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IN THE dark reaches of the solar system lurk swarms of hidden worlds. Too small and too distant to reflect sunlight, they have remained under the cover of darkness for billions of years. But now the outer solar system is giving up its secrets. And with them comes an astonishing claim: "It's quite possible that there is a halo of planets surrounding our solar system, just waiting to be found," says Eugene Chiang, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley. What makes Chiang's claim so surprising is the sheer number and size of these planets. Weighing more than...

Few reasons to fear China's 'pearls' Ashley Townshend From: The Australian REVELATIONS that Pakistan has invited China to construct a naval base at the strategically located port of Gwadar have intensified anxieties about Beijing's Indian Ocean objectives. For many observers, any militarisation of the Gwadar facility - a predominantly Chinese-funded commercial port about 500km from the Strait of Hormuz - would confirm deep-seated suspicions about Beijing's so-called "string of pearls" strategy. According to proponents of this view, China is establishing ports throughout littoral South Asia as a smokescreen for intelligence gathering and as a precursor to more permanent basing arrangements....

How India is undoing China's string of pearls New Delhi's defence establishment has quietly put in place India's own counter-measures to woo and bolster China's neighbours as a long-term strategy, says Nitin Gokhale One of the least understood and less scrutinised facets of India's diplomacy is perhaps New Delhi's 'Look East' policy, now nearly two decades old. Launched during Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao's regime primarily to try and integrate India's newly liberalising economy with that of the Asian 'tigers', that policy is now quietly evolving into a more robust military-to-military partnership with important nations in that region. Over...

Military Advantage: Our defense secretary proposes doing what no other foreign adversary has done: sink the U.S. Navy. We don't need those billion-dollar destroyers, he says. Meanwhile, the Chinese navy rushes to fill the vacuum. Once Britannia ruled the waves, later to be replaced by America and its Navy. From the Battle of Midway to President Reagan's 600-ship fleet that helped win the Cold War, naval supremacy has been critical to the protection and survival of our nation. Which is why we find the recent remarks of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the Navy League at the Sea-Air-Space expo so...

An expanded understanding of the 'string of pearls' strategy suggests a China that is more expansionist, more mercantilist, and less interested in 'peaceful development' than many analysts often contend. The last decade was rough for the Japanese and South Koreans. North Korean missile launches, Kim Jong-Il’s nuclear program, a rapidly modernizing People’s Liberation Army, an increasingly aggressive Chinese navy—the defense establishments in America’s key Asian allies have not had this much to worry about since the Cold War ended. Things, of course, always find a way of getting worse.A Chinese company, the Chuangli Group, has recently rebuilt and leased a...

China's footprint in Pakistan A new port is a boon locally, a potential military asset for Beijing and a worry to the U.S. By Henry Chu, Times Staff Writer April 1, 2007 GWADAR, PAKISTAN — Along a scenic beach where fishermen mend their nets by hand, an endless row of storefronts stretches into the distance, all selling the same thing. Not sunscreen, umbrellas or cold drinks. Land. Never mind that the area is home to a violent separatist movement, or that foreigners are regarded with suspicion by police. A property boom has hit this formerly sleepy town in southwest Pakistan...

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - New images from the Cassini space probe show Saturn being adorned by a 60,000-kilometer (37,000-mile) "string of pearls", NASA scientists announced. A statement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena said the "pearls" seen in a stunning infra-red image were actually clearings in Saturn's deep cloud system. It is the first time such large cloud clearings have been observed around Saturn, indicating that they may be a result of a large planetary cloud formation that might encircle the whole planet. Cassini was launched in October 1997, carrying with it the...

US, China, India flex muscle over energy-critical sea lanes The United States, China and India are moving to assert control over the sea lanes through which they receive critical energy supplies amid fears in Beijing of a US blockade of the Malacca Strait in the event of a crisis over Taiwan, experts said here. The United States at present has vast control over the major so-called "choke points" on the world's sea lanes, said experts at a recent forum in Washington. ADVERTISEMENT Almost all of China's energy imports are obtained through sea and it is worried the United States could...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Chinese influence is increasing in Latin America and Africa, a phenomenon that could have substantial bearing on America`s foreign policy on these regions, say analysts. 'America`s influence could be seriously eroded,' while Chinese influence will only increase, said Stephen Johnson, senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Referring to the 'plantation economy' being created in Latin America as a result of China`s substantial influence on the economy, he said that the United States should rely more on competition in order to get a foot back in the door as a major player....

Beijing - China plans to begin storing oil at its first strategic oil base by the end of this year and put into operation three more bases by 2008, a senior official said on Monday. The first oil reserve base is under construction at Zhenhai, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, and will begin filling tanks by the end of 2006, Ma Kai, minister for the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters. Three more bases will be brought into operation during 2007 and 2008, Ma said on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress (NPC), China's nominal parliament....