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 ›

Liaoning
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 ›
A dramatic before and after look at China’s first aircraft carrier
A picture of China’s first aircraft carrier before it was eventually completed has surfaced on the Chinese internet. The images showed up on Tencent’s microblog and show a rusty, unfinished hulk. The ship, built for the USSR but never completed,… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, October 15, 2018
It happened this week. The US finally said outright exactly what Cadence has been saying for years, the strategy in play. According to a Reuters article via Yahoo News, US security adviser John Bolton said, “If they’re put back in… Read More ›
Cadence of Conflict: Asia, September 3, 2018
China is in trouble. We don’t know why, but we know the indication: Trump will be absent from ASEAN. He was absent from a funeral this week and his support grew. He was absent from a Republican debate, then he… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, February 19, 2018
Conveniently, Axios breaks a story from Trump’s November visit to China. There was a scuffle and a tackle over the “nuclear football”—AKA the nuke code bag. At first, it seems like relations are breaking down between the US and China…. Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, July 3, 2017
China views Hong Kong as a doorstep between the world and largely otherwise closed China. This week, investment highways opened, allowing easier offshore investments in China’s bond market. At the same time, the world gets a glimpse into Chinese dealing… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, March 6, 2017
China took the bait once again. Whether independence for Hong Kong and Taiwan would be better or worse, that independence becomes more likely every time the topic even comes up, no matter how much dissent the idea receives. Within China’s… Read More ›
Cadence Column: Asia, December 19, 2016
All eyes went to Taiwan this week. The Taipei Times shows an uptick in article views. China held no less than three military activities that made headlines in Taiwan’s backyard, and is reported to have broken its promise not to… Read More ›
China claims breakthrough by training 8 more carrier-based fighter jet pilots, taking total to 13
The following is translated from Chinese media: A photo of 4 grey J-15 fighter jets appearing on China’s aircraft carrier the Liaoning has gone viral on the Internet in China. A Global Times reporter has learnt from an authentic source that… Read More ›
Prelude to Conflict: Asia, August 11
“Introspection”- The escalation went underground this week as nations look inside themselves. It all began August 1. A gas line explosion in Taiwan could change politics forever. Earthquake, a factory explosion, protests, and anti-Muslim laws in China. Manila finally jails… Read More ›
China’s aircraft carrier has fatal weakness – vulnerable if too far away from China
The following is translated from Chinese media: China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is said to have obtained initial operational capability after its recent test of intensive taking off and landing of J-15 carrier-based aircraft. However, it has its fatal… Read More ›
China’s secretive military cracks open door for glimpse inside
With dancing robots and smiling soldiers and to the strains of British singer George Michael, China cracked open the door on its secretive armed forces on Tuesday during Beijing’s annual attempt to assuage worries about its growing military might. China… Read More ›
Why Japan’s smaller military could hold its own against China
China’s soaring military spending — up 12.3% this year – and aggressive gestures in the region could be setting the scene for major conflict. With various countries feuding over Pacific territory, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe compared the ratcheting tensions… Read More ›
China says carrier tests in South China Sea going well
China‘s first and only aircraft carrier has successfully carried out a series of tests during a training mission in the disputed South China Sea, state media reported on Monday. This month’s drills off the coast of Hainan Island mark not… Read More ›
Chinese naval vessel tries to force U.S. warship to stop in international waters
A Chinese naval vessel tried to force a U.S. guided missile warship to stop in international waters recently, causing a tense military standoff in the latest case of Chinese maritime harassment, according to defense officials. The guided missile cruiser USS… Read More ›
China: Thick smog blocked road, train, air traffic for two days
Thick smog in Harbin urban areas has caused the closing of primary and secondary schools and expressways. The PM2.5 index has exceeded the maximum range of the metre. After the serious smog on October 20, and the early morning on… Read More ›
China’s J-15 fighter jet has practice flights from Liaoning aircraft carrier
A J-15 fighter jet completed a series of difficult take-off-and-landing tests on the Liaoning aircraft carrier, state media reported yesterday. The aircraft completed the manoeuvres while heavily loaded on Sunday, Xinhua said. The report did not say how the aircraft… Read More ›
China claims successful development of 4th generation nuclear submarine
China’s official media xinhuanet.com reported yesterday: Tan Zuojun, Vice Governor of Liaoning Province, mentioned Liaoning’s achievements in the past decade at a conference on cooperation among the four Northeast provinces and region being held now. He said, Liaoning “has successfully… Read More ›
China to build six aircraft carriers by 2020
Elite Reference magazine says in its report Frigates of Chinese aircraft carrier battle group secretly assembled at the military port for aircraft carriers, “The Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk, though failed to be commissioned, leaves experience and lessons which may provide China… Read More ›
China has established its first carrier-borne aviation force
Singtao says in its comprehensive report, “The Chinese navy’s first carrier-borne aviation force was formally established yesterday. It marked the existence of a carrier-borne combat force on China’s aircraft carrier, and the Chinese navy is soon obtaining a blue sea… Read More ›
China plans to build aircraft carrier
China will build – from scratch – a large aircraft carrier capable of carrying more fighter jets, the official Xinhua news service reported, quoting a senior officer with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. China has one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning,… Read More ›
China to send first aircraft carrier on high seas voyage
China will send its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, on a voyage on the high seas for the first time within a year, the state-run news agency Xinhua said on Friday. The Liaoning, purchased used from Ukraine and refurbished in… Read More ›
China: Liaoning women’s labour camp is hell on earth
SCMP says in its report today titled Women ‘chained up and tortured’ in labour camp, “A rarely seen report by a Chinese monthly has exposed some of the dark practices of a Liaoning labour camp, including torture and inhuman treatment… Read More ›
China launches stealth frigate amidst ocean tensions
China has launched the first ship in a new class of stealth missile frigates, state media reported, amid ongoing tensions with neighboring countries over Beijing’s maritime claims. The People’s Liberation Army Navy is building a total of 20 Type 056… Read More ›
China: J-15 fighters successful take-off and landing on aircraft carrier
China’s official Xinhua News Agency published yesterday a report on the successful taking-off and landing of China’s homegrown J-15 carrier-based fighters on the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier. Xinhua said that the success fully proves the satisfactory technical capability of… Read More ›
China’s best-educated leader
Li Keqiang, who in March will probably become Prime Minister of China, graduated from law school and obtained his doctorate in economics at the prestigious Peking University, making him the best-educated leader in the history of the PRC. 57-year-old Li… Read More ›
China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier set for sea trials of take-offs and landings
A 19-day sea trial of China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, starting tomorrow is expected to include take-offs and landings by fighter jets. Earlier reports and photographs that were published by the People’s Liberation Army Daily and the website of… Read More ›
Cheng Hong: Scholar and wife of China’s next premier
SCMP report on premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang’s wife Cheng Hong: Cheng is a leading expert on American nature writing, but she no longer teaches students. SCMP says, “Like many who lived through the Cultural Revolution, Cheng Hong felt she’d had enough… Read More ›
China completes its pension system 8 years ahead of schedule
China’s Central TV (CCTV) reports: The government announced [Friday] its urban and rural residents’ pension system is now in full operation in all of China’s 2,853 county-level administrative areas. This marks the completion of the establishment of the largest pension… Read More ›
China’s aircraft carrier the Liaoning sails for the sea after being commissioned
Singtao Daily comprehensive report: At 6.00am yesterday, China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier set out for the sea for the first time after it was commissioned on September 25. A reporter from China News Service saw both the Liaoning and its protection… Read More ›
The mystery of China’s homegrown aircraft carriers
Recently, we had quite an interesting story about China’s homegrown aircraft carrier. On September 27 when a reporter asked Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun about the report that China was building its second aircraft carrier in Shanghai, Yang replied… Read More ›
The mystery of China’s carrier-based aircraft
Don’t you think it ridiculous to commission an aircraft carrier without aircraft? And the commissioning ceremony was so grand that it was attended by both General Secretary Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. If the carrier remains without aircraft for… Read More ›
China-made aircraft carrier will be launched next year
Singtao Daily reports Thursday: Sources say that China is now building two aircraft carriers, one of which, a new one entirely built by China on its own, will be launched next year at the earliest. As for China’s carrier-based aircraft,… Read More ›
North Korean kidnappers demand 900,000 yuan ransom
Hong Kong’s Ming Pao carries China News Agency’s report saying that on May 8, three Chinese fishing boats and 29 of their crews were kidnapped by unidentified North Koreans. The ransom demanded for their release has now been reduced to… Read More ›
Wilmar founder triples stake in Singapore’s Perennial
Wilmar International’s billionaire founder Kuok Khoon Hong has tripled his stake in a China property trust and set up a S$500 million ($400 million) investment firm with a former CapitaLand executive, raising his exposure to the real estate sector. Kuok,… Read More ›