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Expert: In the Future China May Sell Aircraft Technology

People Daily reported that Turkish Defense Minister Yilmaz announced on September 26 that Turkey decided to choose the Chinese "Red Flag" -9 air defense system as the next-generation long-range air defense system. The total contract amounts to US$3 billion. This choice caused a big stir [in Western society]. The U.S. immediately expressed "serious concern." Sun Zhe, a professor at Tsinghua University, said in an interview that Chinese military trade has achieved a qualitative leap and the West needs to adjust its mentality. 

Some people believe that, as China is now able to sell the "Red Flag" -9 [missile], next it will be able to sell the F-10 [fighter aircarft]. In this regard, Sun Zhe said that we can see the trend in the trade of China’s military products. China has moved from the initial export of major military products only to Pakistan, and later to other countries. For example, it moved from Venezuela buying our small transport aircraft and the UAE purchasing our howitzer, to today’s Turkish intent to buy our Red Flag-9 anti-aircraft missiles. This shows the achievement of a qualitative leap. In this process, our military products are also improving along with the international rules. Western society may not be psychologically prepared for that yet. The West needs to adjust its mentality. China will become stronger. It will not just sell inferior goods. In the future it may even sell aircraft carrier technology to other countries. 

Source: People’s Daily, October 10, 2013

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1010/c1011-23148983.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

PLA Official: Military Logistics Must Serve the Objectives of a Strong Military Force

On October 1, 2013, Zhao Keshi, a member on the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party who serves as the head of General Logistics Department of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), wrote an article that was published in Qiushi about Xi Jinping’s remarks on building up the PLA’s logistics. 

Zhao stated that Xi requires that, to build a strong military force, efforts must be made to build up the PLA’s logistics in order to 1) ensure winning in modern warfare; 2) support the modernization of China’s military forces, and 3) transform information technology (the three build-ups). 
Zhao stated that to do so, “logistics must be placed under the absolute leadership of the Communist Party and [the PLA] must resolutely follow and implement the orders of the Party’s command.” He recognized that “the logistics personnel have more direct and open interactions with society, tend to be well educated, and may easily be influenced by social thoughts.” Therefore, he called for enforced political education to “ensure that they follow directions in peacetime, carry out the orders of their commanders during wartime, and remain unswerving at critical moments with no questions asked.” 

Source: Qiushi, October 1, 2013 
http://www.qstheory.cn/zxdk/2013/201319/201309/t20130927_275406.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

RFA: China’s Attacks on Rumors Was Not Meant to Protect Freedom of Speech

According to RFA, China has recently attacked many of those who were alleged to be “spreading rumors on the Internet.” In the meantime, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) told Xinhua that “attacking Internet rumors helps to protect the freedom of ‘proper’ speech.” CNNIC said that they can’t allow the Internet to be full of rumors: “If we don’t stop rumors, it is no different from destroying the internet, which no other country in the world would allow.” According to RFA, a large number of microblog postings supporting CNNIC’s actions of attacking rumors have appeared repeatedly on a number of online news websites.

Many people believe that the action of attacking “online rumors” is in fact an attack on freedom of speech. "Why do they think that they have the authority to determine what is a rumor and what is not?" One Internet expert told RFA, "Many people were telling the truth, but they ended up being arrested. Where is freedom of speech when that happens?"

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 28, 2013
http://http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/sy-09282013132334.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

PLA Daily: Be Firm in the Battlefield of Ideological Struggle

On September 18, 2013, China’s military newspaper, PLA Daily, published an article stressing that the Military should always remember the principle that the (Communist) Party directs the gun (The Party always rules the military) and the military should resist the influence of the enemy’s ideology. September 18 is an important day as a historical event in Chinese history books. On September 18, 1931, Japan staged the Mukden Incident, which it used as an excuse to invade northeast China. Below is an excerpt from the article:

“The Ideological field has always been the focus of hostile forces attempts to Westernize and divide China. To subvert a government, the hostile forces often start with the ideological field to open up a hole for a breakthrough. Our military should not only defeat the enemy in the battlefield, but also defeat the enemy in the ideological field.
“Some may think that China is now in close cooperation with the West, as the struggle is not so intense and complicated. One may not know that under the cover of economic cooperation, it is a contest for the future. … We should be particularly vigilant as the hostile forces are directly targeting our army, attempting to replicate the course of the Egyptian and Tunisia coups so as to separate our army from the Communist Party’s banner. We must make the first move and take the initiative to respond rationally to this ‘war.’ 

“The reason that the Soviet army changed in core belief and color, stood still at a critical juncture, and even defected (from the Party), is the most fundamental issue; it is that they lost their ideals and belief and forgot the "Party commands the gun" principle. [As long as] our army maintains the same soul and inherits the red gene, we will be able to stay firm and stand high in the ideological struggle.” 

Source: PLA Daily, September 18, 2013 
http://www.chinamil.com.cn/jfjbmap/content/2013-09/18/content_52015.htm 
http://cpc.people.com.cn/pinglun/n/2013/0918/c78779-22958610.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Activities of Chinese Military Airplanes and Warships in the Island Chain

Since September 8, 2013, China’s military bombers, frigates, and drones have been going in and out of the airspace and waters in the area of the first island chain. 

On the morning of September 8, two Chinese Navy H-6 bombers flew a training mission between the two main islands of Okinawa and Miyako in the Western Pacific. 
On September 8 and 9, two Chinese navy frigates sailed to the East China Sea from the Pacific Ocean passing between Okinawa and Miyako Islands. 
On September 9, a Chinese drone flew over the airspace near the Diaoyu Islands while the Chinese army had an exercise in the East China Sea. 
The Chinese military activities heightened Japan’s alertness. Japan’s defense ministry issued a "special order to be alert to China." Song Xiaojun, a Chinese military expert and special commentator for CCTV commented on the Chinese military activities in an interview with CCTV. Song said that the area about 200 km deep along the coastlines on the East China Sea are the Chinese enclave of wealth and the activities of China’s military aircraft and warships beyond the first island chain are to build a security zone to protect the wealth of China’s coastal area. Song stressed that this is very normal behavior. 

Source: People’s Daily, September 10, 2013 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0910/c1011-22868640.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

People’s Daily: Tens of Thousands of Troops in Large-scale Maneuvers

Recently, the Chinese military launched the "Mission Action 2013" cross region battle drills, with tens of thousands of troops mobilized on a large-scale and covering remote distances.

The maneuver is divided into A, B, and C, three exercises echelons. The focus is on multidimensional delivery, the use of firepower based on information technology, the coordination capabilities of different army units, and cooperation between military and civilian forces. The Donghai Fleet, the Nanhai Fleet, and the Air Force in the Nanjing Military Region dispatched their ships, planes, and gunships to participate in the exercise, along with civilian assistance forces like the civil airliners and railways. The Chinese media said it had "rarely been seen around the world in the past ten years."

Over 40,000 troops from the Nanjing and Guanzhou Military regions are expected to maneuver over 30,000 km. by vehicle, railway, sea, and air. At the same time, they will conduct anti-reconnaissance, air defense, and anti-interference drills, as well as red-blue air attack and defense drills.

‘Mission Action 2013’ is part of the annual military training plan and has been approved by the Central Military Commission (CMC) chaired by Xi, who is also General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee.

Source: People’s Daily, September 12, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0912/c1011-22897974.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Huanqiu: China Works on 3 Big Secret Military Projects

On September 3, 2013, Huanqiu, the Chinese edition of Global Times, published an article titled, “China Works on Three Big, Secret Military Projects? Divine Light and High Energy Weapons.” China’s National High-Tech Research and Development Program (the 863 Program) has vigorously worked on three types of mysterious military and civil dual-use high-tech research and development projects: 1) high power laser weapons development; 2) hypersonic aerobatic technology; 3) the 2nd generation “Beidou” satellite navigation system.

Source: Huanqiu, September 3, 2013
http://mil.huanqiu.com/paper/2013-09/4314480.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Huanqiu: Chinese Should Protest Less and Take More Action Fighting Japan

People’s Daily’s Huanqiu (Global Times) published an article discussing how China should respond to Japanese lawmakers visits to the Yasukuni Shrine [a shrine commemorating Japan’s war dead, some of whom fought against China]. Below is an excerpt from the article: 

“On the morning of August 15, again, three Japanese ministers visited the Yasukuni Shrine, in addition to 102 Japanese lawmakers’ collective visit to the ‘ghosts.’ 
“Japan has largely transformed the Yasukuni Shrine issue into a tool of diplomacy, using it as a balancing weight to counter China’s diplomatic power. “Facts have proven that, as long as Japan is determined to give China a hard time about the Yasukini shrine, it will be difficult for us to be the winner in this fight. 
“China should be more focused on what to do. We should pull the platform in the struggle against Japan from the shrine to where it is more favorable and convenient to us, so that we will be able to accomplish what we want at a lower cost and can do what the Japanese beg us not to do. 
“[For example,] the Chinese military can engage in exercises with live ammunition in the East China Sea on August 15, which is the day of Japan’s WWII surrender. This is a creative gesture. Of course, this is still not enough. We need a lot of innovative tools in order to make Japan uncomfortable. 
“Chinese authorities should commit more energy to developing new tools in the struggle against Japan and less on verbal protests.” 

Source: People’s Daily, August 16, 2013 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0816/c1011-22585661.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military