Free Republic

Heads were certainly turned during Barack Obama's goodwill tour of China, as this cheeky sailor's expression reveals. The American leader was inspecting the country's naval forces yesterday when the sailor dropped his mask of indifference and openly gawped at the president. America and China emerged from hours of intense, closed-door talks yesterday after making little progress on the key issues that divide the two nations. Despite reaffirming the importance of greater U.S.-China co-operation to world peace and stability, President Obama and President Hu Jintao were unable to disguise the deep differences that separate their countries on trade, security, climate change...

China has revealed that it has upgraded 200 Russian Kh-31P ARM (anti-radiation missiles) it imported in the 1980s. The Chinese were dissatisfied with the Russian seekers (that detected and homed in on radar transmissions), and developed one of their own. The Chinese seeker detects more radar frequencies (2-18 Ghz) and will hit within 8-10 meters of the radar transmission. The Kh-31 was originally developed as an anti-ship missile. The Russians quickly realized that, with a different seeker, the missile would also work well as an anti-radiation weapon. The anti-ship version has a range of 50 kilometers, while the ARM version...

A top Chinese general will visit the United States this month and tour major U.S. bases as Washington seeks to improve relations and reduce the risk of conlict, offi

Admiral Timothy Keating said the closed lines of communication between China and the rest of the world could increase the risk of a serious military incident. Last month, Adml Keating reached out to China's leaders, offering the prospect of joint military exercises between the US and China. "We are anxious to engage with them at the earliest opportunity," he said. "We want to understand much better than we do now China's intentions". "We're watching them," said Adml Keating. "We're paying close attention. But I don't view China as a threat. We don't want them to view us as a threat."

China's increasingly advanced weaponry could undermine US military power in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday. Echoing US intelligence guidelines released on Tuesday that warned of Beijing's military modernization, Gates said US naval carriers and air bases in the Pacific faced new threats from China. "In fact, when considering the military-modernization programs of countries like China, we should be concerned less with their potential ability to challenge the US symmetrically -- fighter to fighter or ship to ship -- and more with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options," Gates said...

The United States voiced concern Wednesday about rising tension between China and Vietnam in the South China Sea as a senator led calls to boost US seapower faced with Beijing's growing military.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China will recruit more than 120,000 college graduates this year, a military source said here Sunday. According to a website run by the Ministry of Education to help college graduates find jobs, it is the first time the PLA has recruited college graduates on such a large scale, as the army seeks to improve its overall quality by drawing more talent and advancing its science and technology.

China is developing and expanding its arsenals of nuclear warheads and strategic missiles, military experts say.

China bigger threat than Pakistan, says IAF chief 24 May 2009, NEW DELHI: India faces a greater threat from China than Pakistan because New Delhi knows little about Beijing's combat capabilities, India's air force chief told a newspaper in an interview published on Sunday. The world's two most populous nations fought a brief but brutal war over their 3,500 km (2,200 mile) Himalayan border in 1962, and both sides claim the other is occupying big but largely uninhabited chunks of their territory. India has also been pursuing closer relations with the United States, something that worries China. China has a...

China's show of its naval force last week at the 60th anniversary celebrations of the People's Liberation Army Navy has revived apprehension about its emergence as a formidable military power. Much of it is unwarranted. The logic behind China's naval build-up - which includes ballistic-missile submarines and reportedly an aircraft carrier - is compelling and understandable in a big-power context. With its far- flung trade and supply networks, Beijing needs to harness the naval capabilities necessary to defend its expanding sea lanes of communications. Chinese historians like to cite Mao Zedong, who once said that China does not 'desire one...

China is set to display its maritime might in an unprecedented show Thursday as it parades its warships and nuclear submarines with 14 other nations to mark its navy's 60th anniversary. The fleet parade takes place in the eastern city of Qingdao along with 21 foreign vessels, just weeks after tensions flared up following a naval stand-off with the United States in the South China Sea.

China's navy will develop a new generation of warships and aircraft to give it much longer-range capabilities, its commander-in-chief said in comments published Thursday. Admiral Wu Shengli told the state-run China Daily newspaper the Chinese navy wanted to develop hardware such as large combat warships, stealth submarines with abilities to travel further and supersonic cruise aircraft. More accurate long-range missiles, deep-sea torpedoes and a general upgrade of information technology were also in the pipeline, according to Wu.

BEIJING – China's navy will move faster to build large combat warships, next-generation aircraft and sophisticated torpedoes in a modernizing overhaul for fighting in an era of information technology, its commander in chief said. Sophisticated weapons are key to winning a regional sea battle, Adm. Wu Shengli told the official Xinhua News Agency late Thursday. The navy wants submarines with greater stealth capabilities, high-speed intelligent torpedoes, electronic weapons, supersonic cruise aircraft and long-range missiles with high accuracy. "The navy will move faster in researching and building new-generation weapons to boost the ability to fight in regional sea wars under the...

AUSTRALIA'S military planners have rejected the view of the US's top defence official by recommending a powerful boost to conventional naval and air forces to combat China's sustained arms build-up. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has argued that future challenges are most likely to comprise unconventional non-state conflicts, such as Afghanistan, rather than conventional warfare. But Australia's defence white paper, due to be released by the end of the month, is believed to reject the thrust of his arguments by focusing on the need to plan for conventional conflict and to commit more than $100 billion to new ships, submarines...

Selective abortion in favour of males has left China with 32 million more boys than girls, creating an imbalance that will endure for decades, an investigation released on Friday warned. The probe provides ammunition for those experts who predict China’s obsession with a male heir will sow a bitter fruit as men facing a life of bachelorhood fight for a bride. “Although some imaginative and extreme solutions have been suggested, nothing can be done now to prevent this imminent generation of excess men,” says the paper, published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). In most countries, males slightly outnumber...

With tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned. After years of conjecture, details have begun to emerge of a "kill weapon" developed by the Chinese to target and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers. First posted on a Chinese blog viewed as credible by military analysts and then translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination, a recent report provides a description of an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that can strike carriers and other U.S....

The Obama administration came into office looking to “deepen the dialogue” with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). On her visit to Beijing in late February, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “it is essential that the United States and China have a positive, cooperative relationship. Both of us are seeking ways to deepen and broaden that relationship.” In reality, she narrowed the discussion by pushing to the margin areas of disagreement. She downplayed human rights abuses in China and glossed over U.S.-PRC rivalries in hot spots like North Korea and Iran. Her main concern was to reassure Beijing that...

If operational as is believed, the system marks the first time a ballistic missile has been successfully developed to attack vessels at sea. Ships currently have no defense against a ballistic missile attack.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Chinese navy has a new submarine base on Hainan Island, according to the latest Defense Department report on Chinese military power. The report comes about two weeks after a Military Sealift Command contract surveillance ship was accosted by five Chinese vessels about 75 miles south of Hainan Island. "The base appears large enough to accommodate a mix of attack and ballistic missile submarines and advanced surface combatant ships," the report said. "The port, which has underground facilities, would provide the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Navy with direct access to vital international sea lanes, and offers the...

BEIJING, March 20 (UPI) -- The Chinese government is ready to end a standoff between a U.S. surveillance ship and five Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, defense sources say. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they have been told by top commanders that China has no plans to increase its military presence in the area, the China Daily reported Friday. Military analysts in China are saying it is time to leave the dispute behind and concentrate on more important issues facing Sino-U.S. relations, the newspaper says. Earlier this week U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a...

A top U.S. commander says China's "aggressive and troublesome" run-in with an unarmed American ship shows that Beijing is not yet ready to behave acceptably. Adm. Timothy Keating told senators that Beijing's suspension of military contact last year because of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and last week's South China Sea confrontation are "vivid reminders" that it has yet to become a "responsible stakeholder." The U.S. has pushed for more frequent and intense communications with China to avoid military confrontations that could upset a relationship crucial to solving global crises. But Keating, who heads the Pacific Command, said the bilateral...

China's military remains primarily focused on recapturing Taiwan but the country's naval and missile buildup portends a global role for the Asian giant, the head of US intelligence said Thursday. "China's desire to secure access to the markets, commodities, and energy supplies needed to sustain domestic economic growth significantly influences its foreign engagement," retired admiral Dennis Blair told Congress.

LONDON (AFP) – China is likely to begin deploying its military increasingly further from its borders, analysts at a top thinktank said on Tuesday. The Asian power was also unlikely to constrain its defence budget because of an economic downturn that has left the World Bank forecasting the slowest pace of growth in China since 1990, the analysts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies said. Noting that China began using a naval convoy in the Gulf of Aden to protect the country's shipping from Somali pirates, IISS director of transnational threats and political risk Nigel Inkster said he expected...

China expanding African arms sales By Andrei Chang Hong Kong, China — Increasing quantities of China-made military equipment have been finding their way to Africa, traded for oil, mineral resources and even fishing rights. Zambia has used its copper resources to pay China in a number of military deals, for instance, and Kenya has been negotiating with China to trade fishing rights for arms. Among the most popular Chinese military exports to Africa are the J-7, K-8 and Y-12 aircraft, which are relatively inexpensive and easy to operate. China sees those countries already armed with the K-8 and J-7 aircraft...

<p>One of the principle issues that the Chinese Navy has been experiencing in the development of their many new classes of warships is the ability to defend them adequately, particularly close-in.</p> <p>They have developed verticle launch systms (VLS) for medium and long range engagements, they have developed Phased Array Radars (PARS) and the acquisition and guidance systems for them. They have developed gatling gun Close in Weapons Systems (CIWS), but to date, they had not developed a strong, short range but effective close in weapon missile system that compares with the west.</p>

China's military said that it needs to be stronger to face containment abroad and separatist threats at home, even as it said that relations with longtime rival Taiwan had improved. In a news conference Tuesday to discuss China's newly issued white paper on national defense, Col. Hu Changming, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said "the situation across the Taiwan Strait has taken a significant positive turn," the latest sign of warming ties. But despite that improvement in what has been its biggest potential hot spot, defense officials said China needs to continue to invest more in equipment, salaries...

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/01/navy_china_carriers_010309w/

China will "seriously consider" building its first aircraft carrier, the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday in another sign of Beijing's expanding military ambitions. An aircraft carrier is "a symbol of a country's overall national strength as well as the competitiveness of the country's naval force," said ministry spokesman Senior Col. Huang Xueping. He said China must ensure its maritime security and sovereignty but gave no timetable for launching such a vessel. China's navy usually stays close to its shores, though the government said Tuesday that it will send three ships to the Indian Ocean to deter pirate attacks on...

Two Chinese destroyers and a supply ship will set sail for the Gulf of Aden on Friday to protect Chinese merchant ships from an increasing number of pirate attacks in the waters off the coast of Somalia, navy officials said Tuesday. China has reportedly been working to rapidly modernize its fleet. Two helicopters and special operations forces will also head to the region, the Chinese officials said. Chinese media reported the plans last week. It will mark the first time that the country's naval vessels have left Chinese waters in centuries. The Chinese ships will join a multinational naval force...

September 19, 2008: China announced that its first class of carrier aviators had begun training at the Dalian Naval Academy. The naval officers will undergo a four year course of instruction to turn them into fighter pilots capable of operating off a carrier. China already has an airfield, in the shape of a carrier deck, built at an inland facility. The Russians have warned China that it may take them a decade or more to develop the knowledge and skills needed to efficiently run an aircraft carrier. The Chinese are game, and are slogging forward.

Soldiers operating the huge scroll that formed the centrepiece of last week's Olympic opening ceremony had to stay hidden under the structure for up to seven hours, wearing nappies because they were not allowed toilet breaks, state media reported on Friday. Nearly 900 soldiers were hidden underneath the scroll, many of them moving giant printing blocks with Chinese characters, the Beijing News reported. "The performers for Chinese character parts went into the models underground at 2 pm, and after getting in there they could not come out," the newspaper quoted choreographer Han Lixun as saying. "The underground area was so...

Live Blogging the Opening Ceremonies Mark Starr 12:03--Well they can't keep a secret in this town any better than anywhere else. Li Ning gets the honor. He takes a giant leap--and the final lap around the highest wall inside the stadium to light the cauldron. Fireworks ensue. Good job, China. Let the Games begin! 11:54--The torch is in the building! 11:53--I should have said "doves" with quotation marks. Ever since there was an accidental holocaust of the "peace" birds at one ceremony, the dovishness is strictly symbolic. 100 young women in white gesticulating gently did their dovish best.

As the mainstream media is dominated by its attention to the preparations for Beijing Olympics being held August 8-24 this year, an obvious truth is being ignored or going unaddressed. The more important story is that China is on a mission to dominate the United States and the rest of the world militarily by building nuclear weaponry meant to defeat the United States on the world stage. The actual Olympics pale in comparison to this upcoming event. And while our people continue to be distracted by a variety of “shiny things” meant to divert their attention, the Chinese continue their...

A high-level Chinese military source secretly disclosed last week that the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province caused a chain-reaction of explosions in the Sichuan mountain areas. The explosions destroyed Chinese army's largest armory, new weapon test bases and part of nuclear facilities including several nuclear warheads. This information is considered China's top military secret.

>font size=4>Military Superiority: China has embarked on an ambitious anti-ship missile program designed to sink American carriers. Unfortunately, due to underspending on defense, we have an anti-ship program all our own.China is developing at least three different anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) designed to take out American carriers coming to Taiwan's defense and may be willing to shop them around to rogue states such as Venezuela and Iran, according to Richard Fisher, a specialist on the Chinese military. Fisher, vice president of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, says two of the missiles are based on the CSS-5, also known as...

PLA's rapid reaction capability in Tibet By Andrei Chang Published: June 27, 2008 Hong Kong, China — The eruption of riots in Tibet in March reflected an increasingly complicated political situation there, involving both internal and external factors. Internally, the peaceful and nonviolent approach of the Dalai Lama toward China has encountered greater resistance from the young generation of Tibetans, and the Dalai Lama’s political relevance has been gradually marginalized as a result. Externally, India’s China policy is now at a critical point, and India-China relations are likely to slip backward if they fail to quickly progress. India is adjusting...

EXCLUSIVE: The Bush administration has approved the export of sensitive equipment and expertise to China's military and police forces to bolster security at the Beijing Olympics, according to a number of private and public interviews and documents. The support includes security and military equipment that is restricted for export under the Export Administration Act, prompting some critics of the policy to question its legality. The FBI and other U.S. security agencies also are helping China to develop sensitive counterterrorism coordination techniques, such as creating joint security operations and intelligence centers, according to Bush administration defense and national security officials. The...

An unnamed expert believes that a nuclear explosion caused the recent 8.0 magnitude Sichuan earthquake in China, where three weeks after the catastrophe the death toll has reached 69,000 plus. Overseas Chinese website Boxun News reported that the expert confirmed there was a nuclear explosion near the epicenter, based on witness reports and the discovery of concrete rubble believed to have come from an underground military installation.

Why would the bandits rush radiological equipment and specialist troops into an earthquake disaster area if they were interested in aiding "civilians"? Why is much of the limited PLA earth moving equipment headed for certain "sites" instead of to those civilian areas where it is reported that much of the post digging and rubble clearance is still being done by hand by the survivors?

Commercial satellite imagery has revealed an extensive nuclear missile site in central China with nearly sixty launch pads for medium-range missiles capable of striking Russia or India, a researcher said Thursday."The US government often highlights China's deployment of new mobile missiles as a concern but keeps the details secret, so the discovery of the deployment area provides the first opportunity for the public to better understand how China operates its mobile ballistic missiles," he wrote."From these launch pads DF-21 missiles would be within range of southern Russia and northern India (including New Delhi), but not Japan, Taiwan or Guam," he...

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - China's military build-up opposite Taiwan is counterproductive and fans pro-independence tendencies on the island, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said on Thursday. While stressing the United States' long-standing position that it does not support independence for Taiwan, Negroponte also told U.S. lawmakers Taiwan should be brought into international groups like the World Health Organization. The No. 2 U.S. diplomat, who made a two-day trip to Beijing this month, also repeated the U.S. stance that it will "continue to sell Taiwan defensive arms to maintain the capacity to assist in Taiwan's defense if needed."...

LONDON – Defense analysts for the British intelligence service MI6 believe China is preparing for the "eventuality of a nuclear war." The conclusion follows evidence that Beijing has built secretly a major naval base deep inside caverns which even sophisticated satellites cannot penetrate, says a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. In an unusual development, the analysts have provided details to the specialist defense periodical, Jane's Intelligence Review, which published satellite images of the base location which is hidden beneath millions of tons of rock on the South China Sea island of Hainan. The MI6 analysts have confirmed the submarine...

dd India and Belgium to the list of countries worried about attacks coming from China. Officials from both countries warned the public over the past week that online attacks -- appearing to come from the People's Republic of China (PRC) -- have targeted their government networks. Unnamed Indian officials told the Times of India that almost daily probes have focused on mapping and scanning India's official networks over the past 18 months. The Justice Minister of Belgium warned that e-mail attacks, aimed at compromising government computers, appear to be coming from China, according to a United Press International report.

Demonised in the West as goons guarding the Olympic torch along its chaotic world tour, these pictures show how China's paramilitary police learn their unwavering discipline. Officers of the People Paramilitary Police preparing for the Olympics are drilled on the parade ground with pins in their collars and crosses on their backs to ensure perfect posture. But instead of the blue tracksuits members wore while escorting the flame, they are kitted out in full dress uniform during the exercise at their base in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

China has secretly built an underground nuclear submarine base in the South China Sea, posing a new threat to powers in the region — a development the Pentagon says it has known about for at least two years. Satellite photos of the base obtained by FOX News show a large harbor and massive tunnels that defense experts say could shelter many nuclear subs. The Defense Department has estimated that by 2010 China will have five operational 094-class nuclear submarines capable of carrying 12 nuclear missiles each, according to the Daily Telegraph. According to the Defense Department, China has 57 attack...

Ideology matters again. The big development of recent years is the rise not only of great powers but also of the great-power autocracies of Russia and China. True realism about the international scene begins with understanding how this unanticipated shift will shape our world. Many believe that when Chinese and Russian leaders stopped believing in communism, they stopped believing in anything. They had become pragmatists, pursuing their own and their nation's interests. But Chinese and Russian rulers, like past rulers of autocracies, do have a set of beliefs that guide their domestic and foreign policies. They believe in the virtues...

Chinese nuclear submarines prompt 'new Cold War' warning By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent Last Updated: 5:30PM BST 02/05/2008 Tensions in the Far East could reach "Cold War levels" defence analysts warned, following evidence that China had secretly developed a major nuclear submarine base. Satellite photographs passed to The Daily Telegraph this week showed that the secret base at Sanya on Hainan island will house up to 20 of the latest 094 Jin-class nuclear ballistic submarines that could be capable of firing anti-satellite missiles and nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The construction showed that China was “ramping up its operational capability” and developing...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - CIA chief Michael Hayden charged Wednesday that China was beefing up its military with "remarkable speed and scope," calling the buildup "troubling." The Chinese, he said, had fully absorbed the lessons of both Gulf wars, developing and integrating advanced weaponry into a modern military force. Hayden said while Beijing's new capabilities could pose a risk to US forces and interests in the region, the military modernization was as much about projecting strength as anything else.

Imagery confirms underground nuclear sub base in China Imagery confirms underground nuclear sub base in China Richard D Fisher Jr Analyst - Virginia Key Points Exclusive access to Digital Globe satellite imagery has allowed Jane's to document China's nuclear naval build-up on Hainan Island The Sanya base may be used to house the new Type 094 nuclear submarine High-resolution satellite imagery from Digital Globe has enabled Jane's to confirm the construction of a major underground nuclear submarine base at Sanya, on Hainan Island off the southern coast of China. Although Asian military sources first suggested the existence of the base...

China has developed cyber warfare forces and the Air Force has created a cyberspace command to provide both defensive and offensive computer network weapons, a senior Air Force general said last week. Asked if China was planning a cyber “Pearl Harbor” surprise attack, Maj. Gen. William Lord, the cyber forces commander, said numerous Chinese-origin probes may be “reconnaissance” intrusions to determine if cyber warfare capabilities are detected as part of preparation for some future attack. “So when the lights go out, when the traffic lights don't work, when the data in the stock exchange has been manipulated, when the cell...