World News by Wild Rose

China has set up several new institutions at military academies to train specialists in hi-tech and discipline inspection as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) works towards its centennial modernisation goals. The College of Unmanned and Intelligent Engineering, the College of Combat Support NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers) and the College of Equipment Support NCOs were established within the PLA Army Engineering University on Wednesday. On the same day, the National Defence University (NDU),...

China has launched a rare air force support and training centre in Laos, the Ministry of Defence announced on Tuesday. The China-Laos Joint Support and Training Centre and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy are now in operation at the Ban Keun Airport, aiming to help the Laotian Air Force train its pilots, the ministry said in a statement. The two institutions will be jointly maintained and operated by both sides, the statement said, without providing details on what personnel or...

Beijing deployed its advanced WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone in the South China Sea for the first time during drills near the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Sunday. The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command announced on Sunday that it had conducted joint air and naval exercises in the waters and airspace around the shoal earlier in the day. In recent years, Scarborough Shoal – known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines – has been a major...

Chinese and US embassies in the Philippines exchanged sharp accusations on Sunday following Washington’s defence of its treaty ally after Thursday’s stand-off in the South China Sea. In a written statement issued on Sunday, the US embassy in Manila backed the Philippines and said Beijing’s “dangerous blocking and irresponsible manoeuvres” had threatened a collision and prevented a lawful resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal, one of the flashpoints in the South China Sea disputes. The...

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)--A Chinese marine research ship was spotted within Japan's exclusive economic zone off Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday, the Japan Coast Guard said. The research ship Kexue was seen dropping what appeared to be a wire into the sea within the EEZ about 72 kilometers north of the southernmost prefecture's Ishigaki Island, according to the 11th Regional C...

China‘s People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command conducted a joint naval and air training exercise in the waters and airspace around Scarborough Shoal on Sept. 27.

China’s next aircraft carrier could be longer than the US Navy’s largest warship, according to new satellite images that offer fresh clues about how far from home Beijing intends to operate its fleet – and the logistics it will need to do so. Captured on September 4, the images show that work has begun on the bulbous bow of the carrier under construction at Dalian Shipyard in northeastern China, defence intelligence company Janes reported last week. Measurements from the stern to the projected...

The US Air Force is shutting down a major research centre dedicated to open-source analysis of the Chinese military’s air, space, cyber and missile capabilities. The China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) said in a statement on Tuesday that Air University, the US Air Force institution under which it operates, had decided to close the institute, with all of its roles becoming unfunded from October 1. CASI said its employees would continue to work and get paid for now and that it expected to...

When state television aired footage in July of a Type 052D destroyer launching a YJ-20 hypersonic anti-ship missile it signalled a significant expansion of the Chinese navy’s long-range strike power. The missile had previously been associated with China’s larger Type 055 destroyers. Showing it fired from a Type 052D – a class the People’s Liberation Army has built in far greater numbers – suggests Beijing may be able to spread the weapon well beyond its much smaller force of Type 055s. That...

China has upgraded its military base in Djibouti with communications equipment a US think tank says is “likely enhancing” the country’s ability to collect signals intelligence – potentially giving the PLA a window on foreign military operations in Djibouti and the wider Middle East. The Chinese facility sits within 16km (10 miles) of US, French, Italian and Japanese military bases, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in an unusually concentrated environment in...

Scientists in China have simulated a drone attack on one of the country’s major suspension bridges to determine the vulnerability of key transport hubs to modern warfare tactics. The researchers found that a drone carrying just 30kg (66lb) of TNT could trigger a bridge collapse if it detonated within inches of the main suspension cable at the point where it meets a support tower. The targeted bridge strikes that have featured in Russia’s war on Ukraine showed that warfare has shifted from mass...

In early July, China fired a test missile from a nuclear submarine into the South Pacific for the first time, a weapon capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Washington and Canberra were livid. The Pacific has long been the exclusive testing ground for such long-range missiles from the United States. How dare China! The reaction from Pacific island states was more measured. While leaders from Tuvalu, Palau and the Solomon Islands strongly criticised the test, the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum...

For more than a decade, China has deployed warships to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia. For much of that time, piracy in the region has been in sharp decline. Now, however, with attacks at their highest reported level since 2013 and other naval forces engaged in crises elsewhere, Beijing’s long-running escort mission is being tested. The renewed attacks and hijacking for ransom come as the US Navy focuses on operations connected to the war on Iran, and India sends ships towards the...

Six Chinese J-16 fighter jets arrived in Egypt last month for a joint exercise in what was the aircraft’s first known deployment in Africa. In Egyptian airspace, Chinese pilots had the rare chance to train against the Rafale, an advanced French-built fighter. The 6,000km (3,700-mile) deployment was completed in about nine hours with aerial refuelling, and tested China’s ability to move and support a combat-capable air package far from home. Analysts say the exercise reflects a decades-long...

Philippine Coast Guard accuses China of dangerous military manoeuvres near Palawan province.

The Philippines said a China Coast Guard vessel rammed a government fisheries boat that was on a mission to deliver fuel to Filipino fishermen in the disputed South China Sea.

Germany’s military counter-intelligence agency, known as MAD, has warned of a growing threat from hybrid attacks and the use of recruited contract agents, or low-level agents, saying Germany is a “prioritised target of Russian espionage activities”. According to the agency’s annual report released on Monday, it cited Germany’s geostrategic position in Europe and Nato the expansion of the Bundeswehr and the introduction of new weapons systems as reasons for the heightened targeting. “The hybrid...

The United States is leaning on its coastguard to reinforce its presence in the West Pacific as its navy comes under increasing strain in the Middle East. Although this move may be seen as a lower-risk way of countering Beijing’s growing presence in the region, increasing US cooperation with the Taiwanese coastguard risks further mainland Chinese pressure on the island. Recently, the US announced that six fast-response cutters that had been based in the Middle East for more than 20 years would...

As China expands its submarine fleet, the US Navy is looking to develop a compact air-launched torpedo that could enable more crewed and uncrewed aircraft to attack submarines from farther away. The US Naval Air Systems Command issued a request for information – a step towards development – to industry in late August for the Silent Anvil Air-Launched Torpedo (SAA-LT). While air-launching a torpedo from stand-off range is not new – the US Navy already has the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare...

The risk of a conflict over Taiwan is shaping Japanese defence planning, with Tokyo shoring up security at home and abroad for a potentially prolonged fight. But there are economic, demographic and political constraints on how far its military transformation can go. In the third of a three-part series, Gabriel Dominguez examines the various challenges confronting Japan in its bid to expand its military. Driven by the growing risk that a conflict over Taiwan could draw Tokyo into a high-intensity...

A year after China unveiled the world’s first operational air-breathing hypersonic missiles, the United States is launching a programme to double down on developing similar weapons. The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) will bring contractors together later this month to lay out what it wants from the Next Generation Hypersonic Cruise Missile, with air-breathing propulsion at the heart of the project, according to the agency’s website. Unlike rocket-powered missiles,...

Pakistan has unveiled a newly acquired Chinese-made short-range air defence system that analysts say could boost its ability to counter Indian drones and low-altitude threats in a future conflict. A social media video posted by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Sunday confirmed for the first time that it was operating the HQ-17AE short-range air defence (Shorad) system. The HQ-17AE is an export version of China’s HQ-17A air defence system – a wheeled variant of the original HQ-17 that was...

Chinese cities must brace for a potential nuclear attack, a new study has warned, singling out Japan for “sending a major danger signal” to the world. The report, from a People’s Liberation Army medical team, said the likelihood of a large-scale global nuclear war was relatively low. “However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that small or medium-sized nuclear-armed or potentially nuclear-armed states, driven by geopolitical or religious conflicts, could carry out a single nuclear-weapon...

China is rapidly expanding a flight-test facility deep in its western desert, satellite imagery has revealed, a push that analysts say could help fast track the development of its next-generation military aircraft as air-power rivalry with the United States intensifies. Latest satellite photos of the facility near Lop Nur, in China’s western Xinjiang region, show four large new hangars, new taxiway work, a circular pad believed to be an engine-run or turnaround area, and possible fuel-storage...

China’s military researchers have proposed a redesigned “AI principles and practice course” for graduate students with “educating for war” at its centre, embedding combat scenarios to better prepare future officers for intelligent warfare. Researchers from the National University of Defence Technology’s College of Intelligence Science and Technology outlined their proposal in the July issue of the journal Defence Industry Conversion in China. The initiative comes as China seeks to cultivate more...

China sent armed trainer jets to drive away Philippine light aircraft over the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday, in a potentially more cost-effective tactic for its increasingly frequent air confrontations over the South China Sea. At least three JL-10 trainers carrying PL-5 air-to-air missiles were involved in the incident over the shoal, according to a video clip posted to social media by the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command. The footage showed the Chinese jet’s...

The leaders of Pacific island nations criticized China’s recent missile test in their region, an unexpected move after earlier failed attempts to agree on a response.

The United States should start preparing for scenarios where extreme measures must be taken to stop China from achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), according to a former White House official, including state-backed espionage and military strikes on Chinese data centres. Jacob Stokes, deputy director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), said at an online event on Thursday that various US agencies, including the Department of Defense...