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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Top US officials, recognizing China's growing influence, say they are trying to persuade Beijing to act as a "responsible actor" on the world stage amid disagreements and rivalry between the two powers. ADVERTISEMENT With China's rising star dominating the World Economic Forum in Davos, US representatives sounded a note of apprehension about Beijing's diplomacy. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was up to Washington and other powers to encourage China to act as a "stakeholder" in the international arena and not merely pursue its own economic interests. "Now, the rise of China is something we...

With every passing year after the turn of the century, the instability of the Gulf region grew. By the beginning of 2006, nearly all the combustible ingredients for a conflict - far bigger in its scale and scope than the wars of 1991 or 2003 - were in place. The first underlying cause of the war was the increase in the region's relative importance as a source of petroleum. On the one hand, the rest of the world's oil reserves were being rapidly exhausted. On the other, the breakneck growth of the Asian economies had caused a huge surge in...

By Henry Ivanov JDW Correspondent Moscow China is developing an advanced version of the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Corporation (CAC) J-10 multirole fighter aircraft, referred to as the Super-10, with a more powerful engine, thrust-vector control, stronger airframe and passive phased-array radar, according to Russian sources. Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (RSK-MiG) specialists, contracted to provide technical assistance to Chinese design houses, said the enhancement to the J-10 airframe is a logical step, since the fighter was initially intended to have the compact Pratt&Whitney PW1120 engine that powered the Israeli Lavi aircraft, which served as a basis for the J-10 ......