China Digital Times

China news tagged with: military (204)

• China To Hold Massive Military Drill In Second Half Of 2009

  

  From Xinhua:

  The Chinese People’s Liberation Army(PLA) has started preparations for a massive military drill in the second half of this year that involves as many as 50,000 troops, sources from the Headquarters of General Staff said here Tuesday.

  The drill, dubbed Kuayue-2009, will be undertaken by troops from four military command areas, namely, Shenyang, Lanzhou, Jinan and Guangzhou.

  This is the first time in the history of the PLA that four divisions from four military command areas are taking part in a drill that involves the deployment of troops across different military command areas, the sources said.

  » Read more
  • May 5, 2009 7:53 PM

• Three Armadas, Three Strategies

  

  The Global Times is owned by People’s Daily, but focused on international issues. Recently, it started its English version, and here is an example:

  When Xiao Jin’guang, the former naval commander of the People’s Liberation Army, wanted to inspect a fleet base on an island 59 years ago, he could only find a fishery ship.

  With a stern expression on his face, he told his entourage, “Remember, Navy Commander Xiao Jinguang took a fishery boat on his inspection tour on March 17, 1950.”

  The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was founded on April 23, 1949, in Taizhou, eastern Jiangsu Province, with just nine warships and 17 boats obtained after a unit of the Kuomintang’s second coastal defense fleet defected to the PLA. In its early stages, the PLA fleet was mainly composed of wooden ships and sailing boats.

  » Read more
  • April 26, 2009 3:02 PM

• China to Renew Somalia Anti-Piracy Mission

  

  China announced that it’s navy will stay in the Gulf of Aden to protect ships against Somali pirates. From AP:

  China’s three-ship anti-piracy flotilla took up its duties off the Somali coast in January on a four-month mission and new ships will be sent to take over in late April or in early May, the China Daily newspaper quoted the navy deputy chief of staff, Rear Adm. Zhang Deshun, as saying.

  Zhang termed the mission thus far an unqualified success and said China was prepared for a lengthy commitment. He said new ships and personnel were prepared to take over, but some staff from the original mission would stay on to ensure continuity.

  “We feel this is not a short mission. The length of the mission depends on the Somali political situation and whether Somali pirates can be eventually kept away,” Zhang said.

  » Read more

  • March 9, 2009 7:10 PM

• China Announces Double-Digit Military Spending Boost

  

  Tania Branigan from The Guardian reports that military spending will increase by 14.9% this year.

  The spokesman for the National People’s Congress – China’s rubber-stamp parliament, which begins its annual session tomorrow – told reporters it was a “modest” increase which would increase capabilities and improve conditions for the 2.3 million members of the world’s largest army.

  [...]Chinese officials argue that heavy investment is needed to modernise its military after years of financial neglect and in the light of other countries’ increasing capabilities and China’s growing responsibilities. It has begun contributing to peacekeeping efforts and recently sent ships to join the taskforce battling Somalian pirates.

  Li said the rise would mainly go towards raising wages and conditions, improving the military’s hi-tech ability and enhancing its emergency response capabilities in “disaster relief, fighting terrorism, maintaining stability and other non-warfare military operations”.

  » Read more
  • March 4, 2009 8:47 PM

• China Plans Largest-ever Military Parade

  

  From AP:

  China will stage its grandest-ever military parade this year with a spectacle of homemade weaponry to mark 60 years of communist rule and lift national pride amid a grim economic forecast, state media reported Wednesday.

  Homemade weapons systems will be center stage during the Oct. 1 national day parade to show off the fruits of years of double-digit annual percentage military spending increases, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

  China has long relied on Russia for advanced military hardware, but its own industries have in recent years notched breakthroughs such as the J-10 jet fighter and DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile.

  » Read more
  • February 12, 2009 5:48 AM

• China Calls for ‘Absolute Obedience’ from Military

  

  From Reuters:

  China, wary of growing unrest and facing “multiple security threats”, called for unity in its armed forces on Sunday and absolute obedience to the Communist Party.

  The call came at a Central Military Commission meeting presided over by President and commission chairman Hu Jintao just weeks after the Communist-ruled country warned of the risk of separatist groups at home.

  It also comes in a year of sensitive anniversaries, including the 20th of the brutal June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing and the 50th of the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule of Tibet.

  » Read more
  • February 2, 2009 3:47 AM

• China Calls For Better Military Ties Under Obama

  

  From AP:

  China on Tuesday urged President-elect Barack Obama to work with Beijing to improve its occasionally tense military relationship with the United States, calling on the Pentagon to “remove obstacles.”

  Sr. Col. Hu Changming, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said China — with one of the world’s fastest-growing armed forces — looked forward to smoother relations with Washington and its military, the world’s largest.

  “At present, when China-U.S. military-to-military relations are faced with difficulties, we call on the U.S. Department of Defense to remove obstacles … and create favorable conditions for the healthy growth of military relations,” Hu said during a news conference held to present a major military policy paper.

  » Read more
  • January 19, 2009 11:40 PM

• China’s Preparing Tiananmen Square Military Parade: Report

  

  From AFP:

  China will mark the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic with a military parade showcasing the nation’s latest weapons, state press said Sunday.

  General Chen Bingde, chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, has been put in charge of the October 1 parade — which was last held on the 50th anniversary a decade ago, the People’s Daily said on its website.

  “The National Day military parade can showcase the modernisation, the build-up and the great success of China’s military and display its great strength in defending and reunifying the motherland and advancing world peace,” it said.

  » Read more
  • January 4, 2009 11:53 PM

• China To Start Construction Of 1st Aircraft Carriers Next Year

  

  From the Asashi Shibun, by Kenji Minemura:

  China will begin construction of the country’s first domestically produced aircraft carriers in Shanghai next year, with an eye to completing two mid-sized carriers by 2015, military and shipbuilding sources said.

  Beijing is also expected to complete work on a never-finished former Soviet aircraft carrier moored in the northeastern port of Dalian, to provide training for carrier-based pilots and crew.

  The two 50,000- to 60,000-ton carriers will rely on conventional propulsion systems, not nuclear power. They will be assigned to the People’s Liberation Army Navy south sea fleet, tasked with patrolling the South China Sea, sources said.

  China’s carrier ambitions and the build-up of its blue-water fleet have long been of interest to Pacific nations.

  National defense ministry spokesman Huang Xueping recently commented that China might build its own aircraft carriers.

  » Read more
  • December 31, 2008 10:35 AM

• China, Russia Top Brass Hold First Hot Line Chat

  

  From AP:

  Top brass from the Chinese and Russian armies hailed closer ties in their first-ever conversation Monday over a newly installed military hot line, state media reported Monday.

  China’s People’s Liberation Army chief Chen Bingde called the hot line a sign of pragmatic cooperation and growing political trust, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said.

  Chen’s Russian counterpart, Nikolay Makarov, said the link would promote regular communication on military matters. Discussions also touched on bilateral issues and those involving the region and world, Xinhua said, without giving details.

  The link officially opened March 14, and it wasn’t clear why it had not been inaugurated before.

  » Read more
  • December 29, 2008 5:08 AM

• China Hints at Aircraft Carrier Project

  

  The Financial Times reports that China may have plans to build an aircraft carrier:

  The comments from Major General Qian Lihua, director of the ministry’s Foreign Affairs Office, come amid heated speculation within China and abroad that the increasingly potent naval arm of the People’s Liberation Army has decided to develop and deploy its first aircraft carrier. Traditionally, a carrier would accompany and protect a battle group of smaller ships.

  The Pentagon said this year that China was actively engaged in aircraft carrier research and would be able to start building one by the end of this decade, while Jane’s Defence Weekly reported last month that the PLA was training 50 students to become naval pilots capable of operating fixed-wing aircraft from such a ship.

  Maj Gen Qian declined to comment directly on whether China had decided to build a carrier, but in the defence ministry’s most forthright statement yet on the issue he made clear that China had every right to do so.

  “The navy of any great power . . . has the dream to have one or more aircraft carriers,” he said in the interview, which aides said was the first arranged by the defence ministry on its own premises. “The question is not whether you have an aircraft carrier, but what you do with your aircraft carrier.”

  » Read more
  • November 17, 2008 9:53 PM

• U.S., China Urged to Work Out Space Security Regime

  

  From Reuters report:

  China’s destruction of one of its defunct weather satellites in January 2007 showed the Chinese military’s ability to attack satellites, the report said. The United States and former Soviet Union demonstrated that capability in the 1980s.

  “The risks inherent in space conflict, where vital U.S. interests are at stake, suggest that preventing space conflict should be a major U.S. security objective,” said the report by technology and security consultant Bruce MacDonald.

  [...] China rejected criticism of its 2007 anti-satellite test and Beijing publicly says it opposes the weaponization of space and will not get involved in arms race in space.

  Another article in Beijing Review earlier this year suggested steps to prevent space warfare:

  The first step in preventing space weaponization is to hold anti-satellite weapon negotiations under the United Nations framework at an earlier date. Then, related international laws and treaties should be signed and efficiently carried out. It would be a good opportunity for countries, including the United States, Russia, China and the European Union, to jointly prevent possible space conflicts and work together so that human beings can enjoy harmony and peace in outer space.

  » Read more
  • September 20, 2008 9:21 PM

• China Defense Could Be $360 Billion A Year By 2020

  

  From AP:

  China’s defense spending is on track to reach $360 billion a year by 2020 if annual increases continue at their current pace, an analyst with defense consultancy Jane’s said Friday.

  That figure is still dwarfed by U.S. military spending, which amounted to $547 billion last year, but would represent a significant increase over Beijing’s current official budget of about $59 billion.

  China’s publicly announced spending is roughly on a level with total military expenditure by Britain last year, and slightly higher than that of France. Some analysts believe total spending may actually be significantly higher because the official budget doesn’t include funding for weapons programs.

  » Read more
  • August 2, 2008 5:37 AM

• Bush Should Keep His Word on Taiwan

  

  Written by Dan Blumenthal, Aaron Friedberg, Randall Schriver and Ashley J. Tellis, from Wall Street Journal:

  In 2001, President Bush made a bold and principled decision to offer Taiwan a range of military equipment for its security. In 2008, as he prepares to leave office, the president seems to have reneged on that commitment.

  On Wednesday, Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, confirmed that the administration has frozen arms sales to the island nation, acknowledging Beijing’s displeasure by way of explanation. “The Chinese have made clear to me their concern over any arms sales to Taiwan,” he said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington. However, the decision to freeze arms sales is mistaken and dangerous.

  The People’s Republic of China has been expanding its military capabilities at a rapid pace. Included in this impressive buildup are weapons directly intended for use against Taiwan: hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles, scores of new fighter bombers and several types of attack submarines. In accordance with the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the Bush administration originally proposed an arms package designed to improve Taiwan’s capacity for self-defense. Included were Patriot 3 missile-defense systems, P3C antisubmarine warfare aircraft, Apache helicopters, Kidd-class destroyers, diesel submarines and a modern command, control and communications system.

  Read also A Freeze on Taiwan Arms by John Tkacik.

  » Read more
  • July 19, 2008 9:01 PM

• AFRICOM Willing to Work with China

  

  The U.S. military’s relatively new African Command, or AFRICOM, has expressed an openness to working with China’s military, should the opportunity arise, says its commander. Stars and Stripes has a rundown of AFRICOM, China’s role in Africa, and areas where those might overlap or be incompatible:

  Despite the U.S.-China rivalry — and different approaches toward the continent — the new U.S. Africa Command might see fit to eventually work there with China’s military, or anyone else’s, according to Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward, the AFRICOM commander.

  “There’s work being done by many nations on the continent of Africa,” Ward said. “Whether it’s the Chinese, the Indians, other European nations, other Asian nations — clearly to the degree that we can cooperate in reaching common objectives, we want to do that.

  “And there’s enough work for all, to be sure.”

  As U.S. policy makers sort out the palatability of working with China, others ponder the common ground on which their militaries could operate in Africa.

  While Stuttgart-based AFRICOM advertises humanitarian motives, critics condemn resource-poor China’s business-only approach toward buying oil from Sudan, minerals from Zimbabwe, and vital resources from other African nations.

  » Read more
  • June 29, 2008 2:57 PM

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