Chinese defense minister stresses importance of defense mobilization: “Chinese defense minister Liang Guanglie Saturday stressed the importance of defense mobilization, saying the work on military preparedness will help enhance national security and stability.

Liang, also a member of the Central Military Commission and a state councilor, made the remarks at a meeting of the Defense Mobilization Committee under the Chengdu Military Area Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

He said southwest China is strategically important to the nation and …”

Tags: Central, central military commission, chinese defense minister, defense, liberation army, member, military preparedness, preparedness, southwest China, work

First Chinese female fighter pilots get new suits: “A new generation of woman pilot to fly Chinese filghter jets were given a special anti-G flight suit that takes 15 months to develop on Aug 30, 2009.”

Tags: 15 months, anti, female fighter pilots, filghter, flight, flight suit, new generation, pilot, woman, woman pilot

What Obama Should Do in East Asia: “President Obama was elected on a platform of change, and in most areas he hasn’t hesitated to deliver. One important exception, however, is East Asia. There the keyword is continuity. Ever since Richard Nixon opened the door to normal relations with China, every U.S. administration has worked to deepen economic ties and encourage China’s integration into the international system, while also hedging against the danger that China will use its growing power in ways inimical to American interests. Obama has been no exception. The same goes for calling for a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue, and emphasizing the importance of the alliance with Japan.

Tags: american interests, change, economic ties, exception, issue, keyword, peaceful settlement, Platform, Richard Nixon, taiwan issue

China refuses Japanese naval ships visit to Hong Kong: “China has good reason to refuse a proposed visit to Hong Kong of three Japanese warships, Chinese media and experts are saying.

They said the ships should not be made welcome following recent decisions in Tokyo to host Xinjiang separatist Rebiya Kadeer and allow planned visits from former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui and the Dalai Lama.

The website of Japan’s Asahi Shinbun newspaper reported Sunday that the three Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) vessels, with more than 700 naval officers and crew on board, set off from Tokyo in April. The ships called in at 13 countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe and are due back home in early September.

Though the mini fleet had no plans initially to visit Hong Kong, Japan has since raised the idea of a stopover sometime late this month or in early September in an attempt to improve exchanges with the Chinese navy, said the website.

According to the report, the Chinese government told the Japanese embassy in Beijing that ‘it is a sensitive issue, so far there is no atmosphere for approving Japanese warships’ stopover in Hong Kong’.

The report quoted Japanese analysts as saying that China was expressing its discontent following Japan’s reception of Kadeer, Lee Teng-hui and the Dalai Lama.

Kadeer is head of the World Uighur Congress, which is suspected of having instigated the July riots in Xinjiang that claimed at least 197 lives.

Lee and the Dalai Lama are scheduled to visit Japan and make speeches there in September and November.

A diplomat with the Japanese embassy, who declined to be named, told China Daily yesterday that Japan was still negotiating with China about the suggested visit.

An official with the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman’s office said the ministry was studying the case, while the Ministry of National Defense made no comment yesterday.

Hong Kong-based Shing Pao Daily News said in an editorial yesterday that ‘Beijing is assured and bold with justice’ in declining the visit.

‘The request for JMSDF ships to visit Hong Kong would ordinarily be normal practice among military exchanges with China but what the Japanese government did recently contradicts with the principal of friendly cooperation and made the atmosphere unsuitable,’ it said.

Su Hao, director of China Foreign Affairs University’s Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, said the request from the Japanese warships to visit Hong Kong was significant because it was unprecedented, even though there is an agreement between Beijing and Washington to allow US warships to stop in Hong Kong for supplies.

The first Japanese warship to visit China after World War moored at a naval base in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, last summer, drawing national attention because of Japan’s past invasion of China.

‘It’s understandable for the government to decline such a request at a time when many sensitive issues have emerged in bilateral relations,’ Su said.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-08/18/content_8580389.htm

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Tags: asahi shinbun, countries in southeast asia, japanese warships, Lee Teng-hui, Ministry, rebiya kadeer, Teng-hui, visit, website, yesterday

A new Sino-American relationship?

Tags: relationship, Sino

Latest update on China’s aircraft carrier project: “Chinese jet trains to take off using ski ramp.

The wonders of digital photography (on the ground and from commercial satellites) provide evidence that China is testing the use of its Su-30 aircraft and a ski ramp type carrier deck design. China is expected to have an operational carrier soon, and it will be one using a ski ramp (instead of a steam catapult). It was suspected that there was a ski ramp training facility somewhere, now it’s been located, in Xian-Yanliang. What’s strange about this is the altitude of this airbase; nearly 500 meters (rather than sea level.) Then again, Xian-Yanliang is a windy place, which allows testing of the stationary ski ramp built there, with winds typical of what would be encountered when the carrier turned into the wind for the commencement of aircraft launching operations.

Late last year, China announced that its first class of carrier aviators had begun training at the Dalian Naval Academy. The naval officers will undergo a four year course of instruction to turn them into fighter pilots capable of operating off a carrier. The Russians have warned China that it may take them a decade or more to develop the knowledge and skills needed to efficiently run an aircraft carrier. The Chinese are game, and are slogging forward.

Earlier this year, the Russian aircraft carrier Varyag was renamed the Shi Lang (after the Chinese general who took possession of Taiwan in 1681, the first time China ever paid any attention to the island) and given the pennant number 83. The Chinese have been refurbishing the Varyag, one of the Kuznetsov class that Russia began building in the 1980s, for several years now. It is expected to be ready for sea trials by the end of the year.

The Varyag has been tied up in a Chinese shipyard at Dailan since 2002. While the ship is under guard, it can be seen from a nearby highway. From that vantage point, local military and naval buffs have noted that some kind of work is being done on the ship. The only visible signs of this work are a new paint job (in the gray shade used by the Chinese navy) and ongoing work on the superstructure (particularly the tall island on the flight deck.) Many workers can be seen on the ship, and material is seen going into (new stuff) and out of (old stuff) the ship. The new contracts are believed to be for more equipment for the Varyag, in addition to the non-custom stuff already going into the ship.

Originally the Kuznetsovs were conceived of as 90,000 ton, nuclear powered ships, similar to American carriers (complete with steam catapults). Instead, because of the cost, and the complexity of modern (American style) carriers, the Russians were forced to scale back their goals, and ended up with the 65,000 ton (full load ) ships that lacked steam catapults, and used a ski jump type flight deck instead. Nuclear power was dropped, but the Kuznetsov class was still a formidable design. The thousand foot long carrier normally carries a dozen navalized Su-27s (called Su-33s), 14 Ka-27PL anti-submarine helicopters, two electronic warfare helicopters and two search and rescue helicopters. But the ship can carry up to 36 Su-33s and sixteen helicopters. The ship carries 2,500 tons of aviation fuel, allowing it to generate 500-1,000 aircraft and helicopter sorties. Crew size is 2,500 (or 3,000 with a full aircraft load.) Only two ships of this class exist; the original Kuznetsov, which is in Russian service, and the Varyag. Currently, the Kuznetsov is operating in the Mediterranean.

The Chinese have been in touch with Russian naval construction firms, and may have purchased plans and technology for equipment installed in the Kuznetsov. Some Chinese leaders have quipped about having a carrier by 2010 (this would have to be a refurbished Varyag). Even that would be an ambitious schedule, and the Chinese have been burned before when they tried to build new military technology in a hurry.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htnavai/articles/20090812.aspx

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Tags: carrier project, Class, commercial satellites, dailan, Kuznetsov, russian aircraft carrier, russian aircraft carrier varyag, ship, ski, work

PLA Air Force reserve airfield station possesses emergent combat support capability: “In mid August, a reserve airfield station of the PLA Air Force successfully organized a simulated multiple-type aircraft support exercise under actual-war background, becoming a reserve troop unit…”

Tags: air force reserve, aircraft support, emergent, exercise, PLA, pla air force, station, Support, support capability, support exercise

China Clarifies Police Role: “China authorized paramilitary forces to handle riots, terrorist attacks and other social disturbances.”

Tags: China, Clarifies, paramilitary forces, police, police role, riots, Role, terrorist attacks

Chinese government attacks Dalai Lama’s proposed visit to Taiwan: “

Visit by Tibetan spritual leader to comfort typhoon Morakot survivors could sabotage improving relations, says Beijing

China today attacked the Dalai Lama’s proposed visit to Taiwan, but blamed the island’s opposition party for a move that it says could sabotage improving ties.

The official statement – carried by the state news agency Xinhua – followed the Taiwanese president’s decision to admit the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. Ma Ying-jeou said the Dalai Lama would make the visit to comfort survivors of typhoon Morakot, which killed an estimated 650 people this month.

‘No matter under what form or identity Dalai uses to enter Taiwan, we resolutely oppose this,’ said China’s Taiwan affairs office.

‘Some of the people in the Democratic Progressive party [DPP] use the disaster rescue excuse to invite Dalai to Taiwan to sabotage the hard-earned positive situation of cross-straits relations.’

Beijing usually objects strongly when overseas governments admit the spiritual leader. But the case of Taiwan is particularly sensitive because China still claims sovereignty over the self-ruled island, which split from the mainland when the defeated Kuomintang (KMT) fled there at the end of the civil war in 1949.

At the same time, Chinese officials have little desire to play into the hands of anti-Beijing opposition politicians – perhaps explaining the decision to blame the DPP rather than the president.

Ma had previously said this year was not an appropriate time for the Dalai Lama to visit, leading critics to claim he was attempting to placate Beijing. The KMT leader was elected on a platform of improving ties with China and the resulting thaw has produced the first direct passenger flights and shipping links in 60 years.

But Ma’s authority has been badly dented by the government’s response to Morakot. Voters have accused the authorities of a slow and inadequate response to the emergency – making it harder for Ma to risk another political row when opposition politicians invited the Dalai Lama to ‘console’ the disaster’s survivors on a five-day trip to begin as early as next week.

Visiting a school destroyed by mudslides in Nantou County today, Ma told reporters: ‘The Dalai Lama could come to Taiwan to help rest the souls of the dead and also pray for the wellbeing of the survivors.’

Presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi declined to say if Ma would meet the Dalai Lama, but said the visit would be strictly religious, with no political overtones.

He added that the visit had been approved ‘for humanitarian and religious considerations … and we believe it will not harm cross-strait relations.’

The government information office said that the president’s office and national security officials met for five hours last night before agreeing to permit a visit.

Hsu Yung-ming, a political science professor at Soochow University, said admitting the Dalai Lama would allow Ma to show he was not only concerned about ties with Beijing.

‘He doesn’t want people to think he cares only about China, [but] that he also cares about Taiwan,’ Hsu said.

The spiritual leader has accepted the invitation ‘in principle,’ his spokesman Tenzin Takhla said from Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based.

Taiwan has a sizable Tibetan community and the Dalai Lama has visited the island three times in the past 12 years, drawing crowds of tens of thousands, although his last trip was eight years ago.

But Beijing usually objects strongly when the Dalai Lama travels away from his base in India. Earlier this year, officials demanded that Paris ‘stop interfering in China’s internal affairs’ when the mayor gave him honorary citizenship.

According to Xinhua’s statement, the spokesman for the Taiwan affairs office said the Dalai Lama was ‘not a pure religious figure’, adding: ‘Under the pretext of religion, he has all along been engaged in separatist activities.’

The spiritual leader denies the claim, saying he seeks meaningful autonomy for Tibet rather than a separate state.

Separately, Taiwan’s parliament approved a special reconstruction budget of up to T$120bn (£2.25bn) to cope with damage caused by the typhoon. Morakot brought the worst floods seen in the south of the island for half a century and caused mudslides that buried hundreds of villagers.

Analysts said the finance ministry could raise the money through loans or by issuing bills and bonds.

Tags: democratic progressive party, disaster rescue, opposition politicians, taiwan affairs office, tibetan spiritual leader

China urges US to end surveillance operations: “China has called on the United States to reduce, and gradually put an end to air and sea military surveillance and survey operations to avoid naval confrontations.”

Tags: China, confrontations, end, military surveillance, Sea, Surveillance, surveillance operations, Survey, survey operations

China Approves Law Governing Armed Police Force: “The law details the authority of the paramilitary force that played a key role in putting down the riots in the western Xinjiang region last month.

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Tags: Approves, Armed, armed police, authority, Force, paramilitary force, police force, region, western xinjiang, xinjiang region

China Demands US End Coast Surveillance: “China demanded Thursday that the U.S. military cease its surveillance missions off the Chinese coast, reviving a dispute that continues to upset relations between the sides.”

Tags: cease, China, chinese coast, coast, Demands, dispute, end, surveillance missions, Thursday

China To The U.S.: Stop Spying On Us: “

Two Chinese trawlers stop directly in front of the military Sea lift Command ocean surveillance ship USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS-23) in the South China Sea, March 8, 2009 (US Navy/Reuters)

From Reuters:

BEIJING (Reuters) – China called on the United States to reduce and eventually halt air and sea military surveillance close to its shores after a series of territorial disputes this year.

The request was made during a special session on maritime safety between the two countries’ militaries on Wednesday and Thursday, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday, citing China’s Defense Ministry.

Five times this year, Chinese vessels have confronted U.S. surveillance ships in Asian waters, the U.S. Defense Department said in May. China said the U.S. vessels had intruded its territory. There has since been a sixth incident.

Read more ….

Update #1: End military surveillance missions, China tells US — AP

Update #2: China urges U.S. to reduce surveillance operations — China View

Tags: Command, Impeccable, military sea lift command, ocean surveillance ship, Reuters, ship, South China Sea, Spying, surveillance missions, xinhua news agency

China-made jet engine to debut in 2016

Tags: China, China-made, debut, Engine, jet, jet engine

Why Is Russia Deploying It’s Most Advanced Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems On The North Korean Border?: ”

Russia Russian Army S-400 Triumf SA-21 Growler air defense missile system picture. Photo from Army Recognition.

MOSCOW: Russia has deployed its most advanced S-400 Triumf anti-missile defence systems in its far eastern region to counter the threat posed by North Korean missile tests, a top military official said on Wednesday.

‘We have already deployed a battalion of the S-400 systems in Russia’s Far East in order to guarantee protection from failed launches of (N Korean) missiles and to ensure that the fragments of these missiles never fall on the Russian territory,’ chief of the general staff, Gen Nikolai Makarov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

Read more ….

Tags: Army, border, defense, defense missile system, Growler, korean missiles, missile, nikolai makarov, north korean missile tests, RIA Novosti

China: All Your Rare Earth Metals Belong to Us: ”

Rare earth metals are the key to 21st Century technology: Without them, we wouldn’t have smart phones, hybrid cars or precision weapons. And China, which mines most of the world’s rare earth metals, may be starting to catch on to their strategic value.

According to this alarming story in U.K. Telegraph, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is weighing a total ban on exports of terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, thulium, and lutetium — and may restrict foreign sales of other rare earth metals. But don’t panic yet: U.S.-based Molycorp Minerals is preparing to resume mining of rare earth ore deposits at a California facility, pictured here.

Still, it’s a reminder of the role that strategic resources play, especially for the high-tech military of the United States. As I reported a few years back in the Financial Times, the Pentagon has become increasingly concerned over Chinese demand for specialty steels and titanium, which are key to armor plating, aircraft design and other high-end weaponry. Finding new, affordable sources of military-grade titanium has been a top priority of Darpa, the Pentagon’s far-out research arm.

Of course, China is not the only country that’s figuring out how to play the mineral wealth hand in geopolitics. For several years now, Russia has used natural gas supply as a way to exert less-than-subtle pressure on its neighbors. Energy, the Kremlin found, is a more effective instrument than an aging nuclear weapons stockpile: You can actually turn the gas taps off when you feel like punishing someone.

As an old piece of wisdom from Strategic Air Command put it: “When you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.”

Tags: alarming story, california facility, earth, Metals, nuclear weapons stockpile, precision, precision weapons, rare earth metals, technology, telegraph

Asia’s Response to China’s Rise

Tags: Asia, China, Response, Rise

Great Red Fleet?: “The PLAN followed the time honored Chinese tradition of “let no miles go to waste,” as the second flotilla visited Pakistan, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia after conducting a joint patrol with the USN on their “way home” from its pirate fighting venture in the Gulf of Aden. Perhaps this is what James Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara were referring to as “Soft Power At Sea” in their works (here) and (“

Tags: chinese tradition, flotilla, gulf of aden, home, james holmes, pakistan india, patrol, Red, toshi yoshihara, USN

Guam Strategically Vital to Navy’s MissionCurrent Daily News UpdateSecretary Mabus Honors Those Lost in Attack on Pearl Harbor: “SECNAV: Guam Strategically Vital to Navy’s Mission Story Number: NNS090825-13 Release Date: 8/25/2009 4:41:00 PM By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Rebekah Blowers, Secretary of t…”

Tags: attack on pearl harbor, communication specialist, Daily, Honors, mass communication, Number, rebekah, SECNAV, Vital

Survey: China-Japan hostility reduced

Tags: China, china japan, hostility, Japan, Survey