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☆ Time and money for love: China brainstorms ways to boost birth rate
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Farah Master | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

China dug itself into a demographic hole largely through its one-child policy imposed between 1980 and 2015. Young people cite high childcare and education costs, low incomes, a feeble social safety net and gender inequalities, as discouraging factors. "But without any fertility encouragement policy then fertility will decline even further." China's birth rate last year fell to 6.77 births per 1,000 people, from 7.52 births in 2021, the lowest on record. Demographer Yi Fuxian remains sceptical whether any measures would have a significant impact by themselves, saying China needed a "paradigm revolution of its entire economy, society, politics and diplomacy to boost fertility."

☆ China says U.S. 'endangered' peace with Taiwan Strait fly-through
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING/TAIPEI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China accused the United States of "endangering" peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait after a U.S. P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance military plane flew through the sensitive waterway on Monday. Beijing has been incensed by U.S. military missions through the narrow strait, most frequently of warships but occasionally of aircraft, saying China "has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction" over the waterway. Taiwan and the United States dispute that saying it is an international waterway. "The U.S. side's actions deliberately interfered with and disrupted the regional situation and endangered peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The United States has previously said such missions show the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

☆ FBI says Chinese balloon analysis effort is in early stages
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023. Officials said the FBI still did not have access to the majority of the balloon's "payload" where most of the onboard electronics were likely carried. The FBI said much of the evidence remains underwater, and that it has begun decontaminating some of its remains by removing salt and seawater. "We have not identified any sort of any energetic or offensive material," one of the FBI officials said, when asked whether any explosives or other harmful components had been identified from the balloon. The FBI officials said they did not yet have information on where some of the balloon components were manufactured, but that such evidence when recovered could be used for intelligence purposes or possible criminal charges.

☆ India’s aircraft carriers are key to Indo-Pacific strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A naval personnel stands guard on India's largest naval ship the INS Vikramaditya as she anchors in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Jan. 21, 2016. "This is significant in terms of India's power projection capabilities, primarily within the Indian Ocean," said Viraj Solanki, a London-based expert on Indo-Pacific defense with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "This really gives India an option to display its ability to counter China within the Indian Ocean, which is the Indian navy's priority." China has not yet sailed an aircraft carrier into the Indian Ocean but is expected to do so within the next few years. "New Delhi sees Beijing as encroaching into its traditional sphere of influence, especially in the Indian Ocean region," said Ridzwan Rahmat, a Singapore-based analyst with the defense intelligence company Janes.

☆ India expects more clashes with Chinese troops in Himalayas
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Krishn Kaushik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A security assessment by Indian police in the Himalayan region of Ladakh says there could be more clashes between Indian and Chinese troops along their contested frontier there as Beijing ramps up military infrastructure in the region. A fresh clash erupted between the two sides in the eastern Himalayas in December but there were no deaths. The report said the assessment was based on intelligence gathered by local police in the border areas and the pattern of India-China military tensions over the years. China's foreign ministry spokesperson's office on Saturday said China was maintaining close communication and dialogue through diplomatic and military channels with India. India and China share a 3,500 km (2,100 miles) border that has been disputed since the 1950s.

☆ Taiwan to extend compulsory military service, official says, as China shows air power
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Soldiers regroup after an amphibious landing drill during the Han Kuang military exercise — which simulates China's People's Liberation Army invading the island — on July 28, 2022 in Pingtung, Taiwan. A plan to extend compulsory military service in Taiwan to one year from the current four months will be announced on Tuesday, a senior government official said, as the island deals with rising Chinese military pressure. Tsai's security team, including high-level officials from the defense ministry and the National Security Council, has been reviewing Taiwan's military system since 2020 amid increasing threats from China, according to the official. China also staged war games near Taiwan in August following a visit to Taipei by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "China's various unilateral behaviors have become a major concern for regional security," said the official, who took part in the high-level security discussion and declined to be named.

☆ China stages 'strike drills' around Taiwan, citing provocation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann WangBEIJING, Dec 25 (Reuters) - China's military said it had conducted "strike drills" in the sea and airspace around Taiwan on Sunday in response to unspecified "provocation" from the democratically-governed island and the United States. "This is a resolute response to the current escalation of collusion and provocation from the United States and Taiwan," it added, without giving details. The ministry publishes a daily report at 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) of Chinese military activities near the island over the previous 24 hours. The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

☆ The US's experimental 'lighting carriers' are 'much more capable' than China's current carriers, top US admiral says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Lighting Carrier conceptAn F-35B launches from USS Tripoli in April 2022. A light aircraft carrier embarks with fewer jets than a fleet aircraft carrier — as many as 20, compared to more than 50 on a fleet carrier — but it costs much less and is more versatile. US Marine Corps F-35Bs approach and land on USS Tripoli during an exercise in June. "There is no comparison between a J-15 and an F-35B," Thomas said, referring to China's main carrier aircraft. US Marine Corps F-35Bs aboard USS Tripoli on June 10.

☆ Eye of the storm: Taiwan at the centre of Sino-U.S. tensions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ben Blanchard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China likewise views Tsai as a separatist for refusing to accept Beijing's long-standing position that China and Taiwan both belong to "one China". Since Pelosi's visit, China has continued with its military activities near Taiwan, though on a reduced scale. WHY IT MATTERSA newspaper front page reporting about U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pictured in Taipei, Taiwan, August 2, 2022. The United States has long stuck to a policy of "strategic ambiguity" and not making clear whether it would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan. Anti-China sentiment continues to build in the United States, and in its newly Republican-controlled House, along with support for Taiwan.

☆ China's military has been spending a lot more time working on how to forcefully capture an island, Pentagon says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China's military has been increasingly practicing seizing islands, the Pentagon says. The US has accused China of engaging in aggressive behavior around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. As an extensive assessment of China's military might, the report outlines the threat that China poses to the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan. In addition to Beijing's longstanding focus on Taiwan, China also holds competing claims to islands and reefs in the South China Sea, where China has been building military outposts and strengthening its position. Earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris made a rare trip to a South China Sea hotspot, specifically the Philippine island of Palawan, which overlooks contested areas in the strategic waterway.

☆ U.S., China defence ministers meet for second time this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In June, a Chinese fighter aircraft dangerously intercepted an Australian military surveillance plane in the South China Sea region in May, Australia's defence department said. Tuesday's meeting of the defence ministers took place on the sidelines of an ASEAN gathering in Siem Reap, Cambodia. read moreAfter Pelosi's visit, China announced it was halting dialogue with the United States in a number of areas, including between theater-level military commanders. Pelosi's Taiwan trip infuriated China, which saw it as a U.S. attempt to interfere in its internal affairs. The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

☆ Pentagon chief raises concern about Beijing's 'dangerous' behavior with Chinese counterpart
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/PoolPHNOM PENH, Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday emphasized the need to improve crisis communications during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart while raising concern about "increasingly dangerous" behavior by Chinese military aircraft. In June, a Chinese fighter aircraft dangerously intercepted an Australian military surveillance plane in the South China Sea region in May, Australia's defence department said. Tuesday's meeting of the defence ministers took place on the sidelines of an ASEAN gathering in Siem Reap, Cambodia. read moreAfter Pelosi's visit, China announced it was halting dialogue with the United States in a number of areas, including between theater-level military commanders. The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

☆ Take a look at the J-15 fighter jet, the $61 million copy of a Soviet plane picked to wage war from China's aircraft carriers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The Shenyang J-15 is China's carrier-borne fighter jet. J-15 fighter jet preparing to land on China's first operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, during a drill at sea. It was manufactured by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of the state-owned defense conglomerate Aviation Industry Corporation of China. The J-15 is China's first carrier-borne fighter jet, meaning that it was primarily designed for China's growing fleet of aircraft carriers. These improvements led a Chinese military expert to suggest the fourth-gen J-15 could be considered a "fourth-generation-plus" fighter jet in discussions with China's Global Times.

The British government said on Tuesday it was taking steps to stop China trying to recruit serving and former British military pilots to train the Chinese armed forces. The BBC reported up to 30 former military pilots had gone to train China's People's Liberation Army. read moreAustralia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said he had asked the defence department to investigate claims that former Australian military pilots had also been recruited to join a South African flight school that operated in China. The requirements included having graduated from military test flight schools in the United States or Britain. TFASA also runs a flight school for Chinese airline pilots in South Africa as a joint venture with one of China's largest state-owned aeronautic companies, AVIC, according to its website.

☆ Take a look at China's fleet of destroyers, including the Type 055, which cost $920 million to build and is considered one of the country's most powerful warships
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

China has the world's largest navy, with more than 355 vessels in its fleet, according to a 2021 report by the United States Naval Institute. Officers and soldiers of the Chinese naval fleet for escort mission line up on the deck at a port in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 28, 2020. The report stated that "increasing capabilities of Chinese warships" like destroyers is crucial to the country's military plans. In addition to China's newest class, the Type 055, there are six other locally made active destroyer classes: Type 052A, Type 051B, Type 051C, Type 052B, Type 052C, and Type 052D(L), per a 2018 report by CRS. Keep reading for a look at all eight of China's destroyer classes.

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