
In a Fortnight

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

Aims and Motives of China’s East China Sea Live Fire Drills
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on June 24 that all vessels would be prohibited from entering areas located east of Zhoushan to Taizhou city in Zhejiang in the East China Sea from June 30 to July 5. During that time period, the People’s... 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

Brazil and Argentina: China’s Growing Foothold in Latin America
On May 21, Norwegian oil company Statoil announced that it agreed to sell 40 percent stake ($3 billion) of the Peregrino field located in the Campos basin offshore of Brazil to Chinese state-owned Sinochem Group. The Peregrino announcement closely follows the disclosure in March that... MORE

Hu Calls on Russia to Shape New International Political Order
At the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Moscow from May 8 to May 9. The occasion marked the 65th anniversary of Russia’s Great Patriotic War, which celebrates the Soviet Union's victory over the Nazis in World War II. Hu... MORE

PLAN East Sea Fleet Moves Beyond First Island Chain
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) recently carried out its annual exercises far from China's coastal waters. The flotillas of naval warships were reportedly deployed on an unprecedented scale, seemingly to demonstrate China's emergence as a full-fledged blue water navy that is willing and capable... MORE