Archive

Archive for the ‘China’ Category

China Is Filling Gaps In Its Military With Lots And Lots Of Missiles

July 29, 2011 Comments off

businessinsider

China missile

PLA DF-31A mobile ICBM TELs

Image: AUS Airpower

Despite the stealth jets, an aircraft carrier and drones, China’s military is relatively weak, according to military analyses parsed by Wired. To compensate Beijinghas been buying lots and lots of missiles:“All kinds of missiles: short-range and long-range; land-based, air-launched and sea-launched; ballistic and cruise; guided and “dumb … “For every category of weaponry where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lags behind the Pentagon, there’s a Chinese missile to help make up the difference.”

One disadvantage for China, for instance, is a dearth of air-refueling tankers — just 14 compared to 500 in the U.S. Air Force alone. This means of the Read more…

Stealth Fighter or Bomber?

July 27, 2011 Comments off

the-diplomat.com

A photo from a Chinese aerospace exhibit, posted on an Internet forum, provides the first new evidence in more than six months regarding the role and capabilities of China’s first stealth fighter prototype.

The photo depicts the underside of a scale model of the Chengdu J-20, showing the angular fighter’s three weapons bays open and eight air-to-air missiles mounted inside. The missile loud-out includes one short-range infrared-guided missile in each of two small side bays, plus six medium-range missiles packed into the single, large, belly bay.

Since shortly after the J-20 made its public debut on Christmas Day, the consensus among Western observers has been that the new fighter is optimized for air-to-ground attacks against heavily defended targets. That belief stems from the J-20’s apparent large size: up to Read more…

We Need Military Buildup to Match China’s

July 27, 2011 Comments off

commentarymagazine

In the online magazine The Diplomat, former U.S. Representative to the UN Robert O’Brien presents an excellent if disturbing overview of China’s alarming military buildup.

He notes that “China has big maritime ambitions, and they are backed up by a naval build-up unseen since Kaiser Wilhelm II decided to challenge British naval power with the building of the High Seas Fleet at the turn of the last century.”

That buildup is symbolized by the scheduled launch next month of China’s first aircraft carrier–a ship as symbolic of maritime power in our day as dreadnoughts were in the time of the kaisers.

At least Britain was Read more…

Giant Meteorite Discovered in China

July 26, 2011 Comments off

space

Giant Meteorite Discovered in China
A group of researchers led by Baolin Zhang, a meteorite specialist at the Beijing Planetarium, study a giant meteorite that was found in a remote, mountainous region in northwest China.
CREDIT: China Central Television

This story was updated at 5:36 p.m. EDT.

A massive space rock – one that could rank as one of the largest meteorites ever recovered – has been found in a remote and mountainous region in northwest China, according to news reports.

The huge and oddly-shaped rock was found in the Altai mountains in China’s Xinjiang Uygur province, according to Sky and Telescope magazine. Earlier this month, Baolin Zhang, a meteorite specialist at the Beijing Planetarium, led a small team up a 9,500-foot (2,900-meter) summit to investigate reports of the supposed meteorite.

“This is a huge iron meteorite,” Zhang said in footage from China Central Television. “It may be the second largest iron meteorite, which can cause a sensation in China and also attract attention from [the] world’s meteorite fields. It comes from outside solar system and it is of great appreciating value and of more scientific Read more…

Chinese jets chase U.S. surveillance jet over Taiwan Strait

July 26, 2011 1 comment

washingtontimes

A colonel in the Canadian Forces takes photos through the window of a civilian aircraft playing the role of a hijacked airliner as it is escorted by two Su-27 Russian fighter jets. (Associated Press)A colonel in the Canadian Forces takes photos through the window of a civilian aircraft playing the role of a hijacked airliner as it is escorted by two Su-27 Russian fighter jets. (Associated Press)

Two Chinese warplanes intercepted an American spy plane over the tense Taiwan Strait last month in China’s most aggressive challenge to U.S. surveillance flights since a 2001 collision that touched off an international crisis.

According to defense officials, the intercept took place June 29. The two Chinese jets flew from a base in China to head off an Air Force U-2 spy plane over the dividing line in the 100-mile wide Taiwan Strait.

“In general, these reconnaissance flights are conducted in international airspace, as are the PRC [Chinese] intercepts, which Read more…

China And Iran To Bypass Dollar, Plan Oil Barter System, And A Deeper Dive Into The Iranian Oil Bourse

July 25, 2011 1 comment

zerohedge

One of the more notable events in the past week was the previously discussed reopening of the Iranian Oil Bourse, an attempt by Iran to launch a venue that bypasses US sanctions against Iran which has prevented payment in the world’s reserve currency for Iranian goods. “Big deal”, some will say, this is not the first time Iran has attempt to upstage the Great Satan. Well, true, although as OilPrice said last week, “what it would take for Iran’s new exchange to survive and flourish are some heavy-duty customers that Washington would be wary of picking a fight with, and Tehran already has one – China… China, the world’s largest buyer of Iranian crude oil, has renewed its annual import pacts for 2011. In 2010 Iran supplied about 12 percent of China’s total crude imports. According to the latest report of the China Customs Organization, Iran’s total oil exports to China stood at Read more…

China To USA: ‘If You Mess With Pakistan You Will Be Messing With China’ – Webster Tarpley

July 23, 2011 1 comment

Chinese EMP Weapons Program Confirmed by Intelligence Agencies; Designed to Attack US Carrier Fleets, Taiwan

July 23, 2011 Comments off

shtfplan

Mac Slavo

Reports from organizations like the Center for Security Policy have confirmed that Electromagnetic Pulse, or EMP, weapons could potentially wipe out the entire infrastructure of the United States in a matter of seconds, the consequences of which may be the death of 9 out of 10 Americans within a period of one year after the blast. Many Senators, Congressman, and terrorism experts have said that EMP is the single biggest security threat the United States faces from foreign powers and terrorist organizations. Research by EMPact America indicates that a properly deployed EM pulse weapon, or weapons, has the capability of wiping out and disabling the power grid across the lower 48 states.

The threat is serious, and it just got a whole lot worse.

According to a declassified report obtained by The Washington Times the Chinese have been building and testing EMP weapons in an effort to offset their Read more…

China’s Cold War on Christianity Perpetuates Historic Persecutions

July 22, 2011 1 comment

thenewamerican

Totalitarians cannot tolerate the free exercise of religion. As so many disillusioned communists in the last century observed, communism, to its disciples, is a religion and a god. One well known book, a collection of the writings of a number of former communists, is called simply The God That Failed. Anyone who has attempted to discuss a subject intelligently with a communist quickly grasps that he is talking to a follower of a secular religion.

Sometimes communism has entered into a truce with faith or has loosened the chains on religious people for tactical reasons. During the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, for example, the churches opened again and allowed people to worship without duress. That limited freedom disappeared after the Nazis were defeated. The Soviets also pretended to respect the rights of Jews to worship, although in actual practice Judaism was suppressed (Hebrew, for example, was forbidden while Yiddish, a secular language, was encouraged).

Why the fear of religion? As men such as Read more…

Defence cuts will leave China as the world’s policeman, warns Nato chief

July 22, 2011 Comments off

mirror

DEFENCE cuts across Europe will diminish Nato’s global role and leave China as the world’s policemen, the alliance chief warned yesterday.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised Britain and France for taking the lead on the Libya conflict but said they could not have done it without US help.

And he claimed the slashing of troops by European leaders will hit military ­transport and intelligence.

Mr Fogh Rasmussen spoke out just days after Defence Secretary Liam Fox unveiled plans to cut the Army by 17,000.

The director general said: “For the first time in the history of Nato we have seen an operation not led by the Americans.

“The Europeans couldn’t do this on their own and in that respect it is of course a matter of concern that we have seen substantial defence cuts in nearly all Nato allied nations. If the current development continues, the influence of Europe on the international scene will decline because of lack of critical transport capabilities, critical intelligence gathering capabilities and Read more…