China News
Defence & Aerospace
Chinese troops to take part in Russia’s Kavkaz-2020
China continues to sharpen the point of the spear. Elite troops attached to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theater Command will participate in the Kavkaz-2020 strategic military exercise later this month in Russia, joining military units from Russia and other participating countries, The Global Times reported. The PLA’s participation in drills involving elimination, … Continue reading
India, China trade blame over border tensions
India and China traded blame for rising tensions over their disputed Himalayan border on Saturday following their highest level meeting since a deadly clash in June. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe released rival statements accusing each other of inflaming the showdown after talks late Friday on the sidelines … Continue reading
China’s new early warning aircraft makes maiden flight
As China builds aircraft carriers, it was expected to develop a carrier-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system — and that appears to be happening with the recent progress of the KJ-600. Unverified photos posted on social media show the fixed-wing aircraft recently made its first test flight, Ordnance Industry Science Technology, a Xi’an-based … Continue reading
After stealth J-20, China’s next fighter-jet could be a super F-35 copycat
In its endeavours of achieving the “world-class military” status, China’s military and its defence industry may have taken a significant step in the right direction with the development of its first sixth-generation fighter jet, which experts claim to be a superior version of the US F-35s. According to a technical paper published by Yang Wei, … Continue reading
China’s expansionism enters dangerous phase
China’s expansionist drive, from the East and South China seas to the Himalayas and the southern Pacific, is making the Indo-Pacific region more volatile and unstable. Along with the spread of the Wuhan-originating coronavirus, this has also given rise to growing anti-China sentiment. China’s border aggression against India since April dovetails with a broader strategy … Continue reading
Mao Zedong thought Japan did the Communist Party a great favour by invading China
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said there could only be one answer to the question in the Diploma of Secondary Education history exam regarding Sino-Japanese relations between 1900 and 1945: Japan had done China harm, and no good at all, during the second Sino-Japanese war. On the face of it, few people … Continue reading
China unveils its own ‘mother of all bombs’ that is stealth, precision-guided & can drop 240 bombs
China recently unveiled its new 500 kg missile system Tianlei 500 which translates to ‘Sky Thunder’. People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) new munition dispenser and how it can be used to attack targets were featured in a defence programme on state broadcaster CCTV-7. The 500kg precision-guided munitions dispenser and the air-to-surface missile has wings and a … Continue reading
Taiwan shows military might in slick video as China circles
China should not underestimate Taiwan’s determination to defend itself, and military threats will only cause Taiwan’s people to be even more resolute, the island’s defence ministry said in a new video responding to repeated Chinese threats. China has stepped up military activity around the island, where the losing nationalists set up their government at the … Continue reading
Chinese stealth fighters head west to confront India
Two Chinese air force J-20 stealth fighters have appeared at an air base in China’s far west as the mountain stand-off between India and Chine enters its fourth month. The twin-engine J-20s are visible in commercial satellite imagery of Hotan air base, in the Uighur autonomous region of Xinjiang. Chinese social-media users first spotted the … Continue reading
China unveils two-seater design for stealth plane based on J-20 fighter
China is developing a new generation two-seater stealth warplane, based on its most advanced fighter the J-20, intended as an early-warning aircraft that will serve as a command centre for other weapons such as fighter jets and rocket launchers. Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute (CADI), developer of the J-20, is working on the breakthrough variant which … Continue reading
Wanted: Chinese navy pilots with the right stuff
The main fear of US fighter pilots in Vietnam, was not being shot down by SAM missiles. It wasn’t even the unreliability of Sidewinder missiles, which often failed after going from the cold confines of 30,000+ feet, down to the steamy jungles of Southeast Asia. It was landing back on the carrier they took off … Continue reading
Deception is key to Chinese military strategies
The role of deception in military operations has long been valued by Chinese military leaders and strategists. Despite this long tradition, few studies on Chinese military power touch on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s use of deception. China regards deception as a key component of national security policy and military planning, and PLA leaders continue … Continue reading
China builds surveillance network in South China Sea
China has been building a series of surveillance platforms spanning parts of the South China Sea (SCS). Many of these are in Chinese waters, but several are floating in international waters. This is controversial, not least the dual-use military context of the network. While ostensibly civilian, these can be viewed as part of the Chinese … Continue reading
US picks a fight with China in South China Sea
In a clear and well-orchestrated escalation, the US State Department has effectively rejected nearly all of China’s claims and activities in the South China Sea, a law-based provocation that threatens to spike tensions in the already hotly contested maritime area. The statement comes soon after the US conducted its first dual aircraft carrier exercises in … Continue reading
Stealth UAVs could give China’s Type-076 assault carrier more firepower
The Chinese Navy is building assault carriers to support amphibious operations, like a possible invasion of Taiwan or landings on disputed islands in the South China Sea. The first two ships, called LHDs (landing helicopter docks) in naval terminology, are still being outfitted. But information is already emerging suggesting that the follow-on design, the Type-076, … Continue reading
China steps up building two more aircraft carriers towards 2035 goal
China is expected to launch its next-generation aircraft carrier within a year and construction on a sister ship for the new giant vessel has been hastened, two sources close to the projects said. The Type 002 aircraft carrier – the country’s third carrier and the second to be domestically developed – has started the final … Continue reading
US rejects nearly all Chinese claims in South China Sea
The Trump administration escalated its actions against China on Monday by stepping squarely into one of the most sensitive regional issues dividing them and rejecting outright nearly all of Beijing’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea. The administration presented the decision as an attempt to curb China’s increasing assertiveness in the region with … Continue reading
Meet China’s Type 055: Beijing’s very own Zumwalt Stealth Destroyer?
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy is preparing to deploy a new, stealthy, heavily armed high-tech class of Type 055 destroyer intended to offer sea attack, air defenses and wartime support to carriers to carriers and amphibs at war on the open ocean. Here’s What You Need To Remember: Commissioned earlier this year in January, … Continue reading
U.S. operations in the South China Sea show that Washington is ‘not backing down’
The U.S. Navy exercise in the disputed South China Sea over the weekend was about “showing the flag” and sending a message to the region, an expert told CNBC this week. Two U.S. aircraft carriers conducted operations and exercises in the contested waters on the Fourth of July “in support of a free and open … Continue reading
Chinese army demonstrates rifle-size railgun prototypes
According to Liu Xuanzun on Global Times, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has miniaturized an electromagnetic railgun and developed pistol- and rifle-sized synchronous induction coilgun prototypes. These weapons’ technical capabilities were recently revealed to the general public for the first time in a demonstration session. Developed by the PLA Army Logistics University, the weapons, … Continue reading
World War III – China vs the rest of the world
“Hide your strength and bide your time.” China in 2008 “No force can shake the status of our great motherland, No force can stop the advance of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation.” China in 2019 The above statements clearly indicate the change in the tone and the tenor of China, in just eleven … Continue reading
Large number of Chinese troops amassed along India’s border
China has deployed large numbers of troops and weapons along a disputed Himalayan border in violation of bilateral agreements, India’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, accusing Beijing of escalating tensions and triggering a deadly clash last week. “At the heart of the matter is that since early May the Chinese side had been amassing a … Continue reading
Chinese navy has commissioned Z-20F/J naval version of Z-20 helicopter
According to pictures released by the China Defense Blog on June 20, 2020, the Chinese Navy has commissioned Z-20F also called Z-20J by other Chinese sources, a naval version of the Chinese-made Harbin Z-20 medium-lift utility helicopter produced by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG). A picture of the naval version of the Z-20 was … Continue reading
China’s global Navy eyeing sea control by 2030, superiority by 2049
I assess that the PLA Navy by 2030 will consist of a surface force of over 450 ships and a submarine force approaching 110 submarines, an almost 10% increase from my 2015 estimate. It may still be a low estimate. In June 2018, I stood aboard the fantail of the PLA Navy guided missile frigate … Continue reading
US military ban locks two Chinese universities out of popular software
Two Chinese universities with close ties to the military have been banned from using a US-developed computer software platform amid tensions between China and the United States over technology. The US Department of Commerce added the Harbin Institute of Technology and Harbin Engineering University to its “entity list” late last week, barring them from access … Continue reading
China’s military has not reached superpower status just yet
Here’s What You Need To Remember: It’s no secret that China has been moving away from a huge, low-tech peasant military to a smaller, more agile and high-tech force. Still, there is plenty in the paper to disturb the West as well as China’s Asian neighbors. China will continue to replace older aircraft and ships with … Continue reading
China just added two new nuclear missile submarines to its fleet
Here’s What You Need To Remember: What is clear, however, is that the Chinese government is telling the world that the DF-100 is a hypersonic, regional-level anti-ship missile that will impose a new, challenging threat-vector for long-range attacks against large warships over a thousand miles of China’s coastline. On October 1, 2019, the People’s Liberation … Continue reading
Chinese PLA Navy Shandong Type 001A aircraft carrier conducts sea trials
During a press conference that was held on Friday May 29, 2020, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, has announced that the Chinese Navy (PLA People’s Liberation Armed Forces) is conducting sea trials for aircraft carrier Type 001A Shandong in accordance with the arrangement of the annual trial plan, said Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson … Continue reading
India and China: Eyeball to eyeball
Presenting some of the events leading to India and China coming eyeball-to-eyeball at the highest battlefield in the world. China is a habitual offender and trespasses into the Indian territory regularly. Gerrymandering is a full-time occupation of Chinese junta. Why is China making these moves? Let us analyze. 5th May 2020, A Scuffle Breaks Out … Continue reading
China’s FC-31 stealth fighter jet making new progress, photos show
New photos of a prototype FC-31, China’s second type of stealth fighter jet, have been appearing frequently on Chinese social media since May, years after disappearing from the public eye. Now painted in a silver gray coating, its development is making smooth progress, experts said on Monday. A new set of photos of what seems … Continue reading
US, China sliding towards a lose-lose military conflict
Is the world sleepwalking into a new war, be it hot or cold? And is the virus the oil to lubricate and fuel the clash that is centered on China and the US, but impacts the world? Are countries playing a bizarre game of chicken where neither wants to step back for fear of losing … Continue reading
Why the virus threatens the Chinese regime’s imperial dreams
If it acts, the Free World has the opportunity to condemn another communist dictatorship to Karl Marx’s dustbin of history and avoid a war with a totalitarian superpower circa 2035. The Chinese Communist Party knows the COVID-19/Wuhan virus pandemic has exposed its imperial war to conquer the world, so it is frantically engaged in psychological … Continue reading
Indian and Chinese troops ‘clash on border’ in Sikkim
Dozens of Indian and Chinese soldiers have exchanged physical blows in a clash on the shared border, Indian media report. Seven Chinese and four Indian troops were injured, an army official reportedly said, near the Naku La sector in the border state of Sikkim. Local commanders spoke and resolved the dispute, which took place on … Continue reading
Chinese report warns coronavirus could lead to armed confrontation with US
Beijing faces a wave of anti-China sentiment led by the United States in the aftermath of the pandemic and needs to be prepared in a worst-case scenario for armed confrontation. An internal Chinese report warns that Beijing faces a rising wave of hostility in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that could tip relations with … Continue reading
China says it ‘expelled’ U.S. Navy vessel from South China Sea
China’s military said it “expelled” a U.S. navy vessel from the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea this week. It said the “USS Barry” had illegally entered China’s Xisha territorial waters on Tuesday. U.S. officials disputed the account. China’s Southern Theater army command “organized sea and air forces to track, monitor, verify, and … Continue reading
With the world distracted, China intimidates Taiwan
The tanks queued patiently with the cars, delivery trucks and bright yellow taxis before rolling serenely through the traffic lights. The drill, in Yuanshan, a town south-east of Taipei, was intended as practice at repelling a Chinese invasion. Some of the tanks, covered in webbing, hid in a copse, about as inconspicuously as is possible … Continue reading
US military researchers call for use of privateers against China
The United States should encourage the use of privateers to fight Chinese aggression at sea, according to a pair of articles in magazine produced by the US Naval Institute. The reports – titled “Unleash the Privateers!” and “US Privateering Is Legal”, and published in the April issue of Proceedings – suggest the US government issue … Continue reading
Coronavirus hit to airlines could top $100 billion
The coronavirus epidemic could cost passenger airlines up to $113 billion in lost revenue this year, an industry body warned on Thursday, more than three times a projection it made just two weeks ago as the virus continues to spread around the world. The warning from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) came as British … Continue reading
US Navy warns China ‘you don’t want to play laser tag with us’ after a Chinese destroyer fired a military-grade laser at a US aircraft
The US Navy warned China on social media after one of the Asian nation’s warships fired a military-grade laser at a US aircraft, telling them: “You don’t want to play laser tag with us.” US Pacific Fleet said in a statement on Thursday that the Chinese Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer Hohhot (hull number 161) … Continue reading
US says Chinese warship fired military laser at US aircraft
The US Navy said Thursday that a Chinese military warship fired a military grade laser at US Navy P-8 surveillance aircraft last week while it was flying over the Pacific Ocean, an action that the US Navy called “unsafe and unprofessional.” The People’s Republic of China “navy destroyer’s actions were unsafe and unprofessional,” US Pacific … Continue reading
Real-Life Iron Man? China is developing military exoskeletons
China has joined the Great Exoskeleton Arms Race. With America and Russia developing exoskeletons—essentially the powered armor suits depicted in science fiction and superhero films like Starship Troopers and Iron Man—it was inevitable that China would follow suit. In October 2019, the People’s Liberation Army’s Army Equipment Department held a competition for the best exoskeleton … Continue reading
China paid a big price for stealing a Russian fighter jet design
Remember that Russian carrier-based jet that China copied without permission? Those airplanes are crashing, and Russia doesn’t seem too broken up about it. Though Russia and China are now friends, even holding joint exercises, Russia’s Sputnik News recently trotted out an article titled “Chinese Navy Short on Carrier-Based Fighters, Only Has Problem-Ridden J-15.” The J-15 … Continue reading
China’s bid to challenge Boeing and Airbus falters
Development of China’s C919 single-aisle plane, already at least five years behind schedule, is going slower than expected, a dozen people familiar with the program told Reuters, as the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC) struggles with a range of technical issues that have severely restricted test flights. Delays are common in complex aerospace programs, but … Continue reading
A dramatic before and after look at China’s first aircraft carrier
A picture of China’s first aircraft carrier before it was eventually completed has surfaced on the Chinese internet. The images showed up on Tencent’s microblog and show a rusty, unfinished hulk. The ship, built for the USSR but never completed, was towed to China where it eventually became the carrier Liaoning. The article also lists … Continue reading
Make no mistake: China would destroy U.S. cities in a nuclear war
When one reads enough Chinese naval literature, diagrams of multi-axial cruise missile saturation attacks against aircraft carrier groups may begin to seem normal. However, one particular graphic from the October 2015 issue (p. 32) of the naval journal Naval & Merchant Ships [舰船知识] stands out as both unusual and singularly disturbing. It purports to map … Continue reading
China built its J-20 stealth fighter aircraft without any guns
China’s J-20 stealth fighter doesn’t have a gun. That could be a problem for the Chinese air force. Observers of the twin-engine stealth fighter long had speculated that the J-20 lacks a cannon. Photography of J-20s since the type’s first flight in January 2011 hadn’t revealed bulges or openings that might point to an internal … Continue reading
A jungle airstrip stirs suspicions about China’s plans for Cambodia
The Chinese military’s “string of pearls” strategy depends on far-flung regional outposts. Some think Cambodia is becoming one. When completed next year on a remote stretch of shoreline, Dara Sakor International Airport will boast the longest runway in Cambodia, complete with the kind of tight turning bay favored by fighter jet pilots. Nearby, workers are … Continue reading
China commissions 2nd aircraft carrier, challenging U.S. dominance
China commissioned its first domestically built aircraft carrier on Tuesday, reaching a new milestone in its ambitions to build a modern navy capable of challenging American dominance of the seas, especially in the Pacific. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, presided over a commissioning ceremony at the Chinese naval base in Sanya, on the southern island of … Continue reading
China is not as strong as it seems
American opinion has moved away from its once-benign view of China. That older view, still favored by many business people, held that a prosperous China would threaten its neighbors less than a poor China, and anyway would offer the United States great economic advantages. Accordingly, this view recommended that the West engage China in a … Continue reading
China’s J-20 stealth fighter is capable, but has some big flaws
Reports say China put its stealth fighter — the J-20 — into service last month. The aircraft, built by the Chengdu Aerospace Corporation, is a twin-engine multi-role fighter that can reach speeds of 2,100 kilometers per hour. It’s believed the J-20 will have two primary missions. First, it could be deployed as a long range … Continue reading
