Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From Flight International DATE: 03/10/08 SOURCE: Flight International China embarks on naval fighter training programme By Siva Govindasamy China is gearing up to form its first naval fighter fleet, with local newspapers reporting that around 50 cadet pilots have started training with a naval academy. "The first pilot programme of recruiting pilot cadets is an important decision of the PLA [People's Liberation Army] navy to realise a strategic transformation," says the PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military. "The first batch of pilot cadets will receive a four-year education in the shipborne aircraft flight field of study. They wil…

China expands runway, harbour at Woody Island (Jane's)

China's Navy Forms First Carrier-Borne Jet Force (Defense Aerospace)

From DefenseNews Chinese Delegates At Shangri-La Express Frustration With N. Korea By WENDELL MINNICK Published: 6 Jun 2010 15:45 SINGAPORE - Members of a Chinese delegation attending the 9th Asia Security Summit earlier this month indicated Beijing officials are flustered by North Korean hijinks. Also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue the summit, held annually in Singapore, is run by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). North Korean issues shared the spotlight at Shangri-La with difficulties over China's refusal to continue military exchanges with the U.S. A Chinese government official at Shangri-La said he "was puzz…

China goes all out with major island building project in Spratlys (Jane's)

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

China hikes defense budget, to spend more on internal security (Reuters)

China imposes restrictions on airspace over Senkaku islands (The Diplomat, Pacific Realist) Fact Sheet: China's Air Defense -Zone (DefenseNews) Here's what the ADIZ looks like on a map, the blue line being the existing Japanese ADIZ limit:

China installs weapons systems on artificial islands: U.S. think tank (Reuters)

China Making Some Missiles More Powerful (New York Times)

China Is Using E-3 Sentry Mockups For Targets On Its Ballistic Missile Impact Range (The War Zone, 11 November 2021) Watch out Kadena.

From DefenseNews Posted 05/28/07 11:17 China Lashes Critical Pentagon Report AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING China lashed back Monday at a U.S. report on its military might, saying the Pentagon was playing up the issue for ulterior motives and warning Washington against selling weapons to Taiwan. “The U.S. Defense Department’s report exaggerates China’s military expenditures out of ulterior motives and continues to disseminate the ‘China threat’ theory,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement. “It seriously violates the norms of international relations and rudely interferes in China’s internal affairs. China expresses its strong dissatisfactio…

China Launches First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (Financial Times, via RCD)

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

China Makes Advance Payment for Russia’s S-400 Missile Defense Systems (The Diplomat)

China makes military strides as Iraq fight rages By Eric Talmadge - The Associated Press Posted : Saturday Sep 29, 2007 9:04:46 EDT KADENA AIR BASE, Japan — While the U.S. has been tied up in Iraq, China is modernizing its military and its air defenses are now nearly impenetrable to all but the newest of American fighters, the senior U.S. military official in Japan said. Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, commander of the roughly 50,000 U.S. forces in Japan, Washington’s biggest ally in Asia, said in an interview with The Associated Press this week that the Iraq war is reducing the availability of U.S. troops and equipment to meet other contingencies. It’s also eatin…

From Jane's Defence Weekly 19 April 2007 China marches forward By Timothy Hu The regeneration of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is shifting into higher gear as it takes delivery of a new generation of home-grown arms and steps up the development of sophisticated asymmetric technologies designed to thwart more advanced adversaries. Along with the continuing importation of Russian weapons, improved training and rising levels of professionalism, China is now firmly on track to become a credible regional military power. An array of new indigenous weapon platforms has been unveiled in the past year that is at least a generation ahead of the PLA's …

From Defense Aerospace China’s Military Capabilities Continue to Grow, Report Says (Source: U.S Department of Defense; issued March 25, 2009) WASHINGTON --- Transformation of the Chinese military has gained speed, but U.S. officials would like to see China become more transparent about military and security affairs, according to a report to Congress released today. The report, called “Military Power of the People’s Republic of China,” provides some new details, “but there are no new, major strategic insights revealed or capabilities revealed,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today. In the report, officials said that Chinese transparency has im…

Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2015 (pdf, US DOD)

China Military Power 2018 (pdf)