After a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, the aftershock reached China in ways that few observers could have anticipated. After all, the link between the world’s most powerful rising economy and one of its most troubled states is tenuous. China and... MORE

After more than a decade of sustained naval modernization, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) stands at a historic crossroads. While it’s no “blue water navy” by Western standards, the Chinese Navy has closed important operational gaps and demonstrated the capability to sustain peacetime operations... MORE

While the furor over cyber attacks against Google has lapsed somewhat, the Sino-American confrontation over the larger issue of Internet security and global digital warfare is expected to intensify in the near future. This is particularly in light of the deterioration of bilateral ties due... MORE

From January 29 to January 31, the National Committee on Border and Coastal Defense of the People's Republic of China (PRC) held its fourth meeting in Beijing. The meeting was attended by the top echelons in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation... MORE

It may surprise readers to learn that in 2009 Vietnam was Russia’s best customer for its arms exports (www.defensenews.com, January 21). During 2009, Vietnam bought six Russian kilo-class submarines and 12 Su-30MKK fighters (Hanoi, VNEXpress, December 16, 2009; Kommersant, December 18; Interfax, December 15; RIA... MORE

The U.S. government announced on January 6 that it awarded the defense manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, a contract to build the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for Taiwan. The agreement is part of an arms package that the United States agreed to sell to Taiwan in... MORE

In June 2008, negotiations between the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in Taiwan—which manages ongoing cross-Strait negotiations—and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), resumed after 15 years of suspension. The resumption of negotiations was spearheaded by the first visit... MORE

In an apparent attempt to overcome deeply embedded suspicion and concern, the Chinese telecommunication giant, Huawei, has pledged to expand its operations in Bangalore, the ‘Silicon valley’ of India. In the next five years, Huawei plans to invest $500 million in its research and development... MORE

China’s growing role as a regional and global leader has brought with it increasingly complex and far-reaching political, economic and security interests, as well as new traditional and non-traditional security challenges for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). As a result, in 2004 President and... MORE