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National Security: On the eve of a visit by China's No. 2 ranking military officer, the Obama administration loosens export controls on technology that will benefit Chinese missile development. It's deja vu all over again. The Pentagon has announced that Chinese Gen. Xu Caihou will visit the United States and meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Oct. 26. Xu is vice chairman of the People's Liberation Army Central Military Commission. While here, Xu will visit American military installations around the U.S., including the U.S. Pacific Command. Perhaps Xu will bring with him a note of thanks for the administration's...

(CNSNews.com) - U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said that there was “no question” that China would receive both financial and technological assistance from the United States as part of upcoming climate change talks to be conducted in Copenhagen, Denmark. “This is a developing country issue, which includes China,” Stern told reporters on Friday. “I think there is no question that a Copenhagen agreement is going to have to include mechanisms to provide the financial flows and technological assistance to developing countries.” The Copenhagen talks are part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the...

With tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned. After years of conjecture, details have begun to emerge of a "kill weapon" developed by the Chinese to target and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers. First posted on a Chinese blog viewed as credible by military analysts and then translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination, a recent report provides a description of an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that can strike carriers and other U.S....

From Pacific Air Forces Office of Public Affairs HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii -- The U.S. Air Force has deployed two squadrons of F-22 Raptors to the Pacific as part of on-going rotations of forces to ensure security and stability throughout the region. Twelve Raptors deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, arrived at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Jan. 18. The week prior, twelve Raptors from Langley Air Force Base, Va., began arriving at Kadena Air Base, Japan. Both squadrons will be deployed to the Pacific for three months and will spend that time conducting air combat training with...

MOSCOW, December 12 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and China are launching a new stage of military cooperation, with an emphasis on high technologies, director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Mikhail Dmitriyev said, in comments on the 13th session of the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission for military cooperation, which took place in Beijing on Thursday. The parties agreed to begin joint development of new high-tech military products, according to Dmitriyev.

Washington, D.C. - At a conference in Washington, D.C., this week, a Department of Defense official sounded a startling alarm. "The defense community is critically reliant on a technology that obsoletes itself every 18 months, is made in unsecure locations and over which we have absolutely no market share influence," said Ted J. Glum, director of the DoD's Defense Microelectronics Activity unit. "Other than that," he cracked, "we're good."

In 2002, I speculated that China may be something we have never seen before: a mature fascist state. Recent events there, especially the mass rage in response to Western criticism, seem to confirm that theory. More significantly, over the intervening six years China's leaders have consolidated their hold on the organs of control--political, economic and cultural. Instead of gradually embracing pluralism as many expected, China's corporatist elite has become even more entrenched. Even though they still call themselves communists, and the Communist Party rules the country, classical fascism should be the starting point for our efforts to understand the People's...

Why Does Ahmadinejad Want Russian Troops in Iran? 25/04/2008 By Amir Taheri Why is the leadership in Tehran anxious to give Russia the right to land troops in Iran? The question is not fanciful. The Islamic Republic is conducting a devious campaign to prepare public opinion for that eventuality. The message is relayed through deliberately vague terms that diplomats understand immediately while the general public does not. The device is to revive two treaties that most students of Iranian history thought were dead and buried long ago. The first is the 1921 Treaty that the government of Sayyed Ziauddin Tabatabai,...

According to the AIVD, the Dutch secret service, the terrorist threat from radical Islamic quarters is increasing, both in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world. In its annual report for 2007 the AIVD also confirms what other intelligence sources have said previously: al-Qaeda is gaining influence after being effectively out of action for years. Each year the secret service presents a central theme in its annual report. This year it's international cooperation and the exchange of information between intelligence services. The AIVD explains that such cooperation might be necessary but it isn't without its complications. The identities of intelligence...

One sobering aspect of the tragedy of Tibet is to consider a list of the places in the world where abuses of human rights are most common. Darfur in Sudan, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Myanmar (or Burma), Uzbekistan and Tibet would come high on most peoples' lists. And what they have in common is the crucial enabling role of China. Tibet, where the official Chinese figure of 10 dead in the disturbances of the last four days is dwarfed by the more reliable reports from inside the country of more than 100 dead, has been under direct Chinese rule since 1951....

Inside the Ring March 7, 2008 By Bill Gertz - China missiles One little-noticed intelligence disclosure contained in the Pentagon's annual report on Chinese military power says China now has ballistic missiles designed to hit U.S. aircraft carriers and ships at sea. The missiles are described in the report as part of China's "anti-access/area denial capabilities" that include "anti-ship ballistic missiles designed to strike ships at sea, including aircraft carriers." Using a ballistic missile to target ships requires a degree of sophistication not shown by Chinese missiles in the past, and indicates China's military has mastered precision missile targeting, no...

Congress has ordered the U.S. military to report annually "on the current and future military strategy of the People's Republic of China." So on Monday, the Pentagon turned out a 66-page report to help Congress foster its own fears. It's part of a symbiotic relationship: Congress orders the study, and then lawmakers get to cite it as justification for buying more weapons. Some in national-security circles refer to the phenomenon as a "self-licking ice cream cone."

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top official newspaper on Thursday accused the United States of exaggerating fears about Beijing's military to justify its weapons sales to Taiwan, continuing verbal push-and-shove between the two powers. The Pentagon's annual report on Chinese military power released this week said China was developing weapons to cripple its foes' space technology and also linked intrusions into computer networks worldwide to Beijing.

The Justice Department said Monday that it has arrested a former Boeing Co. engineer on charges that he stole Boeing trade secrets related to several aerospace programs -- including the Space Shuttle -- on behalf of the Peoples Republic of China. The department said the arrest of 72-year-old Dongfan "Greg" Chung, of Orange, Calif. follows his indictment on eight counts of economic espionage and acting as an unregistered foreign agent for China.

TAIPEI — A Chinese navy fleet led by guided-missile destroyers steamed through Taiwanese and Japanese waters on two occasions in April and May, Taiwan Defense Minister Lee Tien-yu was quoted as saying in a report in Wednesday's Liberty Times, Taiwan's biggest daily. Lee confirmed local media reports claiming a Chinese fleet of some five vessels, mostly Luhu-class missile destroyers and distilling ships, based in Qingdao, China, had passed between Okinawa and Miyakojima islands before turning south and traveling along Taiwan's east coast and passing its southern tip on two occasions in the periods between April 28 and May 11, and...

China's military buildup is moving beyond countering Taiwan to global operations from the Middle East through Southeast Asia, according to the Pentagon's annual assessment of Chinese military power. "China's military acquisitions and strategic thinking suggests Beijing is also generating capabilities for other regional contingencies, such as conflict over resources or territory," the report to Congress said. The statement, released yesterday, contradicts assessments of some pro-China analysts and intelligence officials who have said the nation's military buildup is relatively benign and limited to resolving the sovereignty issue of Taiwan, which was separated from China in 1949 during a civil war. China...

Beijing upgrades nuclear arsenal By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington Published: May 25 2007 20:21 | Last updated: May 25 2007 20:21 China is modernising and expanding its arsenal of nuclear weapons giving it an enhanced nuclear strike capability, according to a new Pentagon report on the Chinese military. The Pentagon said China was developing mobile, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles in addition to long-range, submarine-launched ballistic missiles that would be deployed on a new fleet of nuclear submarines. ADVERTISEMENT A US defence official said the shift to mobile and sea-based missiles was an effort by the People’s Liberation Army to improve...

May 17, 2007 China's Quest for a Superpower Military by John J. Tkacik, Jr. Backgrounder #2036 The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) announced on March 4, 2007, that it would increase the country's military budget by 17.8 percent in 2007 to a total of $45 bil­lion—by far the largest acknowledged amount that China has ever spent on its military.1 The Chinese government went out of its way to reassure the world that this spending hike was normal and need not worry anyone. "China is committed to taking a path of peaceful development and it pursues...

..Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his remarks centered around trade. Hunter is a strong opponent of free trade deals like CAFTA and NAFTA and talked about the trade inequities that accompany these bills and how American companies and thereby workers are getting shafted...

Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, has expressed unease over China’s growing military might, warning that its recent testing of anti-satellite weapons clashed with the country’s professed peaceful intentions.Speaking in Sydney after a visit to Japan, Mr Cheney also questioned whether North Korea would follow through on its commitments made in a landmark deal to end its nuclear programme. In an address to prominent US and Australian figures, the Vice-President praised China for its crucial role in six-party talks that led to the North Korea pact, under which Pyongyang agreed to disable its main nuclear reactor in exchange for heavy fuel...

Before rejoicing over detente with Kim Jong Il, it might be useful to remember that although agreements were reached in the past, his countrymen later built a number of nuclear weapons and carried out a test. Also, North Korea, with a rich chemical and biological arsenal having long ago neutralized American tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula, has embarked solely on a program of survival by extortion and will gladly forfeit a power it does not need in exchange for recognition and some essential commodities. The Asian nuclear power of which we must take account is not North Korea...

Breaking nearly two weeks of silence, Communist China has now confirmed that it did indeed successfully attack and destroy an aging weather satellite more than 500 miles above the earth. As U.S. intelligence revealed last week, the destructive intercept was performed by a kinetic-kill vehicle (KKV) launched onboard a medium-range ballistic missile.In making this acknowledgement, however, the Foreign Minister preposterously declared that “the test was not targeted against any country and does not pose a threat to any country.”  The mendacity of this statement is as transparent as Beijing’s military activities in the area of space control and power projection,...

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A U.S. defense chief called for closer military ties with China and for the two powers to shed "Cold War" thinking on Tuesday as he highlighted a recent naval encounter that could have gone wrong. The chief of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral William J. Fallon, was asked to confirm a U.S. newspaper report of an uncomfortably close encounter between U.S. warships and a Chinese submarine in the Pacific last month. Confirming the gist of the Washington Times report, Fallon said the submarine had been detected at close quarters by an aircraft carrier and its...

The US navy has confirmed reports of a close encounter between one of its battle groups and a Chinese submarine in the Pacific late last month. US Pacific Commander Admiral William Fallon said the incident had had the potential to escalate. He called for better communications between the two sides. He dismissed as rather sensational a report that a Chinese submarine had stalked the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its accompanying warships. But he did concede that the Chinese vessel had been close, which left both sides open to the potential for miscalculation. Admiral Fallon said that US forces...

President George W. Bush's nominee for U.S. defense secretary said the United States must prepare its military to resist if China attacks rival Taiwan. Robert Gates, a former CIA director chosen by Bush to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense chief, said that although China appears to want a peaceful merger with Taiwan, Beijing is boosting its military force in case of a war with the island. "We should maintain our capabilities to resist China's use of force or coercion against Taiwan and assist Taipei in maintaining its self-defense," Gates said in testimony submitted Tuesday to the Senate Armed Services...

While interacting with a select gathering of "Russia hands" from Western academia, media and think tanks recently, President Vladimir Putin ventured onto the topic of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in terms, as he put it, that would be a "revelation ... something probably I have never said to anyone before". Putin, known for his reticence and choice of words, revealed that the Kremlin did not "plan" for the SCO's present standing, but had only set its sights on the organization's potential to resolve the "utilitarian question of settling borders" between China and its post-Soviet neighbors. SCO includes China, Russia,...

China is acquiring advanced naval jet fighters from Russia. According to Russian sources, China has signed a deal with Moscow to purchase 50 Sukhoi SU-33 navy strike-fighter jets in a deal worth over $2 billion. The SU-33, NATO code-named "Flanker-D", is designed specifically for aircraft carrier operations. The Russian Navy currently operates SU-33 fighters from its single carrier the Admiral Kuznetsov. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) plans to test the first two SU-33 fighters on land and then continue flight operations from an aircraft carrier. China's Dalian Shipyard is currently refitting the ex-Soviet Navy aircraft carrier Varyag that...

MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - The first joint military exercise of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held on Russian territory, the chief of Russia's General Staff said Friday. "The first ever joint exercise in the history of these two organizations will be held in the summer next year," Yury Baluyevsky said. The decision was supported by the majority of the CSTO and SCO chiefs of the General Staff during a meeting in Moscow on Thursday. The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a post-Soviet security grouping that comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan...

ZHUHAI, China — Russia's aerospace companies were out in force as the world's aircraft makers gathered Monday for China's biggest air show, looking to the booming Chinese market to drive sales as their industry's growth slows elsewhere. Boeing Co., Airbus Industrie and other companies from 18 countries were displaying aircraft, engines and other equipment at the five-day exhibition, which starts Tuesday in this southern Chinese boomtown near Hong Kong. Russian companies were displaying warplanes and civilian aircraft, as well as missiles and military electronics, reflecting China's status as Moscow's leading arms export market and Russian ambitions to expand in commercial...

At a time when Islamic terrorism captures the headlines, another equally ominous threat to our national security is quietly on the rise. China is undergoing a sustained effort to strengthen its military. So much so, in fact, that their annual defense spending has tripled over the past decade. China already has the largest standing army in the world. And since no nation threatens the country, why is it growing its military so fast? Well, because it can. And secondly, because it intends to become a dominant world power. By mid-century, China will likely surpass the United States to become the...

The Thailand Coup – Creating A New World Order David J. Jonsson September 28, 2006   The Sword of Islam may not take on the form of war and or terrorism, but take the form of political action, bloodless coups, finance and media propaganda. The actions are to achieve the same goal—the establishment of the Islamic Kingdom of God on Earth and implementation of Shariah law. In the case of Thailand it was a ‘bloodless’ coup led by Muslim Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin ostensibly to remove a corrupt democratically elected government. As Time Magazine (Asia) on September 25 reported Gen....

NOVO OGAREVO, Russia. September 11, 2006 President Putin succeeded in impressing a group of foreign Russia experts at his official residence outside Moscow, displaying his command of major issues, his endurance during the nearly three-hour conversation (he had just returned from South Africa), and—with an introduction to the group by press secretary Alexei Gromov and evident pride—his Italian chef. Delivering a not-so-subtle message at the luncheon, Putin said Russia would not work against U.S. interests, but Moscow would uphold its own interests. Relations will only be effective, he said, “if our interests are taken into account.” And while he values...

THE IMPACT OF THE SINO-IRANIAN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP Testimony before theU.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission Hearing on "China's Proliferation to North Korea andIran, and Its Role in Addressing the Nuclear and Missile Situations in Both Nations" Ilan BermanVice President for PolicyAmerican Foreign Policy Council September 14, 2006 Chairman Wortzel, distinguished members of the Commission: It is a privilege to appear before you today. Thank you for inviting me to discuss the strategic partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a topic of utmost importance. Today, Iran's nuclear ambitions have emerged as a...

YINCHUAN, China - Tech-savvy armchair sleuths around the world are having a field day discovering military secrets in China. Three times in the past few months, they've stumbled across unusual military installations using Internet programs that allow those online to view satellite and aerial images of the world. In the most recent find, users spotted an underwater submarine tunnel off China's Hainan Island. They've also found a mock-up of a Taiwanese air base in China's remote western desert. In a bizarre discovery, a computer technician in Germany noticed a huge and startlingly accurate terrain model in northwest China that replicates...

In late July, Qiushi, a state-controlled publication and recognized mouthpiece of the ruling Chinese communist party, released an essay stating that China should strengthen its military to safeguard against “instability and threats to national security.” More important for China’s neighbors, the essay said, “At present, the political and military environment on China’s periphery is quite complex, and unpredictable factors are clearly rising.” The Pentagon’s most recent Quadrennial Defense Review, a military forecast delivered to Congress, confirmed Beijing’s change in thinking, saying, “China’s military modernization has taken on an “extra-regional” capability, which will allow Beijing to project military power far beyond...

The Israeli war against Hezbollah (round one) brought with it the realization at the highest levels that dangerous weapons were floating around in dangerous hands. The successful attacks against a cargo vessel by Hezbollah, using Chinese-made C-802 cruise missiles, raised alarm bells all over the globe. Immediately after the attack, the first alarm bell rang at CIA headquarters, where an intensified global intelligence operation to track weapons deliveries was started. The CIA began to track Iranian efforts to resupply Hezbollah with more Chinese-made C-802 missiles. According to reports, the CIA discovered that an Iranian Il-76 cargo plane, loaded with another...

While the news media and politicians in the United States continue their focus on Israeli fight against terrorism giant Hezbollah, or Senator Hillary Clinton's latest diatribe in front of the TV cameras, there continues to be enormous changes occurring in communist China. For the most part, the news media and pundits have ignored events in China for over a decade. Even when President Bill Clinton allowed dual-purpose technology transfers to the Chinese, few realized the significance of those transfers, and little was reported in the US media. Some of that US technology helped the Chinese government in perfecting the accuracy...

Although it may not get much attention in Asian Studies courses, China exported the cruise missile that Hezbollah used to attack an Israeli ship, one of the components that set off the Israel/Lebanon conflict, the U.S. China Commission found. “China is in a position of conventional warfare that we never dreamed in the early 90’s they would be, although we have always known about their nuclear capabilities,” said United States-China Commission Chairman Larry Wortzel at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill. The United States experiences similar trouble with China in regards to energy reliance. For example, when China offered foreign...

Report: China has deployed missiles giving it second-strike capability against U.S. Insight Magazine, August 3, 2006The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Beijing has developed and deployed a series of missiles that would give China second-strike nuclear capability in any confrontation with the United States. The determination of a sea-based deterrent is said to have significantly increased Beijing's threat to the United States. "It is clear to me that China is now embarking on a significant investment in a second-strike capability to ensure the survival and, thus, viability of its nuclear forces," said Richard Fisher, a researcher at the International...

As Israel and Hezbollah exchange missiles, oil-hungry Beijing plays out its sinister strategy THE STORY behind the story in the Middle East today is the proxy war, as Israel, on behalf of the US, takes on Hezbollah, which fights on behalf of Iran and Syria. Indeed, one can widen it further and describe the participants as proxies for the West versus militant Islam. This analysis of the conflict sometimes mentions, in passing, Russia’s declining influence. But there is another player that has somehow received almost no coverage. For decades China has been building up influence in the Middle East. It...

World briefing Irresistible rise of the dictators' club Simon Tisdall Tuesday June 6, 2006 Guardian Tony Blair's promotion of shared global values and inclusive institutions in his Georgetown speech last month took little account of the rise and rise of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Few may yet have heard of it. But out of the east comes a radically different paradigm for 21st-century international organisation, short on idealism and long on hard-headed self-interest. The "universal" principles of "liberty, democracy and justice" lauded by Mr Blair are hardly its driving force. Founded by China, the five-year-old SCO groups together like-minded authoritarian...

Oracle Commentaries 7/22/2006 Urgent Intelligence Update UNCOVERED: RUSSIAN-SYRIAN-IRANIAN AXIS For students of Bible prophecy, even the title of this communiqué should set off alarm sirens. I just received some electrifying intelligence data. First, from the Debka-Net-Weekly’s briefing. And second, from some personal intelligence sources (I carefully guard) that confirm Debka’s report. Russia, Iran and Syria have entered a defense pact that is in the process of altered the balance of power in the entire Middle East. Russia’s part in the pact has been kept relatively secret for a long time. But the facts reveal a long steady Russian commitment...

: Report: China Won't Curb North Korean Missile Program Defense Daily International 07/21/2006 Author: Dave Ahearn Even as the United States implores China to use its leverage to restrain North Korean ambitions to develop nuclear-tipped long-range missiles, China has no intention whatever of wielding its influence to that end, a new report states. In other words, the United States is left to its own devices, forced to erect its own missile defense when confronted by a rogue regime bent on acquiring awesome military powers. While China postures by voicing "concern" that North Korea on July 4 fired a series of...

The members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will recognize the organization’s fifth anniversary in June 2006 with a much anticipated celebration, “Everyone agrees this first jubilee date must be celebrated accordingly,” said Vitally Vorobyev, Russia’s coordinator in the SCO. Washington, however, will not be joining in the festivities. The reason for Washington’s sour mood? Growing anxiety surrounding the ultimate mission of the SCO and its impact on Central Asia and the Middle East. Pictures taken by journalists of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the recent Peace Mission 2005 military exercises, showing the president in full military attire and holding...

At this point in our history, is what we really need a Treasury Secretary who is a pedigreed "Friend of China?" That is a term the Communist Chinese apply to individuals who have proven their affinity for the People's Republic by service of one kind or another. Communist China arguably has no better or more powerful friend in the whole of the Western world than the man President Bush has just appointed to be this nation's chief financial officer: Henry Paulson. Mr. Paulson has made a very successful career, an immense personal fortune and an astounding financial empire at the...

Some see it as a NATO counterweight. Others call it a Club for Dictators or at least neardictators. Some consider it an antiAmerican stalking horse for Chinese and or Russian hegemony, with the potential to become "OPEC with nukes." Whatever: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) a so-called "anti-terrorism, anti-separatism, anti-extremism" grouping, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which holds its fifth annual meeting this week - definitely reeks of trouble for Uncle Sam. Start with this: The "anti-terrorism" SCO has given observer status to Iran, the world's top state sponsor of terrorism including an annual convention of just...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the growing international stature of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization -- but it may also soon become more controversial, as its members consider whether to welcome Iran into the fold.

The pace and scope of China's modernization of its strategic forces and other surprising military developments could pose a credible long term threat to the United States, the Pentagon warned. In an annual report to Congress, the Defense Department said China's ability to sustain military power at a distance is limited but it has the greatest potential of any nation to compete militarily with the United States. "Long-term trends in China's strategic nuclear forces modernization, land- and sea-based access denial capabilities, and emerging precision-strike weapons have the potential to pose credible threats to modern militaries operating in the region," the...

From ancient Rome's destruction of Carthage to the Soviet Union of the late 1940s, nations' rise to great power status has almost always been on a tide of war. China -- both economically and militarily -- is on the verge of regional superpower status and aiming at the global equivalent. Despite President Hu Jintao's "peaceful rise" sloganeering, China is building its military at a pace last seen in 1930s Germany, arming itself with things such as anti-satellite weapons that have no defensive purpose. America faces two great challenges in this decade: to defeat the terrorists and to help shape China's...

Wednesday May 24, 9:44 AM Chinese warships trained weapons on Japan's SDF aircraft: Pentagon (Kyodo) _ Chinese warships trained weapons on Japanese surveillance aircraft monitoring a disputed Chinese gas field in the East China Sea in a weapons drill last fall, the U.S. Defense Department said Tuesday in an annual report on China's military capabilities. The Pentagon said in the 50-page report that the incident was one of the key developments over the past year underscoring China's continuing activities to build up and modernize its military beyond its interests over Taiwan to secure its interests deeper into the Pacific. The...