Free Republic

SHANGHAI, China - China and Iran are close to setting plans to develop Iran's Yadavaran oil field, according to published reports, in a multibillion-dollar deal that comes as Tehran faces the prospect of sanctions over its nuclear program. The deal is thought potentially to be worth about $100 billion. According to Caijing, a respected financial magazine, a Chinese government delegation is due to visit Iran as early as March to formally sign an agreement allowing China Petrochemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, to develop Yadavaran. The Wall Street Journal also reported in Friday's editions that the two sides are trying...

Is China building a carrier? By Yihong Chang JDW Correspondent & Andrew Koch JDW Bureau Chief Hong Kong & Washington, DC Chinese shipyard workers have been repairing a badly damaged ex-Russian aircraft carrier and have repainted it with the country's military markings, raising the question once again of whether China is pursuing longer-term plans to field its first carrier. In the latest developments, images show that workers at the Chinese Dalian Shipyard have repainted the ex-Russian Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier Varyag with the markings and colour scheme of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy (PLAN). Additional new photographs show that other...

Below are some excerpts of observations I have posted on other recent threads that I will continue to post when appropriate, because I believe that China’s military build-up may soon prove to be the most ominous threat we face ... Islamic terrorism notwithstanding. (Thank you for your continuing and untiring efforts -- represented by the preceding link -- to document the unparalleled China threat, Jeff Head.) An article by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times (6/26/05) stated flatly that ‘there's a growing consensus that at some point in the mid-to-late '90s, there was a fundamental shift in the sophistication, breadth...

China’s communist leaders view the United States as their main enemy and are working in Asia and around the world to undermine U.S. alliances, said a former Chinese diplomat. Chen Yonglin, until recently a senior political officer at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, Australia, said in an interview that China also is engaged in large-scale intelligence-gathering activities in the United States that, in the past, netted large amounts of confidential U.S. government documents from agents. “The United States is considered by the Chinese Communist Party as the largest enemy, the major strategic rival,” Mr. Chen told The Washington Times in...

New Red Chinese (PLAN) Stealth/Catamaran Fast Attack Craft (FAC) Now in serial production By: Jeff Head June 2005 The People's Republic of China has gone into serial production on their new, stealthy Fast Attack Craft which are based on a wave-piercing catamaran hull design. The first craft, designated 2208, was launched in APirlof 2004 and commissioned later that year. Since that time, three more vessels have been produced in a year's time, 2209, 2210 and 2211. The vessels are armed with foru surface to surface anti-shipping missiles, probably the C-801 or C-802 with ranges from 60-100 miles), and one AK-630...