, whereas its bomber fleet includes approximately 48 JH-7As and 117 H-6s. In full-scale warfare across the Taiwan Strait, suppose there were...

DEFENCE: INDIA-CHINA The China Doctrine-II India has woken up to China's new army capabilities. A major overhaul is needed. Saikat Datta On a visit on December 2 to the Sino-Indian border, Union defence minister A.K. Antony gave voice to a concern that has been getting reiterated for long by his country's military. "It's an eye-opener," said a shocked Antony, as he toured forward posts in Nathu La. "There is no comparison between the two sides. Infrastructure on the Chinese side is far superior. They have gone far in developing their infrastructure," he told journalists who had flown in with him...

More than 50 percent of military personnel believe there is going to be war between Taiwan and China -- numbers the Ministry of National Defense's General Political Warfare Bureau said yesterday were a good sign. "It shows that most of our personnel have not forgotten they face an enemy that needs to be dealt with. They would be ready for combat on the shortest possible notice," said Lieutenant General Chen Kuo-hsiang (陳國祥), director-general of the bureau.

Analysis: China seeks new Russian technology HONG KONG, China, Nov. 23 ANDREI CHANG Column: Military Might A Chinese military source based in Beijing has said that the People's Liberation Army Air Force is currently negotiating with the Russian Sukhoi Aircraft Company on three new projects. Military observers based in Moscow and Beijing believe that the recent nadir of military cooperation between China and Russia is only temporary. China will have to rely on Russia to develop its military technologies, as Beijing has no other alternative. The first new project involves Su-33 shipborne fighters. Experts from the Russian aviation industry are...

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed. At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders.

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed. At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders. That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory. Uninvited guest: A Chinese Song Class submarine, like the one that sufaced by the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close...

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed. At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders. That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory. American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board. By the...

TIANJIN, China — On a windswept pier at the Binhai theme park, tourists board an aged Russian aircraft carrier, the Kiev, and imagine what it would be like if China had such a symbol of maritime might. Along dimly lit passageways, they peer into compartments to see mannequins of Russian sailors loading rockets into firing tubes, manning radars and even entering a sauna. On deck, simulated jet fighters rest on the rolling tarmac along a runway.

Twenty-seven veterans who took part in the detonation of China's first atomic bomb in 1964 gathered in Guangzhou for a commemorative party on October 16. They recalled the great historical event and their experiences together. Fu Hongtie, who was 23 years old and had just graduated from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, went to the Malan Base of Heshuo County in Korla City of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on May 28, 1964. There were more than 100,000 residents there at that time. "Seven other graduates and I gathered in Beijing and set out for Xinjiang together. They had just...

The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it was investigating how engines made by a Canadian subsidiary of United Technologies Corp wound up in prototypes of the Z-10, China's first domestically developed military attack helicopter. State Department spokesman Karl Duckworth said information was being gathered before deciding whether to take any action. "We are reviewing the matter and have no further comments at this time," he said.

Iran to Buy 24 Jet Fighters from China October 24, 2007 Ha'aretz Yossi Melman Iran has signed a deal with China to buy two squadrons of J-10 fighter planes that are based on Israeli technology, the Russian news agency Novosti reported yesterday. The 24 aircraft are based on technology and components provided to China by Israel following the cancellation of the Lavi project in the mid-1980s. The engines of the J-10 are Russian-made. The total cost of the planes is estimated at $1 billion, and deliveries are expected between 2008 and 2010. The estimated operational range of the aircraft, with...

HONG KONG, Oct. 23 (AP) - (Kyodo)—A Chinese submarine will send test signals that could change the course of a satellite when China launches its first moon orbiter, as part of the country's effort to develop space war technology, a human rights watchdog said Tuesday. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said two survey ships are deployed in the South Pacific Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean to send signals to maneuver the lunar exploration satellite, expected to be launched Wednesday. At the same time, a nuclear-powered submarine will send simulated signals to the satellite as a test, it...

Manufacturer says they were sold for use only in civilian craft. The U.S. State Department is investigating how aircraft engines made near Montreal ended up in attack helicopters in China. The maker, Pratt and Whitney Canada, says it did nothing illegal. It delivered 10 engines to Bejing in 2001 and 2002 on condition they be used only in civilian aircraft. The Liberal government of the day approved the deal, a decision the present Conservative government is supporting. But Washington is not happy. If the engines contain U.S. technology or parts, the company could be hit with big fines for violating...

October 9, 2007: Russian military equipment manufacturers have concluded that China has illegally copied the Fregat M2EM naval radar, and many other high tech items. Despite growing pressure from manufacturers, the Russian government is still trying to decide what to do about it. The 12 ton, two decade old M2EM system is fitted to most recent Russian warships. The radar scans 360 degrees to a max range of 300 kilometers and max altitude of 100,000 feet. The Sovremenny class destroyers Russia sold to China contained Fregat M2EM, and with that, China proceeded to copy the technology and build its own...

US Official Notes China's Military Gains US Commander: China Is Modernizing Its Military And Its Air Defenses Are Nearly Impenetrable KADENA AIR BASE, Japan, Sep. 29, 2007 (AP) While the U.S. has been tied up in Iraq, China is modernizing its military and its air defenses are now nearly impenetrable to all but the newest of American fighters, the senior U.S. military official in Japan said. Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, commander of the roughly 50,000 U.S. forces in Japan, Washington's biggest ally in Asia, said in an interview with The Associated Press this week that the Iraq war is reducing...

Spies 'stole secrets' to arm Chinese military By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles Last Updated: 11:57pm BST 27/09/2007 Two Silicon Valley computing engineers have been charged with economic espionage for allegedly conspiring to steal sensitive microchip designs they hoped to use to go into business with the Chinese military. Lan Lee, an American, and Yuefei Ge, who is Chinese, are accused of stealing trade secrets from their employer, NetLogics Microsystems, and a second company, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation. The two men allegedly set up a business, SICO Microsystems, for the purpose of developing and marketing products using the stolen...

Analysis: China artillery force seeks to strike aircraft carriers HONG KONG, Sep. 21 ANDREI CHANG Column: Military Might In the event of conflict in the Taiwan Strait, if the United States were to send an aircraft carrier to the scene, it would likely remain in an area 800-1,000 kilometers from the spot of engagement. This is what happened in 1999 when China sent a series of air sorties over the island and the United States sent two aircraft carriers to the area as a warning. This distance poses very complicated and difficult challenges for detecting, positioning and tracking the target...

Chinese military foot-dragging this month led the Pentagon to postpone the next round of high-level talks that would have included discussion of Beijing's promise to create a military hot line to the U.S. The Defense Consultative Talks were to be followed by detailed discussions on an offer from Chinese President Hu Jintao to President Bush in Australia to set up the military communications link between the Pentagon and China's military, something the Chinese military has refused to do for the past several years, defense officials said. "The PRC was unable to confirm the September 6 to 7 dates within a...

Did you know that China could become the world’s leading naval power by 2020? That’s the verdict of military analyst Tony Corn. This may help explain why the U.S. Navy thinks a piece of paper called the U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty provides some sort of protection for American forces on the high seas. It offers no such protection, of course, but it creates the impression that Navy leaders are doing something about our increasing weakness and vulnerability. However, like so many other U.N. treaties, including the 19 anti-terrorism treaties in effect on 9/11, this one offers a false...

A reader sent me this item with a very disturbing, but hardly surprising, item about Chinese war preparations. The newsmax story states that China has a youth program “cloaked in secrecy” which is training 50,000,000 Chinese youth to prepare for warfare against the USA. The youth militarization program is “compulsory” and is run by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The article states that “Young people in the camps are taught self-defense and study advanced weaponry, including American Black Hawk helicopters and aircraft carriers.” The fact that Chinese youth are being trained to recognize (and fight against) US weapon systems make...

Chinese military hackers have prepared a detailed plan to disable America’s aircraft battle carrier fleet with a devastating cyber attack, according to a Pentagon report obtained by The Times. The blueprint for such an assault, drawn up by two hackers working for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is part of an aggressive push by Beijing to achieve “electronic dominance” over each of its global rivals by 2050, particularly the US, Britain, Russia and South Korea.

The Chinese military shut down the Pentagon's computer network for more than a week during an unprecedented cyber attack, according to leaked reports of an internal investigation. China has flatly denied the allegation, dismissing it as a product of "Cold War" thinking. However, American officials claim the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been implicated. One US official told the Financial Times that an internal investigation had revealed the exact provenance of the attack in June this year, believed to be the most successful cyber attack ever carried out on the Pentagon. The newspaper cited another source as saying there was...

Britain has privately complained to Beijing that Chinese-made weapons are being used by the Taleban to attack British troops in Afghanistan. The BBC has been told that on several occasions Chinese arms have been recovered after attacks on British and American troops by Afghan insurgents. The authorities in Beijing have promised to carry out an investigation. This appears to be the first time Britain has asked China how its arms are ending up with the Taleban.

Chinese military hacked into Pentagon By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington and Richard McGregor in Beijing Published: September 3 2007 19:00 | Last updated: September 3 2007 20:53 The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American ­officials. The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer system serving the office of Robert Gates, defence secretary, but declined to say who it believed was behind the attack. Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internal investigation has revealed that the incursion came from...

Lieutenant General Robert Elder, senior Air Force officer for cyberspace issues, recently joked that North Korea “must only have one laptop” to make the more serious point that every potential adversary – except Pyongyang – routinely scans US computer networks. North Korea may be impotent in cyberspace, but its neighbour is not. The Chinese military sent a shiver down the Pentagon’s spine in June by successfully hacking into an unclassified network used by the top policy advisers to Robert Gates, the defence secretary. While the People’s Liberation Army has been probing Pentagon networks hund­reds of times a day for the...

The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American ­officials. The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer system serving the office of Robert Gates, defence secretary, but declined to say who it believed was behind the attack. Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internal investigation has revealed that the incursion came from the People’s Liberation Army. One senior US official said the Pentagon had pinpointed the exact origins of the attack. Another person familiar with the event said there...

OKYO -- Claims that China's military development is a threat are "totally groundless," Beijing's defense chief said in Tokyo on Thursday while assuring his Japanese hosts that China is becoming more open about its defense spending. Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan's assertions came as the two countries agreed on reciprocal port calls by navy ships, with a Chinese warship to visit Japan as early as November for the first time since World War II, Japanese defense officials said.

Analysis: Russia-China military cooperation on the rocks HONG KONG, Aug. 24 ANDREI CHANG Column: Military Might China is running into problems in its military technology dealings with Russia. The country has postponed high-level military talks on defense technology and stopped all new military contracts until Russia delivers an overdue shipment of aircraft, according to industry sources in both countries. China has also complained about the quality of Russian weapons. Russian dealers, on the other hand, are upset about blatant Chinese imitations of their products, built from designs supplied in the understanding that the weapons were to be purchased. The aircraft...

Analysis: Chinese navy starts long march by Andrei Chang Hong Kong (UPI) Aug 17, 2007 China is bent on the simultaneous development of both an aircraft carrier and a strategic nuclear submarine, or SSBN. Discussions over which should take priority are over, as a higher military budget allocation has accelerated the People's Liberation Army navy's ambitious plan. China has been working more than 20 years on building a carrier, according to a memoir written by Liu Huaqing, former commander in chief of the navy. He said the navy had had a special budget for research on carrier technology since the...

MOSCOW: Russian and Chinese military transport planes dropped more than 200 paratroopers and heavy weapons during a dress rehearsal on Monday for a massive joint military exercise by the two former Cold War rivals, the first on Russia’s territory. A 1,600-member Chinese military contingent backed by aircraft, tanks and other heavy weapons has travelled to the Chelyabinsk region in Russia’s Ural Mountains for the war games, to be held on Friday and watched by the leaders of Russia, China and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The SCO, which also includes four ex-Soviet nations in Central Asia, was created...

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Joint military exercises involving troops from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will continue till August 17. More than 6,000 troops and 36 aircraft from the six nations are currently engaged in China’s far northwest Xinjiang region for two days; tomorrow they will move to Chelyabinsk, Russia. The exercises are intended to improve cooperation against terrorism, drug and weapons trafficking and criminal gangs as required by an agreement of mutual assistance against armed attacks. But the real objective is political. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Hui noted that “this is the first time that all the leaders...

China in mind, India to boost eastern air power Wed Aug 8, 2007 6:25PM IST By Bappa Majumdar KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - India will embark on a major effort soon to boost air power on the eastern front, a top military commander said on Wednesday, adding new fighter jets among others, in an apparent move to guard against China. The plans include moving two squadrons or 36 state-of-the-art Russian-built Sukhoi-30 aircraft to an air base in the east, adding advanced helicopters, strengthening runways and upgrading other air force facilities. "The perception of east India has changed and our defences are...

China's military might The long march to be a superpower Aug 2nd 2007 | BEIJING AND TIANJIN From The Economist print edition The People's Liberation Army is investing heavily to give China the military muscle to match its economic power. But can it begin to rival America? THE sight is as odd as its surroundings are bleak. Where a flat expanse of mud flats, salt pans and fish farms reaches the Bohai Gulf, a vast ship looms through the polluted haze. It is an aircraft-carrier, the Kiev, once the proud possession of the Soviet Union. Now it is a tourist...

(BEIJING) -- China's military is celebrating its 80th birthday Wednesday with snazzy new uniforms, lavish exhibitions and a degree of transparency for a force long swathed in secrecy. Yet even with the public relations drive, the buildup of the People's Liberation Army continues to stir concern among some of China's neighbors. Observers say the new openness _ touted as a sign of modernization _ remains highly limited. China's army "is making significant efforts to improve their foreign military exchanges, but still has a long way to go in the area of transparency," said David Shambaugh, an expert on the Chinese...