New U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during his first phone call with his Japanese counterpart, reaffirmed America’s commitment to Tokyo to defending a group of East China Sea islets claimed by both Japan and China, the Pentagon said. Austin, in… Read More ›

Defence & Aerospace
Taiwan reports large incursion by Chinese air force
Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Saturday, and Taiwan’s air force deployed missiles to “monitor” the incursion, the island’s defense ministry said. China, which claims Taiwan as… Read More ›
China’s COMAC C919 Finishes Extreme Low Temperature Tests
China’s answer to Airbus and Boeing’s narrowbody jets, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) C919, has just completed its extreme low-temperature tests in Inner Mongolia over the weekend. The aircraft arrived at Hulunbuir Dongshan International Airport (HLD) on December… Read More ›
China authorises coast guard to fire on foreign vessels if needed
China passed a law on Friday that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, a move that could make the contested waters around China more choppy. China has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan… Read More ›
China’s Chang’e 5 orbiter en route to solar observation point
China’s Chang’e 5 orbiter is expected to reach a point in space where it will be able to observe the sun in the middle of March, according to state media. The spacecraft, which separated from the capsule that carried lunar… Read More ›
China’s Border Villages Are Fuelling Tensions in India
A new set of satellite images have triggered fresh border anxieties between India and China. These images, accessed by VICE World News via American imaging company Planet Labs, are dated Nov. 1, 2020, and show a village made up of… Read More ›
China, Indonesia on a collision course at sea
Indonesia’s interception this week of a Chinese research ship, which had crossed the Java Sea without an activated transponder, and last month’s discovery of a suspected Sea Wing underwater drone off southern Sulawesi has presented Jakarta with a new set… Read More ›
AVIC building twin-seat version of top fighter jet
Aviation Industry Corp of China, the nation’s leading aircraft maker, is poised to develop a twin-seat version of its J-20 stealth fighter jet-China’s most advanced combat plane, according to the State-owned conglomerate. In a video clip recently published on AVIC’s… Read More ›
China gears up for space station, cargo and crewed mission launches
China is preparing to launch three major missions in the next few months to initiate the construction phase of the country’s space station project. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) is finalizing work on rockets which will launch… Read More ›
‘Global Britain’ takes aim at China in South China Sea
Fresh off a hard-fought Brexit deal with Brussels, the United Kingdom has immediately plunged itself into the center of Asian geopolitics and on a maritime collision course with China. Touting itself as “a global power with truly global interest”, the… Read More ›
Invasion killer: Taiwan’s new subs a formidable force
On paper, as they say, China has a distinct advantage when it comes to naval power. Over the past decade, it has aggressively built up its navy to over 300 warships and submarines, making it the largest navy in the… Read More ›
Trump’s spy chief says China working on ‘super soldiers’
In the 1987 movie Robocop, Peter Weller portrays a police officer who is nearly killed by criminals, and whose brain and body are used by scientists to create a cyborg policeman, equipped with super strength. Of course, it all goes… Read More ›
China’s new H-20 stealth bomber could hit Pearl Harbor: analysts
Just when things were not going well for the Pentagon, vis-a-vis China’s rapid military growth, US planners now have to rethink the entire scenario. There’s a new kid on the block, and “he” is terrifying. It involves China’s new H-20… Read More ›
China tests engine for Mach 16 aerospace bomber
SCMP says in its report “Chinese team test jet engine ‘able to reach anywhere on Earth within 2 hours” that China tests a prototype of sodramjet engine in its hypersonic wind tunnel in Beijing. Such enigine can power an aerospaceplane… Read More ›
China looks to create an army of stealth fighter jets with new ‘metamaterial’ element
Scientists in China have reportedly made breakthroughs in an engineered material that is set to enhance the stealth technology used in fighter jets in possession of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Stealth technology is considered to the most advanced technology… Read More ›
China’s next border friction may be with Afghanistan, the ‘graveyard of empires’
The US plan announced this week to speed up the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Afghanistan may have troubling consequences for China, which shares a border with the war-torn country in its far west region of Xinjiang. Acting defence… Read More ›
PLAAF J-16 fighter pilots seen using new helmet
Footage released on 11 November by the state-owned China Central Television 7 (CCTV 7) channel shows that People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilots of J-16 multirole fighter aircraft are using what appears to be a new helmet featuring a… Read More ›
Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning embarks on voyage, sets fighter jet pilot training history
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning has been at sea over the past week, making history by qualifying the first batch of new fighter jet pilots who were directly recruited from high school and trained specifically… Read More ›
Behind China’s threat to support insurgency in India
China does not normally object when other countries trade with Taiwan as long as it is done on a private level. But when news reports began circulating about the possibility of an official Indian-Taiwan trade pact, China hit back via… Read More ›
Americans willing to take risks to defend allies against China
Americans are overwhelmingly willing to take military risks in defending allies from China, according to a new poll from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. On a scale of 1 to 10—where 10 means one is willing to take… Read More ›
50,000 Chinese troops and 150 fighter jets spotted near Indian border
Tensions have been rising on the India-China border. Despite, attempts to de-escalate the friction, including the various agreements that have been made between the countries, China continues to be on the offensive. Just before the Galwan face-off between the two… Read More ›
China intensifies propaganda to include simulated strike on American soil
China has intensified its propaganda to feature militarist displays, including footage of a simulated airstrike on American territory, the New York Times reported Monday. Propaganda from Chinese Communist Party-affiliated outlets has increasingly showcased Chinese military strength, featuring footage manipulated from… Read More ›
Triangularity of nuclear arms control – possible implications of China’s involvement in nuclear arms talks
In December 2019, the United States officially invited China to enter into a strategic security dialogue. The White House said it hoped Beijing’s consent to this proposal might become the first step towards an international agreement encompassing all nuclear weapons… Read More ›
Chinese troops to take part in Russia’s Kavkaz-2020
China continues to sharpen the point of the spear. Elite troops attached to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theater Command will participate in the Kavkaz-2020 strategic military exercise later this month in Russia, joining military units from Russia… Read More ›
India, China trade blame over border tensions
India and China traded blame for rising tensions over their disputed Himalayan border on Saturday following their highest level meeting since a deadly clash in June. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe released rival… Read More ›
China’s new early warning aircraft makes maiden flight
As China builds aircraft carriers, it was expected to develop a carrier-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system — and that appears to be happening with the recent progress of the KJ-600. Unverified photos posted on social media show… Read More ›
After stealth J-20, China’s next fighter-jet could be a super F-35 copycat
In its endeavours of achieving the “world-class military” status, China’s military and its defence industry may have taken a significant step in the right direction with the development of its first sixth-generation fighter jet, which experts claim to be a… Read More ›
China’s expansionism enters dangerous phase
China’s expansionist drive, from the East and South China seas to the Himalayas and the southern Pacific, is making the Indo-Pacific region more volatile and unstable. Along with the spread of the Wuhan-originating coronavirus, this has also given rise to… Read More ›
Mao Zedong thought Japan did the Communist Party a great favour by invading China
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said there could only be one answer to the question in the Diploma of Secondary Education history exam regarding Sino-Japanese relations between 1900 and 1945: Japan had done China harm, and no… Read More ›
China unveils its own ‘mother of all bombs’ that is stealth, precision-guided & can drop 240 bombs
China recently unveiled its new 500 kg missile system Tianlei 500 which translates to ‘Sky Thunder’. People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) new munition dispenser and how it can be used to attack targets were featured in a defence programme on state… Read More ›
Taiwan shows military might in slick video as China circles
China should not underestimate Taiwan’s determination to defend itself, and military threats will only cause Taiwan’s people to be even more resolute, the island’s defence ministry said in a new video responding to repeated Chinese threats. China has stepped up… Read More ›
Chinese stealth fighters head west to confront India
Two Chinese air force J-20 stealth fighters have appeared at an air base in China’s far west as the mountain stand-off between India and Chine enters its fourth month. The twin-engine J-20s are visible in commercial satellite imagery of Hotan… Read More ›
China unveils two-seater design for stealth plane based on J-20 fighter
China is developing a new generation two-seater stealth warplane, based on its most advanced fighter the J-20, intended as an early-warning aircraft that will serve as a command centre for other weapons such as fighter jets and rocket launchers. Chengdu… Read More ›
Wanted: Chinese navy pilots with the right stuff
The main fear of US fighter pilots in Vietnam, was not being shot down by SAM missiles. It wasn’t even the unreliability of Sidewinder missiles, which often failed after going from the cold confines of 30,000+ feet, down to the… Read More ›
Deception is key to Chinese military strategies
The role of deception in military operations has long been valued by Chinese military leaders and strategists. Despite this long tradition, few studies on Chinese military power touch on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s use of deception. China regards deception… Read More ›
China builds surveillance network in South China Sea
China has been building a series of surveillance platforms spanning parts of the South China Sea (SCS). Many of these are in Chinese waters, but several are floating in international waters. This is controversial, not least the dual-use military context… Read More ›
US picks a fight with China in South China Sea
In a clear and well-orchestrated escalation, the US State Department has effectively rejected nearly all of China’s claims and activities in the South China Sea, a law-based provocation that threatens to spike tensions in the already hotly contested maritime area…. Read More ›
Stealth UAVs could give China’s Type-076 assault carrier more firepower
The Chinese Navy is building assault carriers to support amphibious operations, like a possible invasion of Taiwan or landings on disputed islands in the South China Sea. The first two ships, called LHDs (landing helicopter docks) in naval terminology, are… Read More ›
China steps up building two more aircraft carriers towards 2035 goal
China is expected to launch its next-generation aircraft carrier within a year and construction on a sister ship for the new giant vessel has been hastened, two sources close to the projects said. The Type 002 aircraft carrier – the… Read More ›
US rejects nearly all Chinese claims in South China Sea
The Trump administration escalated its actions against China on Monday by stepping squarely into one of the most sensitive regional issues dividing them and rejecting outright nearly all of Beijing’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea. The administration… Read More ›
Meet China’s Type 055: Beijing’s very own Zumwalt Stealth Destroyer?
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy is preparing to deploy a new, stealthy, heavily armed high-tech class of Type 055 destroyer intended to offer sea attack, air defenses and wartime support to carriers to carriers and amphibs at war on… Read More ›
U.S. operations in the South China Sea show that Washington is ‘not backing down’
The U.S. Navy exercise in the disputed South China Sea over the weekend was about “showing the flag” and sending a message to the region, an expert told CNBC this week. Two U.S. aircraft carriers conducted operations and exercises in… Read More ›
Chinese army demonstrates rifle-size railgun prototypes
According to Liu Xuanzun on Global Times, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has miniaturized an electromagnetic railgun and developed pistol- and rifle-sized synchronous induction coilgun prototypes. These weapons’ technical capabilities were recently revealed to the general public for the… Read More ›
World War III – China vs the rest of the world
“Hide your strength and bide your time.” China in 2008 “No force can shake the status of our great motherland, No force can stop the advance of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation.” China in 2019 The above statements… Read More ›
Large number of Chinese troops amassed along India’s border
China has deployed large numbers of troops and weapons along a disputed Himalayan border in violation of bilateral agreements, India’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, accusing Beijing of escalating tensions and triggering a deadly clash last week. “At the heart… Read More ›
Chinese navy has commissioned Z-20F/J naval version of Z-20 helicopter
According to pictures released by the China Defense Blog on June 20, 2020, the Chinese Navy has commissioned Z-20F also called Z-20J by other Chinese sources, a naval version of the Chinese-made Harbin Z-20 medium-lift utility helicopter produced by the… Read More ›
China’s global Navy eyeing sea control by 2030, superiority by 2049
I assess that the PLA Navy by 2030 will consist of a surface force of over 450 ships and a submarine force approaching 110 submarines, an almost 10% increase from my 2015 estimate. It may still be a low estimate…. Read More ›
US military ban locks two Chinese universities out of popular software
Two Chinese universities with close ties to the military have been banned from using a US-developed computer software platform amid tensions between China and the United States over technology. The US Department of Commerce added the Harbin Institute of Technology… Read More ›
China’s military has not reached superpower status just yet
Here’s What You Need To Remember: It’s no secret that China has been moving away from a huge, low-tech peasant military to a smaller, more agile and high-tech force. Still, there is plenty in the paper to disturb the West as… Read More ›
China just added two new nuclear missile submarines to its fleet
Here’s What You Need To Remember: What is clear, however, is that the Chinese government is telling the world that the DF-100 is a hypersonic, regional-level anti-ship missile that will impose a new, challenging threat-vector for long-range attacks against large… Read More ›