Mil News China Military news

China’s perilous Taiwan policy
The unfolding geopolitical contest between China and the United States has been described by many as a new cold war. If it ever becomes a hot one, the flashpoint could be Taiwan, owing in large part to Chinese policy towards the island.

China’s government suspended diplomatic contact with Taiwan in June 2016 because the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had just returned to power, refused to recognise the so-called 1992 Consensus, the political basis for the One China principle. Since the 2016 victory, however, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has pursued a moderate policy, disappointing hardline DPP supporters.

That is not good enough for China, which has continued to tighten the screws on Taiwan. For example, it persuaded five other countries to follow it in severing diplomatic ties, reducing the number of countries that maintain formal relations with the island to just 17. China has also taken steps to stifle tourism from the mainland: whereas nearly 4.2 millionmainland-Chinese tourists visited Taiwan in 2015, when the pro-Beijing Kuomintang government was in power, the total fell to just 2.73 million in 2017.

Taiwan’s government has not blinked. But, last November, the DPP did suffer devastating losses in local elections, largely because of anaemic economic growth—an outcome that drove the politically weakened Tsai to resign as party leader.

For China, this seemed like the ideal moment to turn up the heat. So, on 2 January, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a major speech on Taiwan, in which he made it clear that China remains determined to seek reunification.

Xi dismissed the argument that China’s autocratic political system is fundamentally incompatible with Taiwan’s boisterous democracy, insisting that the ‘one country, two systems’ formula, first applied to Hong Kong when it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, would be sufficient to protect Taiwan’s interests and autonomy. The formula is, however, now unravelling in Hong Kong, where freedoms have been eroding during Xi’s tenure.

Nor did Xi indicate that he would offer concessions to entice Taiwan back to the negotiating table. On the contrary, despite declaring that ‘Chinese will not fight Chinese’, he refused to renounce the use of force to prevent Taiwan from seeking formal independence. China must, in his words, ‘reserve the option to take any necessary measure’, though he claims that the threat is aimed at ‘external forces and at an extremely small number of “Taiwan independence” separatists’.

Again, Taiwan’s government was unfazed. Tsai responded with a defiant speech of her own, in which she flatly rejected both the One China principle and the ‘one country, two systems’ formula, and called for the international community to support Taiwan’s de facto independence.

Although Xi’s tough stance towards Taiwan may end up reinvigorating flagging support for Tsai and the DPP, there is no reason to think that he will abandon it anytime soon. But nor is there reason to think that China’s policy will stop backfiring. While inflicting economic pain and diplomatic humiliation on Taiwan may produce some short-term psychological satisfaction for China, the island will adjust over time and Chinese actions will yield decreasing returns.

For example, after China cut the number of mainland visitors, Taiwan turned its attention to attracting tourists from other countries. Despite the decline in visitors from the mainland, 11 million tourists—a new record—visited the island in 2018. To reduce its economic dependence on the mainland, Taiwan has also been aggressively diversifying its overseas markets.

And although China’s economy is far larger, Taiwan has some important sources of leverage. For example, restricting its electronics industry—which forms a vital link between China and global information-technology supply chains—from doing business with the mainland would significantly accelerate the exodus of export-oriented manufacturers from China spurred by rising US import tariffs.

Perhaps the most dangerous consequence of China’s Taiwan policy is that it raises further tensions with the United States. As the ultimate protector of Taiwan’s de facto independence, the US has already taken steps to convey the message that it will not just sit by and watch China bully the island into submission. Last February, the US Congress unanimously passed the Taiwan Travel Act, which will allow senior American officials to visit Taiwan and vice versa. Though the measure is largely symbolic, it has infuriated China, because it amounts to official recognition of the Taiwan government.

Furthermore, in September, the US recalled its ambassadors to the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama in protest over these countries’ decisions to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. And proposals to strengthen US–Taiwan defence cooperation, including through the sale of more advanced weapons, are under discussion.

So far, China has responded to such challenges to its One China policy by ratcheting up the pressure on Taiwan—sustaining a highly dangerous dynamic at a time when US–China relations are already fraught. Unless China’s leaders break the cycle, an escalating battle of wills with the US could erupt into direct conflict.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/c...onitor&utm_term=Chinas perilous Taiwan policy
 
China will build 4 nuclear aircraft carriers in drive to catch US Navy, experts say

Four of at least six aircraft battle groups China plans to have in the water by 2035 will be nuclear-powered, as the Asian giant tries to equal the US in naval strength, according to Chinese military experts.

The specialists said that after decades of trying to close the gap, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s hardware might by then be closer to matching the world’s leading superpower in aircraft carrier technology – but it would still lag in real combat experience.

All of China’s new carriers were expected to be equipped with electromagnetic catapults similar to those used by the United States, the experts said. The US’ electromagnetic aircraft launch system, known as EMALS, can launch more aircraft more rapidly than the older diesel systems.

“China’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with [EMALS-like systems] are expected to join the navy by 2035, bringing the total number of carriers to at least six – although only four will work at the front line,” Wang Yunfei, a naval expert and retired PLA destroyer naval officer, said.

Beijing is keen to expand its aircraft carrier battle groups to fulfil its global naval ambitions and defend its growing overseas interests. Construction of its next conventional diesel-powered aircraft carrier, the Type 002 – the first equipped with the electromagnetic launchers – began last year.

“Even if the economic downturn has an effect, we can adjust proportions in total military expenditure to make sure naval modernisation keeps going,” he said. “For example, we can cut the number of new tanks.

“The budget for military modernisation will not be cut, even if [Beijing] decided to [use force to] reunify Taiwan. In a war scenario, [Beijing] may reduce spending on things like infrastructure, but it would increase military expenditure.”

Not the best source for a story like this. I'm very skeptical. But I do trust the poster of this story in another forum

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/mil...nuclear-aircraft-carriers-drive-catch-us-navy
 
Images have emerged showing what appears to be a new Chinese 8×8 assault gun equipped with a 105 mm main armament and a remote-controlled weapon station reportedly being trialed at what local media identified as the Baicheng Weapons Test Centre in northeastern China.

First released in late January by state-owned China Central Television (CCTV), the images show that the platform's chassis appears to be based on a new development of that used in the Type 09 (the export version of which is known as VN1) family of wheeled armoured vehicles supplied by China North Industries Corporation (Norinco).

In November 2018 an image had emerged on Chinese online forums showing the new chassis armed with a radar-directed 35 mm anti-aircraft cannon. The new chassis seems to be lower than that used by the VN1 armoured vehicle, although it features the same front-engine configuration. The lower height suggests that the new platform has a lower centre of gravity, thus providing more stability when equipped with heavy weapon systems.

No official information has yet to emerge about the designation, size, and performance of the new assault gun. That said, the CCTV images suggest that, given the small size of the 105 mm gun turret, the platform may use an auto-loading system for shells and gun-launched missiles. The assault gun chassis also makes generous use of externally mounted armour that could be upgraded when needed.
0%2B%25284%2529.jpg
 
Former Chinese military chief of staff jailed for life over graft



Chinese military chief of staff Gen. Fang Fenghui speaks during a roundtable discussion at the Ba Yi, Aug. 15, 2017. (DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro)

BEIJING: A former chief of staff of China’s military was sentenced to life in prison, state media said Wednesday, after he was swept up in President Xi Jinping’s ongoing anti-graft crackdown.

Appointed to the People’s Liberation Army’s top post in 2012, Fang Fenghui was convicted of accepting and offering bribes, and having an unclear source of a huge amount of assets, official news agency Xinhua reported.

A military court sentenced Fang to life in prison, stripped him of political rights for life, and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets, Xinhua said.
Fang was abruptly replaced in August 2017 amid a stand-off with India over a territorial dispute, and just days after he had met the US top brass to discuss North Korea.

The general was transferred to the military prosecution authority on suspicion of bribery in January of last year, state media reported at the time.

Fang was one of two senior generals who did not appear on a list of delegates to the Communist Party’s twice-a-decade congress in October 2017, sparking speculation he had run afoul of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1914758/3-former-chinese-military-chief-staff-jailed-life-graft/
 
Last edited:
Impressive picture of 15 Chinese project 52D destroyers & project 55 (Renhai) cruisers, under construction in the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shangai. These are modern, real blue-water navy ships and the spearhead of Chinese ambitions in South China Sea.
cc45bd713e0c7521af6dc35398dbce8ffcbef7e089faaac00cb5b2243a41b02c.jpg
fa948c28ff3beeb65dc054c66c9030d2d82f9be89c60fdc0247254ab773177a0.jpg
 
China sentences military veterans for protesting
Chinese courts announced multiple-year prison sentences Friday for more than three dozen military veterans who protested over the lack of benefits, saying the former soldiers had disrupted social order in a bid to further their own interests.

The announcements from the courts in the eastern provinces of Shandong and Jiangsu follow repeated demonstrations by veterans of various ages who say they haven't been adequately compensated for their service.

Veterans have long been organising quietly, but in recent years have staged attention-getting protests outside government offices and the defence ministry's headquarters in Beijing that prompted the government to establish a Ministry of Veterans Affairs last year.

The 47 sentenced to up to six years had been involved in protests last year that involved hundreds of former soldiers.

China's ruling Communist Party tightly restricts all public demonstrations and while it relies on the armed forces to maintain its hold on power, many veterans say they have been left to fend for themselves on meagre pensions and little support.

Such complaints came to a head last year when more than 1,000 retired soldiers, including locals and many others who rushed in from around the country, descended on government offices in the eastern city of Zhenjiang, in Jiangsu province. For four days, they occupied a public plaza and a street, singing and chanting as they demanded answers over the alleged beating of a fellow veteran by government-hired thugs after he petitioned for better benefits, supporters said.

Scenes of paramilitary police and armoured vehicles lining Zhenjiangs streets further exacerbated the fraught relationship between the government and disgruntled veterans.
 
Chinese courts announced multiple-year prison sentences Friday for more than three dozen military veterans who protested over the lack of benefits, saying the former soldiers had disrupted social order in a bid to further their own interests.

Jaysus!, isnt that the whole point?, they wanted improved benefits thats all ?
 
^^You must NOT question your socialist overlords! ?
 
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force recently unveiled the first high quality images of the J-11D “4++ generation” air superiority fighter — the latest derivative of the Soviet Su-27 Flanker design and the fifth to be manufactured in China.
Flanker derivatives have come to form the bulk of the PLA Air Force’s combat fleet since their acquisition from Russia in 1992 – with over 500 currently in service including both Russian and indigenous variants.
The J-11D program, and recent acquisitions of both the Russian Su-35 and indigenous J-16 strike fighter, demonstrate that the PLA sees a continuing role for enhanced Flanker derivatives as it modernizes its aerial warfare capabilities.
The new fighter represents the latest of China’s new generation of indigenous fighters alongside the Chengdu J-20 stealth platform which entered service in March 2017 and the J-10C which was inducted in April the following year, and is capable of fulfilling a highly complementary role to these two aircraft.
The fighter is a direct analogue to the Russian Su-35, of which the PLA has received two dozen since 2016, and is speculated to have benefited considerably from a study of Russia’s own enhanced Flanker design.
thediplomat-39404867584_1dad29d642_h-386x217.jpg

https://thediplomat.com/2019/04/why-is-china-developing-a-new-j-11-variant/
 
China, Russia conduct first ever joint warship-based live-fire missile exercise

Chinese and Russian navies conducted on Saturday their first ever joint warship-based live-fire missile exercise, as naval vessels from both sides launched surface-to-air missiles and successfully intercepted incoming anti-ship cruise missile dummies.

The exercise was part of the Joint Sea-2019 China-Russia naval drills in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, which marked a new high in coordination and trust between the two navies. The six-day drills ended on Saturday afternoon.

The air defense exercise started around 12:40 pm on Saturday, when the blue team fired two anti-ship cruise missile dummies at the red team, according to a statement the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy sent to the Global Times.

Upon their approaches, the PLA Navy's destroyer Harbin and Russian Navy's anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs of the red team launched a short-range surface-to-air missile each and successfully intercepted the two incoming threats.

This is the first time the PLA Navy has conducted such an exercise with a foreign counterpart, the statement said.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1148538.shtml
 
China sentences military veterans for protesting

The link to the story is taking nm to ABC news and I don't see the story on that page. I wanted to see some photos. I know last year in June there were protest by veterans in China over benefits and how Vets are treated in China.

 
The link to the story is taking nm to ABC news and I don't see the story on that page. I wanted to see some photos. I know last year in June there were protest by veterans in China over benefits and how Vets are treated in China.

Sorry @bdpopeye , the link seems to be the front page of ABC, I didn't realise when I posted the story. Try the following links mate:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ac440ca0b05b

https://www.newsweek.com/china-army-veterans-protest-jailed-1401559

There were other sites with the same story however, no images appear to have been published
 
How the West’s research aids China’s military

In 2016, Chinese student Huang Xianjun completed his PhD at the University of Manchester, working with the discoverers of graphene, a material with incredible strength, electrical conductivity and flexibility.
Then he returned to China to work on key projects for the People’s Liberation Army.
The European Defence Agency has described graphene as one of the materials with the highest potential for revolutionising defence capabilities in the next decade.
The agency says graphene is light and flexible but 200 times stronger than steel and its electrical and thermal conductivity is extraordinary. Graphene also has remarkable properties in the so-called signature management field, meaning it can be used to produce radar-absorbent coatings that make military vehicles, planes, submarines or ships almost undetectable. ‘All this makes of graphene an extremely attractive material not only for civil industries but also for military applications in the land, air and maritime domains’, the agency says.
After impressive research on graphene antennas, Huang received lucrative job offers from Western companies and had the opportunity to stay on as a researcher at Manchester. But he ‘politely turned down each of them, speedily packing his bags and setting out on the journey back to China’, a Chinese military newspaper reported.
Huang is now a researcher at the PLA’s National University of Defence Technology (NUDT), which originally sent him abroad. The Chinese newspaper notes that ‘the goal towards which he strives is opening up graphene’s applications in fields like military [artificial] intelligence and electromagnetic shielding and creating a world-class innovation team working on graphene, while sticking close to the needs of the military’.
While this military–academic onslaught has largely flown under Western radars, China has made little effort to keep it secret at home. The military newspaper described Huang’s activities as: ‘Picking flowers in foreign lands; making honey in China’ and told how, after returning to China, he ‘threw himself into storming key impasses in research, taking up research on two of the military’s key projects’.
Huang’s story is just one among those of the estimated 2,500 scientists and engineers ‘selected’ by the Chinese military to study and work abroad in the last decade. Examples of this phenomenon, and of the PLA’s broader expansion of research with universities outside China, are detailed in my report, Picking flowers, making honey: the Chinese military’s collaboration with foreign universities, released by ASPI today.
Using Chinese-language sources and analysis of papers published by Chinese military scientists, the report presents the first detailed analysis of the nature and scale of this overlooked issue. It finds that the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany are, in that order, the top countries for research collaboration with the PLA. Globally, the number of peer-reviewed articles published as part of this collaboration has grown seven-fold in a decade.
It’s an area in which Australia punches above its weight. Australian collaboration with the PLA has produced over 600 peer-reviewed articles and has likely involved around 300 Chinese military scientists coming to Australia as PhD students or visiting scholars. Australia engages in the most research collaboration with the PLA among Five Eyes nations on a per capita basis, at six times the level of that in the US. Researchers at the University of New South Wales publish more peer-reviewed articles with the PLA than any other university in the West. Two professors at Australian universities even serve as doctoral supervisors at NUDT.
As Huang’s case indicates, scientists sent by the PLA to work or study overseas seek to grasp technologies of value to the military. For example, those sent to Australia have worked on topics such as signal processing, radar, explosions, navigation systems, supercomputers, autonomous vehicles and cryptography. Upon his arrival in Manchester, Huang reportedly set out to master skills that would enable him to better serve the building of China’s military and national defence. Another NUDT scientist, before travelling to Uppsala University in Sweden and then Stanford University in the US to study quantum physics, was told by his supervisor that, ‘Without breakthroughs in physics, there won’t be rapid developments in weaponry.’
While most PLA scientists don’t disguise their background when overseas, my report identifies 24 new cases of scientists hiding their military affiliation while travelling outside China, including 17 who came to Australia. Scientists from the PLA university that trains geospatial and signals intelligence officers have come to Australia for conferences while claiming to be visiting scholars from non-existent institutes. PLA Rocket Force scientists working on hypersonic aircraft have used cover stories to secure work as visiting scholars in the UK, Germany and Norway.
Helping the Chinese military bring its scientific talent and knowledge up to world-class standards is not in Australia’s interests and demands a response from the government and universities. The issues raised by this collaboration have not yet been addressed by governments and universities around the world.
Governments and universities should work together to advance scientific progress and foster cooperation while ensuring that any research collaboration is in the national interest. The Australian government should develop a clear policy on collaboration with the Chinese military that informs legislative and other responses.
The Defence Trade Controls Act should be amended to restrict transfers of sensitive technologies to members of non-allied militaries such as the PLA when they’re in Australia. More effective immigration vetting should be applied to members of the Chinese military who intend to use knowledge and skills gained in Australia to develop military technology back home.
Universities need to take a more proactive approach to their engagement with China, ensuring that it does not compromise their own security and Australia’s interests.
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/how-the-wests-research-aids-chinas-military/
 
Photographs posted on Chinese social media sites appear to show that China conducted a missile launch on 2 June, which online sources suggest was a test firing of the country’s next-generation submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the JL-3.
The event took place during the time an area in the Bohai Sea was closed for a “military mission” as notified by the Liaoning office of the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA). The MSA had issued two closure notices – from 07:00-1300 h (local time) on 1 June and from 02:30-12:00 h on 2 June – for naval activities in the Bohai Strait, southwest of the naval bases around Lushun and Dalian, at the entrance to the largely enclosed Bohai Sea.
State-owned Global Times newspaper reported that on 2 June at about 04:00 h “residents across multiple provinces in China” had seen “an unidentified flying object (UFO) with a glowing fiery tail streak across the sky”, photographs and video clips of which were posted on many Chinese social media sites.
The event was observed in Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan provinces, which would be consistent with a missile fired from the Bohai Sea following a flight path into the desert areas of western China where ballistic missile test firings usually impact.
A previous JL-3 test launch took place in late November 2018, according to an article by Bill Gertz in the Washington Free Beacon , quoting US defence officials. A similar sea closure area south west of Dalian was established by the Liaoning MSA on 22 November, but there was no observed missile flight. This probably indicated that the November launch was to demonstrate satisfactory underwater ejection of the missile from the launch tube.
p1745516_main.jpg

https://www.janes.com/article/89001/china-conducts-probable-test-launch-of-jl-3-slbm
 
Military developing airborne laser attack pod
The Chinese military is procuring a laser attack pod, which Chinese media speculated could be an aircraft-based tactical weapon.

If equipped on aircraft, the laser could potentially protect against incoming missile attacks and dominate in close-range combat, analysts said.

The procurement plan for the laser attack pod was revealed Saturday in a notice released on the Chinese military's weapon and equipment procurement website weain.mil.cn, Weihutang, a column on military affairs affiliated with China Central Television, reported on Monday.

The notice included the title of the procurement, but the details remained confidential.

Weihutang speculated that the laser attack pod was likely an airborne tactical laser, noting that if the weapon was used to guide bombs rather than directly attack, it would be called a laser guidance pod.

The report said China has already developed a prototype for an airborne laser weapon, citing a publically available academic thesis.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1175931.shtml
 
China warned it would place sanctions on Lockheed Martin on Tuesday, following US approval of a Taiwanese purchase of upgrades to Patriot III missiles for about $620 million.

Beijing's defence ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Tuesday at a press briefing the Chinese government could sanction the US defence contractor, less than a week after the United States endorsed the delivery of a package that includes tests of missile capabilities.

"China is firmly opposed to U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan," Zhao said. "The United States must abide by the One-China policy and the Three Joint Communiqués."
 
China said that long-range bombers were among the aircraft that took part in recent aerial drills over the South China Sea amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the strategic waterway.

The exercises included nighttime takeoffs and landings and simulated long-range attacks, Defense Ministry spokesperson Ren Guoqiang said.

Among the planes were H-6G and H-6K bombers, upgraded versions of planes long in use with the People's Liberation Army Air Force and the People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force, Ren said.
 
Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute (CADI), developer of the J-20, is working on the breakthrough variant which will be the first stealth fighter in the world to accommodate two pilots. It will also be more innovative, according to an online report published earlier this week.
nUxCA7exyHI.jpg
 

Similar threads

Back
Top