Free Republic

China has detained several dissidents and campaigners ahead of US President Barack Obama's much-anticipated first visit to the country, their relatives and close contacts told AFP Saturday. Obama arrives in Shanghai on Sunday and moves onto Beijing the next day for a four-day maiden presidential trip during which he has been urged to raise human rights with the Asian giant's top leadership. But as the visit drew close, the head of an activist group for parents whose children were sickened by tainted milk in China had been detained, his wife told AFP. "Zhao Lianhai was criminally detained for 'provoking an...

U.S. F-22s versus Chinese F-35s Posted by David A. Fulghum at 11/12/2009 2:25 PM CST A new Chinese fighter with stealth and supercruise is in development and may soon make its first flight with predictions of operational fielding by 2017-19, says PLA Air Force deputy chief, Gen. He Weirong. The new Chinese fighter aircraft could come from Avic Defense’s Chengdu facility, which developed China’s latest J-10 fighter, or from Shenyang. He says the PLAAF will emphasize development of reconnaissance/early warning; strike; strategic airlift, and air and missile defense. The J-10 began large-scale service in 2006. While replicating the F-22 seems...