China’s military forces crossed a watershed when the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) celebrated its 60th birthday by holding a parade of state-of-the-art hardware such as indigenously developed nuclear submarines. That the 2.4-million strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) has attained quasi-superpower status was also supported... MORE

Recent reports circulating in the Chinese press indicate that Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Company Limited—one of China’s oldest state-owned shipbuilding company regarded as the “cradle of China’s national [shipbuilding] industry”—could be slated by Beijing to carry out the Chinese military’s long-standing mission to build an indigenous... MORE

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) of Taiwan released its maiden “Quadrennial Defense Review" (QDR) on March 16. The report was warranted under provision Article 31 in Taiwan's National Defense Act—which was passed in 2008—and conducted by the Integrated Assessment Office of the MND. The... MORE

On April 23rd the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy will conduct a “naval parade” in the waters off of Qingdao. This naval review will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the PLA Navy and honor in advance the 60th anniversary of the founding... MORE

In the last week of March 2009, Ankara and Beijing may have taken another step toward upgrading their military cooperation. This has become evident during a visit from General Hasan Aksay, commander of the Turkish military academies, who spent three days in China, starting March... MORE

China’s soft and quiescent reaction to Pyongyang’s rocket gamesmanship seems to contradict the image of global statesmanship that President Hu Jintao projected at the G20 summit in London earlier this month. And Beijing’s last-minute agreement to a UN Security Council chastisement of the Kim Jong-Il... MORE

Several reports appeared in recent weeks in the Taiwanese media about the possibility that President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration has restarted a program to build indigenously designed diesel submarines. According to various reports citing sources close to Taiwan’s National Security Council (NSC), the “Project Diving Dragon,”... MORE

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) says it places high priority on making Mexico an important link in its widely publicized “win-win” expansion into Latin America. This was evident during Vice President Xi Jinping’s February stop-over in Mexico City. In reality, however, after 37 years... MORE

As China expands its engagement throughout Africa, it increasingly finds itself involved in African conflict zones either by design or accident.  This involvement takes essentially three forms: Chinese participation in UN peacekeeping operations, Chinese weapons, especially small arms, which make their way into conflict zones,... MORE

On December 18, 2008, with little fanfare, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) withdrew its 2001 interpretation in the Qi Yuling case. The interpretation was one of 27 interpretations invalidated by the SPC on that date. The Qi Yuling interpretation was “no longer applied,” according to... MORE