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Pentagon warns India of Chinese build-up
NEW DELHI: The Red Dragon is spreading its wings and sharpening its claws at a rapid clip. From deadly long-range nuclear missiles and an expanding blue-water Navy to potent space and cyber warfare abilities, China will have a “modern” military capable of prolonged high-intensity combat operations by the end of this decade.
Pentagon’s latest assessment of the expanding military might of China, released on Thursday, paints a scary picture of the frenetic pace at which the 2.25-million People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is being modernized, in the backdrop of uncertainty over its long-term intentions.
Though the US report holds that thwarting any American intervention in Taiwan remains PLA’s “main strategic direction”, New Delhi can ill-afford to ignore China’s increasing trans-border military capabilities, its assiduous strategic encircling of India and hardening posture in the border talks.
The report itself notes PLA has replaced its Read more…
Race is on for new generation of supercomputer
China’s Tianhe-1
BEIJING – Chinese scientists are charting a new roadmap for the country’s independent research into building the fastest supercomputer in 2020.
“China is preparing to work on a supercomputer with a capacity of 100 petaflops by 2015 and try to produce the first exascale computer in 2020,” said Hu Qingfeng, deputy chief designer of Tianhe-1A, one of the world’s top 10 fastest supercomputers.
“We have kicked off the research of some core technologies and manpower cultivation for the plan,” Hu, a professor at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), told China Daily.
Exascale computing is an attempt by scientists to take computing beyond the current petascale. If achieved, it will represent a thousandfold increase on that scale.
The challenges in core techniques include the performance of Read more…
The Central Banks and Gold
By Doug Hornig
If the mantra of the wise investor is “Buy low, sell high,” then those who run most of the Western world’s central banks must suffer from dyslexia.
These banks sold off their gold reserves for years, right into the teeth of a generation-long bear market. The last year before the sales began – i.e., during which central banks were net buyers of gold – was 1988, when the price of the metal fell from $485/oz. in early January to $410 at year’s end.
From then and right through the end of the century, they continued to sell as gold dropped steadily to its modern low of $250. The banks were in such haste to divest themselves of this disrespected relic – their single tangible asset – that it was deemed necessary to Read more…
Complete Chinese War Preparedness And Military Update
Now that Keynesianism has failed (repeatedly and miserably, although certainly not during wartime – during those times it is curiously successful at ‘stimulating’), and only those willfully blind refuse to see how this extended slow-motion collapse ends, below we present the latest, 2011 Edition, of the Annual report to Congress revealing “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China” or, in short, everything that one needs to know to defend from and/or attack the world’s most populous nation. For those short on time, here are the key charts.
The only Org Chart that matters: Read more…
North Korea Gets Military Trucks
North Korea purchased thousands of military vehicles from China that have been transported into the country over the course of the past month, according to the Chosun Ilbo.
The South Korean paper says that between 3,000 and 4,000 Chinese-made military trucks and jeeps entered North Korea last month, at a rate of about 100 a day, according to video clips obtained by the paper.
‘Analysis of the footage suggests the trucks were 6-ton trucks made by FAW Car Limited Company. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited the headquarters of this firm in Changchun, Jilin, during his visit to China in May,’ it reported. ‘The military jeeps were Read more…
China threatens US blue waters
Eric S. Margolis (America Angle)The mighty US Navy won’t say so publicly, but it’s increasingly worried by China’s development of new anti-ship missiles.
The chief worry is China’s new DF-21D whose primary target is America’s huge aircraft carriers.
According to Chinese sources, the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) has recently become operational in limited numbers. Originally developed for submarines, the DF-21D is said to have a range of 2,700km and at least some capability to strike moving targets.
China’s military is hard at work on satellites, long-range backscatter radar, submarines, and drones that can identify moving naval targets up to Read more…
The Growing Threat From China’s Air Force
Two advanced Su-27 fighters recently chased an American reconnaissance plane over the Taiwan Strait.
China watchers have been fixated on the maiden voyage of Beijing’s first aircraft carrier this month. However, U.S. and Asian defense planners should take care not to ignore another aspect of China’s growing military might. The Chinese Air Force may one day play the most significant role in challenging America’s military presence in the Asia-Pacific. At the same time, looming cuts to the U.S. Air Force may wind up reducing its ability to protect American interests.
As the U.S. Air Force’s National Air and Space Intelligence Center put it in a report last year, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, or Plaaf, has been “transforming itself from a poorly equipped and trained organization into an increasingly capable fighting force. Dramatic changes have occurred, and continue to occur, in the areas of mission, organizational structure, personnel, education, training, and equipment.”
Today, the Plaaf remains Read more…
OP-ED Expanding Deserts, Falling Water Tables and Toxins Driving People from Homes
Saharan dust blowing off west coast of Africa, over the Canary Islands, Nov. 11, 2006. Image credit:NASA
WASHINGTON, Aug 23, 2011 (IPS) – People do not normally leave their homes, their families, and their communities unless they have no other option. Yet as environmental stresses mount, we can expect to see a growing number of environmental refugees. Rising seas and increasingly devastating storms grab headlines, but expanding deserts, falling water tables, and toxic waste and radiation are also forcing people from their homes.
Advancing deserts are now on the move almost everywhere. The Sahara desert, for example, is expanding in every direction. As it advances northward, it is squeezing the populations of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria against the Mediterranean coast.
The Sahelian region of Africa – the vast swath of savannah that separates the southern Sahara desert from the tropical rainforests of central Africa – is shrinking as the desert moves southward. As the desert invades Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, from the north, farmers and herders are forced Read more…
China’s Underground Great Wall
The impending sea trials of China’s first aircraft carrier set commentators abuzz in the West and Asia over the past couple of months. I weighed in myself. And for good reason. The cruise of the yet-to-be-officially-named flattop, which finally took place last week, heralded a decisive break with the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Maoist past as a coastal defense force. This is a development worth exploring in detail. As it happened, the Naval War College also convened its first Asian Strategic Studies Conference in Newport last week, in conjunction with the American Enterprise Institute and the Journal of Strategic Studies. My assigned topic was to determine whether there exists a common Asian culture of sea power (no, say I) and how influential the Western canon of Read more…World Gold Council Say Demand to Rise
The World Gold Council reports that demand in Asia remains high for Gold. This was seen in Q-2 where total Global Gold demand measured 919.8 tons, almost a record demand at US$44.5-B.
The Top markets were India and China, accounting for 52% of the total Bar and Coin investment and 55% of Global jewellery demand.
The Gold council is also calling for demand to be high 2-H of Y 2011.
Indian and Chinese demand grew 38% and 25% respectively during Q-2 of Y 2011 compared to the same period in Y 2010, the growth is due to increasing levels of economic prosperity, high levels of inflation and Read more…
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