Free Republic

Researchers want new facility to be up and running by 2020 as race to develop hypersonic technology intensifies China is building the world’s fastest wind tunnel to simulate hypersonic flight at speeds of up to 12 kilometres per second. A hypersonic vehicle flying at this speed from China could reach the west coast of the United States in less than 14 minutes. Zhao Wei, a senior scientist working on the project, said researchers aimed to have the facility up and running by around 2020 to meet the pressing demand of China’s hypersonic weapon development programme. “It will boost the engineering...

North, China trade tips on democracy protests February 24, 2011 Meng Jianzhu, China’s minister of public security, made a trip this month to North Korea to discuss ways to prevent the wave of democracy protests in the Middle East from spreading to China and North Korea, according to several South Korean sources. North Korea’s official news agency reported on Feb. 15 that Meng had been received by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il the day before. The visit was initially seen as an endorsement of the plan for Kim Jong-un to succeed his father Kim Jong-il as the country’s leader, as...