Chinese Military Doctrine

China in a land war, IMO could only operate for a relatively short period of time outside of its own country. Beyond their borders their aren't many highways or nice terrain to ease of transport of logistical support. China has enough trouble as it is in its own country(which they are fixing). But the farther they get away from their borders, the harder logistical support that will have and the size of their military will make things ALOT worse. A big military is very nice, but supporting it is a pain in the ass. And as Is a war over an ocean is logistically impossible for them.
 
That's odd, ever since I mentioned Sino-defense.com, people are beginning to dive into its reliable sources. Trust me, the information provided are actual and the website itself is UK-Based. I believe globalsecurity.org is somewhat inactive for quite a while, thus the information lagged behind others.


According to Snauhi's question post relating Sino-defense.com is a Pro-China website, please rephrase and reconsider that there is no such thing that is "Pro-China" when describing and providing information about China's 1949-current military equipment, gear, doctrines, etc. Read the articles and descriptions, close captionings, specifications as they are important and vital to understand how their military work. It describes the challenges, the problems, the success, and the progress.

If you want the latest information and updates on their activity, sino-defense.com is always active. Always. And free of Charge. That's how I got most of my info from when I check-in on the World's Military. (Janes Weekly is also suggestive but you need to pay for suscription.)

China in a land war, IMO could only operate for a relatively short period of time outside of its own country. Beyond their borders their aren't many highways or nice terrain to ease of transport of logistical support. China has enough trouble as it is in its own country(which they are fixing). But the farther they get away from their borders, the harder logistical support that will have and the size of their military will make things ALOT worse. A big military is very nice, but supporting it is a pain in the ass. And as Is a war over an ocean is logistically impossible for them.

PLAN is unable to operate offensive capabilities although their newly launched Vessels and new shipbuilding projects are already in full throttle at Shanghai/Guangzhou shipyards (Correct me if I'm wrong about the locations). However, I do know that China has no problem dealing with logistical effeciency when transporting goods overseas in the near future since the country itself has already several massive shipping companies.
 
Well I was leaning more toward protecting those shipping..erm...ships. They would have almost no air cover and they might have to resort to ww2 style convoy tactics.
 
ginger, could you post some Tang-ese police pics of HongKong and Macao for me?

EuroSpike is a funny guy. Such as these sentences - "The american way to solve the problem, just change the names on the boxes." "Why didn't for example princess Diana pressure UK to ban seamines instead of landmines?"

Mr. EuroSpike, you may just express that landmine isn't aggressive weapons mainly. That's enough.

And I'm interesting in what "tree hugger" means?
 
i think the chinese military commanders learnt their lesson in 1979, that even though a large infantry based army with a huge artillery barrage could defeat the viets easily, the amount of casulties and logistics is high

if china is to invade another country, probably not, but lets consider this

china will use a smaller army, probably its best motorized army agnist the enemy. roads and inferstrure in border area are bad which makes transportation bad. solution: airdrops and paving of new roads

someone said impossible for china to have an ocean based conflict because of logistics

whoever said that should reconsider this, for impossible is the wrong word, more logically the word hard shoujld be used.

china is currently working on a blue sea navy and china is not going to sucide by having a force doing stuff in teh middle of the pacific
 
"Mr. EuroSpike, you may just express that landmine isn't aggressive weapons mainly. That's enough. "

And that is all i have said about them. Landmine is defensive weapon but commies and other treehuggers don't like them since they have seen children without legs and they are so cute.

"EuroSpike is a funny guy. Such as these sentences - "The american way to solve the problem, just change the names on the boxes." "Why didn't for example princess Diana pressure UK to ban seamines instead of landmines?" "

Yes, that is american way and finnish too and the most propably the way of all European countries. Landmines are useful defence weapon for land warfare as seamines are for naval warfare. For naval countries it is ok to ban landmines like for Switzerland to ban seamines. You got the point?
 
Knightraptor said:
Well I was leaning more toward protecting those shipping..erm...ships. They would have almost no air cover and they might have to resort to ww2 style convoy tactics.

not exactly, the chinese have the Su 27 and the Su 30, i know the chinese have out-dated bombers, but remember, chinese have alot of anit carrier missles and curise missiles. those Su 27 and 30 have modified for air to ground attacks.

read this:New Chinese Jets Superior, Eagle Loses to Flanker

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/5/26/154053.shtml

go to sinedefence, its a gd site since it is not bias so u can put on ur own judgement.

as with Cabal, he is right, since china would need its ships for Taiwan, and perhaps future conflict with japan. at least there ius recent news that chinese troops are practicing amphibious assults constantly.

as with the logistics, the chinese always have no problem in doing so, in history or today, even in the 1100 AD, the chinese have one million imperial guards, that means that's only the emperors private army which is specially trained, not to mention its own regulars, to keep them properly fed and transport them is a nightmare. in history chinese have always field large amount of men. since the population is china is always huge. and it took the mongols 40 years to conquer south china (Sung). while it took the mongols a matter of few years to conquer the turks, northan chinese kingdom and half of europe.
As with later, the Ming in the Ningxhia compagine transported 400 pieces of artillary (cannons, siege engines and supplies etc..) over 300 miles of difficult terrain.
 
Snauhi said:
Remember you cant a soldier "elite" untill he has been in combat..

i know, that's true, but technology and weapons play a very gd part too, i am not saying the chinese army is better thant he US in terms of weapons and experience, but i am just saying people have been underestimate them and people without knowledge about how the chinese army is today.
 
Far as i know, the chinese at the moment are developing every field of their military very rapidly. first of all they have been concerating on their land army because of the history of warfare throughout the ages. the airforce is also at a high rate of development because they realised how important the air is, but still lack advance bombers. and third, the chinese recent and regularly praticing amphibious assults on their beaches. also their recently is being developing very rapidly. and the Kilo subs are being used by the chinese navy. at the moment they are building more landing crafts due to the taiwan issue. but there is some impressive ships recently.

Russia Arming Chinese Navy Against U.S.
NewsMax.com
Wednesday, July 12, 2000
Communist China is receiving from Russia the second of four advanced warships armed with super-missiles aimed at knocking out United States aircraft-carrier battle groups.
It is a move unabashedly aimed at countering any U.S. move to honor its pledge to defend Taiwan against China's threatened attack from the mainland.

Republican-led bipartisan members of Congress are so alarmed by this new weapon ?which the Navy admits it has little ability to defend against ?they are sponsoring legislation to cut off U.S. aid to Russia unless it halts all further sales of "this 200-kiloton nuclear-capable weapon."

Citing its well-placed military-intelligence sources within the Pentagon, the Washington Times is reporting that the second Sovremenny-class advanced warship Beijing is buying from Moscow has been spotted undergoing sea trials in the Gulf of Finland.

What has American observers concerned even more, the exercises are expected to include at least one test launch of the Russian onboard SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship cruise missile, which is what makes the Russian vessel so awesome.

Even without the other two installments of the four-ship procurement, this latest acquisition from Russia ?which is receiving billions in U.S. aid to bolster its messed-up economy ?will give the Communist Chinese People's Liberation Army frightening new capabilities against U.S. aircraft- carrier battle groups.

Operated by a mixed crew of Russian and Chinese sailors, the first cruise-missile ship, delivered from Russia in February, is currently going through test runs off the Chinese coast, within easy range of Taiwan.

Its arrival in the region was followed within weeks by a shipment of two dozen of the dreaded Russian-made SS-N-22 missiles this spring.

Those developments take on greater significance when considered against the background of recent Russia-to-China sales of missile-equipped destroyers, Su-27 aircraft, Kilo-class submarines and satellite navigation systems for missile guidance.

Just recently, Moscow announced it will begin sending to China also the first 10 of 40 advanced Su-30 warplanes.

Those purchases are funded by cash, much of which China has been able to garner from its lopsided favorable balance of trade with the United States.

The Clinton-Gore administration has spent much of this year lobbying Congress to grant China permanent normal trade status, which would boost even more the communist regime's global trading ability.

There is no longer any question that Russia, a direct recipient of massive aid in U.S. tax dollars, is embarked on a deliberate and extensive program to help bring the Chinese war machine up to world-class standards, or that Beijing's ultimate target is the United States.

The Washington Times reports that the leader of concerned congressmen on both sides of the aisle, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., says, "The SS-N-22 is the most dangerous anti-ship missile in the Russian, and now the Chinese, fleet.

"Our Navy admittedly has scant ability to defend against this 200-kiloton nuclear-capable weapon."

According to the wording of Rohrabacher's bill to rein in Russian missile sales by denying further U.S. financial bail-out assistance to Moscow:

"Currently the Russian and Chinese governments are discussing the sale of two additional Sovremenny destroyers.

"The supersonic Moskit [SS-N-22] missile, which can be mounted on a naval or mobile land platform, was designed specifically to destroy American aircraft carriers and other warships equipped with advanced Aegis radar and battle-management systems.

"The United States Navy considers the missile to be extremely difficult to defend against."

As all this was going on, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen flew in to Beijing on Tuesday to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, Defense Minister Chi Haotian.

Cohen's arrival was greeted by an official Communist Chinese statement repeating its attacks on the Clinton-Gore administration for proposing a national missile-defense system, which so far has flunked most of its in-flight tests.

Calling it part of American plans to dominate the world, the Chinese statement said:

"We urge the United States to drop as soon as possible this plan, which does not serve its interest and harms that of others."

Cohen said earlier that part of the objective of his mission to Beijing was to assure the Chinese government that the limited U.S. missile-defense shield would not pose a threat to China.

http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/7/12/70602
 
this is without my knowledge, i have always thought the chinese nuclear subs are out-dated, but again the chinese dun reveal about their military very much:

U.S. rule of Pacific waves faces China challenge

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands One day in November, a nuclear-powered Chinese Navy submarine quietly slipped past this western Pacific island, home port for five supply and ammunition ships positioned here by the U.S. military for rapid deployment around the world.
.
"We are watching them," a crew member of a U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine said at an American fast-food restaurant while on shore leave here. "The Chinese are a real concern."
.
Ever since the U.S. Marine Corps defeated Japanese forces here 60 years ago, the Marianas have been widely considered an American lake. Now, the United States may have to get used to sharing the western Pacific with China, the world's rising naval power.
.
According to military analysts, China is rapidly expanding its submarine force to about 85 by 2010, about one-third more than today.
.
"They want to become the dominant power in the western Pacific, to displace the United States, to kick us back to Hawaii or beyond," said Richard Fisher Jr., who studies Chinese naval strengths and strategies for the International Assessment and Strategy Center, a Washington research institute.
.
China is embarking on a $10 billion submarine acquisition and upgrade program and is buying destroyers and frigates and equipping them with modern antiship cruise missiles, according to Eric McVadon, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who served as defense attaché in Beijing in the early 1990s.
.
"The Chinese are converting their surface navy into a truly modern antiship cruise-missile surface navy," McVadon, now an East Asia security consultant, said after attending a naval review conference in Hawaii. "The modernization of their navy has taken a great leap forward."
.
In contrast, Russia, which once had 90 submarines in the Pacific, has mothballed all but 20. Japan has 16 submarines and no plans to buy more. The U.S. Pacific Fleet has 35 submarines, with many considered to be the most modern in the world.
.
"We don't have to worry about losing control of the seas anytime soon," Richard Halloran, a military affairs analyst based in Honolulu, said by telephone. "But the Chinese are moving a whole lot faster on military modernization than anyone expected a short time ago."
.
For its open-water navy, China is concentrating on submarines. The immediate goal, analysts say, is to blockade Taiwan, an island nation seen by Beijing as a breakaway province.
.
In response, the U.S. Navy is reversing an old Soviet-era formula, where the United States had 60 percent of its submarines in the Atlantic and 40 percent in the Pacific. In addition to shifting toward keeping 60 percent in the Pacific, the United States recently set up an antisubmarine warfare center in San Diego.
.
In January, Guam is to receive a third U.S. nuclear attack submarine, the Houston. In three years, the United States will have brought from zero to three its forward deployed submarines in Guam, the U.S. territory 240 kilometers, or 150 miles, south of here. Since March, the United States, using satellites and maritime surveillance planes, has detected Chinese submarines in waters west of Guam.
.
The Chinese Han Class submarine that passed near here cruised first near Guam. From the Marianas, the Chinese submarine went north to Okinawa, where Japanese forces detected it Nov. 9 as it shadowed a joint naval exercise between the United States and Japan.
.
Violating international law, the submarine passed between two Japanese islands without surfacing and identifying itself. Japan protested strongly, and Japanese officials said they had won a private apology from Chinese officials.
.
The rise of China's navy is watched with apprehension in the Pacific, where, down through the centuries, the islands have long been playthings for the world's maritime powers: Spanish, American, British, French, German and Japanese.
.
"I have talked to several Chinese residents here who are quite proud that China will have a big navy again," Samuel McPhetres, regional history professor at Northern Marianas College, said in an interview. "But are two big maritime powers willing to share the Pacific?"
.
In October 2003, a destroyer and a supply ship from the Chinese Navy made a goodwill visit to Guam, reciprocating a visit made one month earlier by two U.S. Navy ships to Zhanjiang, in southern Guangdong Province. It was the first call by U.S. warships to the headquarters of China's South Sea Fleet there.
.
But a few years ago, alarm bells rang in Washington when Chinese companies were the only bidders for a U.S. Navy ship repair facility that was to be ceded by the Pentagon to Guam's territorial government. Washington stopped the sale. Today, Washington is cautious about extending to Chinese tourists the same Guam-only visa privileges extended to South Korean tourists.
.
Robert Underwood, who served until 2003 as the territory's nonvoting delegate to the U.S. Congress, warned that huge Chinese tourism might scare away military strategists who are investing hundreds of millions of dollars.
.
Today's era of carefully negotiated port calls and surreptitious surveying reminds some historians of an earlier era. "In the 1920s American military and Japanese military had to size up each other to see what the challenges were," Daniel Martinez, National Park Service historian at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, said in an interview in Saipan. "You could see today the potential of what was happening in 1930s, when the U.S. and Japan sought to spread influence throughout the Pacific."
.
"The Chinese influence in the Pacific islands will be very, very big, bigger than Japan's today," Hiroshi Nakajima, executive director of the Pacific Society, an academic group, predicted in a recent interview here. Eventually, Nakajima said, "Chinese interests and the American interest will clash."
.SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands One day in November, a nuclear-powered Chinese Navy submarine quietly slipped past this western Pacific island, home port for five supply and ammunition ships positioned here by the U.S. military for rapid deployment around the world.
.
"We are watching them," a crew member of a U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine said at an American fast-food restaurant while on shore leave here. "The Chinese are a real concern."
.
Ever since the U.S. Marine Corps defeated Japanese forces here 60 years ago, the Marianas have been widely considered an American lake. Now, the United States may have to get used to sharing the western Pacific with China, the world's rising naval power.
.
According to military analysts, China is rapidly expanding its submarine force to about 85 by 2010, about one-third more than today.
.
"They want to become the dominant power in the western Pacific, to displace the United States, to kick us back to Hawaii or beyond," said Richard Fisher Jr., who studies Chinese naval strengths and strategies for the International Assessment and Strategy Center, a Washington research institute.
.
China is embarking on a $10 billion submarine acquisition and upgrade program and is buying destroyers and frigates and equipping them with modern antiship cruise missiles, according to Eric McVadon, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who served as defense attaché in Beijing in the early 1990s.
.
"The Chinese are converting their surface navy into a truly modern antiship cruise-missile surface navy," McVadon, now an East Asia security consultant, said after attending a naval review conference in Hawaii. "The modernization of their navy has taken a great leap forward."
.
In contrast, Russia, which once had 90 submarines in the Pacific, has mothballed all but 20. Japan has 16 submarines and no plans to buy more. The U.S. Pacific Fleet has 35 submarines, with many considered to be the most modern in the world.
.
"We don't have to worry about losing control of the seas anytime soon," Richard Halloran, a military affairs analyst based in Honolulu, said by telephone. "But the Chinese are moving a whole lot faster on military modernization than anyone expected a short time ago."
.
For its open-water navy, China is concentrating on submarines. The immediate goal, analysts say, is to blockade Taiwan, an island nation seen by Beijing as a breakaway province.
.
In response, the U.S. Navy is reversing an old Soviet-era formula, where the United States had 60 percent of its submarines in the Atlantic and 40 percent in the Pacific. In addition to shifting toward keeping 60 percent in the Pacific, the United States recently set up an antisubmarine warfare center in San Diego.
.
In January, Guam is to receive a third U.S. nuclear attack submarine, the Houston. In three years, the United States will have brought from zero to three its forward deployed submarines in Guam, the U.S. territory 240 kilometers, or 150 miles, south of here. Since March, the United States, using satellites and maritime surveillance planes, has detected Chinese submarines in waters west of Guam.
.
The Chinese Han Class submarine that passed near here cruised first near Guam. From the Marianas, the Chinese submarine went north to Okinawa, where Japanese forces detected it Nov. 9 as it shadowed a joint naval exercise between the United States and Japan.
.
Violating international law, the submarine passed between two Japanese islands without surfacing and identifying itself. Japan protested strongly, and Japanese officials said they had won a private apology from Chinese officials.
.
The rise of China's navy is watched with apprehension in the Pacific, where, down through the centuries, the islands have long been playthings for the world's maritime powers: Spanish, American, British, French, German and Japanese.
.
"I have talked to several Chinese residents here who are quite proud that China will have a big navy again," Samuel McPhetres, regional history professor at Northern Marianas College, said in an interview. "But are two big maritime powers willing to share the Pacific?"
.
In October 2003, a destroyer and a supply ship from the Chinese Navy made a goodwill visit to Guam, reciprocating a visit made one month earlier by two U.S. Navy ships to Zhanjiang, in southern Guangdong Province. It was the first call by U.S. warships to the headquarters of China's South Sea Fleet there.
.
But a few years ago, alarm bells rang in Washington when Chinese companies were the only bidders for a U.S. Navy ship repair facility that was to be ceded by the Pentagon to Guam's territorial government. Washington stopped the sale. Today, Washington is cautious about extending to Chinese tourists the same Guam-only visa privileges extended to South Korean tourists.
.
Robert Underwood, who served until 2003 as the territory's nonvoting delegate to the U.S. Congress, warned that huge Chinese tourism might scare away military strategists who are investing hundreds of millions of dollars.
.
Today's era of carefully negotiated port calls and surreptitious surveying reminds some historians of an earlier era. "In the 1920s American military and Japanese military had to size up each other to see what the challenges were," Daniel Martinez, National Park Service historian at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, said in an interview in Saipan. "You could see today the potential of what was happening in 1930s, when the U.S. and Japan sought to spread influence throughout the Pacific."
.
"The Chinese influence in the Pacific islands will be very, very big, bigger than Japan's today," Hiroshi Nakajima, executive director of the Pacific Society, an academic group, predicted in a recent interview here. Eventually, Nakajima said, "Chinese interests and the American interest will clash."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/29/news/china.html
 
Whispering Death said:
I was inspired by the other China thread on the same page to ask this question but I felt it required a different thread because the other one is quite a varied and rambling one.

What is China's basic military strategy? We know that the U.S. places it's faith in air power while the Soviets believed in the power of armor and mechanized infantry. So what kind of doctrine would China use in a war? I was really surprised to learn about its lack of aircraft carriers of a strategic bomber. Surely their generals don't still believe in WW1/Korean War style human waves attacks.

my view is that, because the chinese are reducing their army's size. they expected to fight with smaller armies and with better training, if u look in sinodefence, look at the Type 98G or aka ZTZ 99. it says because it is expensive to be build (i heard it costs 3 times than the type 96) those Type 98G would be in the best battalions. while the Type 96 would be the standard tanks used in the chinese army, to replace the majority of the out-dated type59/62.

my prediction about the chinese army, to defend against US or Japan(if possible) the chinese would launch missiles to destroy carriers and other importan ships before it gets close to chiense coasts, the Kilo subs would be guarding the coast to prevent ships getting too close, if u read about the Su 27 and 30 in sinodefence and other websites, they would say they are upgraded to air to surface anit-ship missiles, perhaps they are preparing an possible attack by US, and bombarding taiwanese shippings if war breaks out and to provide a secure bridge head for the troops to enter, if u read this news:

Russia May Sell Bomber Aircraft to China — Air Force Chief

Created: 13.01.2005 13:12 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:55 MSK, 4 hours 26 minutes ago

MosNews

The chief of the Russian Air Force, Vladimir Mikhailov, said on Thursday, Jan. 13, that the Russian military could sell a number of Tu-22M3 and Tu-95 bomber aircraft to China.

Speaking at a press conference at the Interfax-Army News agency Mikhailov said: “We could sell to China a part of our stock of Tu-22M3 and Tu-95 strategic bombers.”

Answering a question whether there are any specific plans for such a sale, the Air Force chief said: “We will show the planes at the joint military exercise, so that the Chinese become interested. If they have the money, let them buy [the bombers].”

As MosNews reported in December, Russia and China announced their intention to hold joint military exercises on Chinese territory sometime in 2005. The announcement was made during the official visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to Beijing. The visit came in the wake of the European Union’s decision not to lift the 15-year-old arms export embargo that was imposed on China in 1989.
The EU’s decision presented a clear opportunity for Russia to solidify its position as China’s biggest supplier of weapons and technology.


http://www.mosnews.com/money/2005/01/13/chinabombers.shtml .

why do u think they need bombers for while the chinese have got missiles to destroy ship fleets? mainly for the prepare for taiwan is my perception. bombers to secure a beach head for landing.

the chinese have also said they would concentrate on submarines since they say it is deadly and covent, silent killers. i think because it is much easier to take out carriers with subs rather than having surface ships or another aircraft carrier agaisnt each other, since that would be a waste while u could use a few sub to destroy the whole carrier, possibly a fleet.
and also much cheaper to build than carriers.

the chinese, if being invaded, my view is that they would fight not head to head with the enermy but rather a skirmish style fighting, fight concentrated but march divided, the future would rely on airforce and missiles alot more to destroy important targets before the troops enters the battle, and most importantly, air supremacy, if the navy does not manage to kepp the carriers off, then they would be working to stop the US airforce.the Type 96 is being build in large numbers, is because its cheap and it is not too far off from other world's best tank, its still inferior to the M1A2, i am not sure about the Type 98G since some say its the best tank in the world and it is the first to use something previously unknown active self-defense system. The two components of this active self defense system are mounted on the turret roof. the LWR (Laser Warning Receiver) is mounted behind commander's hatch, and a high-powered laser weapon mounted behind gunner's hatch which is employed against the source of the enemy's laser illumination. this means the tank would automatically target at direction of the enermy's origin of the laser. it is considered the first tank in the world to use this device.

it seems tho, the Su-30 and J-10 is a mulit-role fighter due to the lack of bombers, and they are being concentrated to destroy ships by arming anti-ship missiles. perhaps they realise they do not have decent bombers to rely too. and multi-role fighter is faster to react and harder to take down. i am not an expert on planes, but how many missiles to would destroy an destroyer of the US army?
 
PLA Air Force to switch its defensive posture



The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLA) will strive to complete its transformation from mechanization to informationization, from an air force of aerial defense to one with both offensive and defensive capabilities, so that it will better shoulder the holy mission of defending the territorial airspace of the motherland, says Qiao Qingchen, commander of the PLA Air Force and Deng Changyou, the air force's commissar.

The PLA Air Force was founded on November 11, 1949. After 55 years, the air force has become a modern combined service comprising of aviators, surface-to-air missile, antiaircraft, radar and airborne troops with considerable capability of long-range combat, high-speed maneuver, and air and land operation.

In the high-tech war in the future, the air force will play a significant role in joint operations; in particular, it will play a decisive role in gaining mastery of the sky. Hence, the air force will realize transformation from an air force of aerial defense to the one with both offensive and defensive capabilities. On the basis of winning "local war under high-tech conditions", it will gradually fulfill the goal to reach an appropriate scale with optimized structure as well as offensive and defensive capabilities.

In the future, the air force will be dedicated to building an elite and capable force in terms of formation of the force, combat diameter, combat capabilities and ability to implement combat tasks assigned by the CPC central committee and military commission.

The air force will speed up informationization on the basis of mechanization. It will adhere to the development road of taking mechanization as base and informationization as predominance. In the interest of future development, it will push forward modernization at a high starting point; enhance the quality of armament to a new level so that the future combat and development are assured. It will make the PLA Air Force step on a new stage in quality and quantity of armament.

Aside from these, the air force will further improve its training mechanism in a bid to enhance combat capability; it will endeavor to foster high quality talents; further strengthen fostering of pilots, inter-disciplinary commanders, high-level science and technology talents and experts to gradually form sufficient middle-aged talents.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200411/1...115_163994.html
 
Tiananmen aside, EU readies to lift arms ban
By Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING - The new Chinese leadership is set to get a major boost to its legitimacy and military ambitions as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has confirmed in Beijing that the European Union is ready to lift its 15-year-old ban on arms sales to China imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Straw, who is scheduled to hold meetings with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, arrived in China on Thursday as Chinese leaders were making plans, under the shroud of secrecy, for the funeral of deposed Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang, who was purged for opposing the military assault on unarmed students during the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests.

Beijing, which fears that Zhao's funeral could trigger anti-government protests and revive demands for the rehabilitation of student democracy leaders, is preparing a tightly scripted funeral for the deposed leader to prevent a public show of support for his democratic cause.

State television and radio have kept mum over Zhao's death, which took place in a Beijing hospital on Monday, while Chinese newspapers ran a 50-word report on their inside pages.

A massive show of public grief for the 85-year-old deceased leader who opposed the Tiananmen massacre could become an embarrassing event for Chinese leaders. The Chinese government claims the arms embargo imposed after the military crackdown is a "product of the Cold War", but displays of public dissent could indicate the opposite.

The United Kingdom is the latest European country to join the efforts of France and Germany to persuade other EU members to lift the arms sanctions. Straw said last week that he expected the arms ban to be lifted "more likely than not" in the next six months while Luxembourg holds the EU presidency. The UK will take over the presidency from Luxembourg in the second half of the year.

In the meantime, the United States has waged an intense behind-the-scenes battle to dissuade the EU from lifting the ban. The White House has warned Britain that it would not tolerate the prospect of European military technology being used to threaten US soldiers in their missions in the Far East.

Washington remains unconvinced that Beijing has made enough progress on human-rights issues and cites widespread imprisonment and torture of political and religious dissidents. In a report released this month, New York-based Human Rights Watch said that despite some progress in recent years, China remains a "highly repressive state".

More significant, Washington is worried about the possibility of China fulfilling its potential to become a military superpower by purchasing state-of-the-art equipment and technology, which could be used in a forceful campaign to reunify Taiwan with the mainland.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States is obliged to defend the island if China attacks. In March, China's legislators plan to debate a new "anti-secession law" that would legitimize the use of military force against the democratically ruled island.

Beijing claims the arms embargo imposed after the 1989 military crackdown is anachronistic and does not tally with the blossoming relations between China and the European Union.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan dismissed concerns that dropping the embargo would lead to a sharp increase in arms purchases by China. "Lifting the embargo will certainly not lead to massive imports of weapons because China adheres to a defensive principle in national defense," Kong told a regular press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

However, data released last month indicated that the European Union almost doubled its arms sales to China between 2002 and 2003. According to information in the EU's official journal in December, France granted 171 million euros (US$221 million) of licenses for arms sales to China in 2003, Italy 127 million euros and the UK 112 million euros - figures well above the previous year's tallies.

In statements made before his trip to China, Straw tried to allay fears by announcing that Britain will push for a revised EU code of conduct on arms exports coupled with a set of measures to exchange information on weapons sales. This, he said, would mean that arms controls on China would remain as tight as they were under the embargo.

"The replacement regime would be stronger than the embargo because it has the force of law, and we are going to strengthen it by ensuring that there is transparency among EU partners ... not just on denials but also approvals," Straw was quoted as saying last week.

But the United States is deeply skeptical of such assurances.

This month the administration of US President George W Bush imposed penalties against some of China's largest companies for aiding Iran's efforts to improve its ballistic missiles. US officials found Chinese companies guilty despite repeated vows by Beijing to curb its sales of missile technology.

The United States is not the only country with strategic concerns about the lifting of the embargo. Japan, too, is nervous.

Before Straw arrived in Beijing, his counterpart in Tokyo, Nobutaka Machimira, told him Japan is firmly opposed to the controversial move. Apart from watching Beijing's military ambitions nervously, Tokyo is worried that a confrontation between the United States and China over Taiwan would certainly draw Japan into the conflict.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GA22Ad02.html

i dunno how quickly and how strongly the military would develop with german, Italian, UK and french weapons........

Also, anyone know about the Lecleric tank? because it seems to have a low profile, but i guess its ablilities are able to keep up with other famous tank in the world today. can anyone tell me what specification it has and also their ablility? thanks
 
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