In a Fortnight

Advances in China’s UCAV Program

The acquisition of advanced foreign technologies coupled with sustained high rates of investment in its defense industries has helped accelerate the pace and scope of China’s military modernization in recent years. One military platform that apparently benefited from this substantial investment, which has the potential... MORE

Taiwan’s Military Shores Up Indigenous Defense Capabilities

While Taiwan is stepping up calls for the United States to sell the island new F-16 jets and diesel submarines, there are signs that the Taiwanese military has been shoring up the island’s indigenously developed military capabilities. Recent pronouncements by a prominent Taiwanese legislator from... MORE

PLA Expands Network of Military Reconnaissance Satellites

On August 9, China launched the remote sensing satellite Yaogan-10 (military designation: Jianbing) into orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. Situated in the northwest of Shanxi Province, the site is a space and defense launch facility reportedly used for testing the Chinese military’s intercontinental... MORE

PLA Posturing for Conflict in the South China Sea?

The recent revelation of a Second Artillery Corps (SAC) facility that is under development in China's southern coastal province, Guangdong, and the "unprecedented" maneuvers undertaken by the combined naval fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the South China Sea are only the... MORE

China’s Cyber Command?

The development of China's cyber warfare program has captured worldwide attention in recent years. While evolving doctrines and incidents of cyber intrusions with alleged links to the Chinese government have helped China watchers glean the development of China's growing cyber warfare capabilities, far less certainty... MORE

Major Reforms in the 12th Five-Year Plan?

As Western economies struggle to stave off contagion, Chinese leaders have been quietly working to chart the Middle Kingdom's triumphant return to the world's center stage. According to the most recent issue of Outlook Magazine (Liaowang), a weekly published by the official Xinhua News Agency,... MORE

Taiwan-Japan Rift over ADIZ

Taipei has rejected a proposal from Tokyo that would allow Japan to expand its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) to include airspace above areas west of the island of Yonaguni currently under the jurisdiction of Taiwan’s ADIZ. Yonagunijima is Japan's westernmost island in the Ryukyu... MORE