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This is the blog of China defense, where professional analysts and serious defense enthusiasts share findings on a rising military power.
Russia says stolen weapons heading to China found
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian news agencies are quoting a senior prosecutor as saying that his office has exposed an attempt by military officers to smuggle $18 million worth of stolen Russian weapons to China.
The agencies quoted Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky as saying Wednesday that some officers and businessmen shipped the weapons to the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan for subsequent smuggling to neighboring China.
Fridinsky said the stolen weapons included 30 anti-submarine missiles and about 200 bombs.
China has been a top customer for Russian weapons since the 1990s. But Russian authorities have also nabbed some military officers and civilians who they accuse of smuggling weapons and sensitive technologies into China.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iGddhvGGLcqicC3ELMt5flj1195wD96IJ9I80
Military exercise sparks earthquake panic in China
BEIJING (AP) — A military exercise in southern China set off mass panic among local residents who thought an earthquake had struck with about 100,000 people fleeing their homes, state media reported Saturday.
Frightened residents slept outdoors following the live-fire exercise Wednesday by an air force brigade near the city of Hengyang in Hunan province, the Xinhua News Agency said.
Pressure waves from exploding bombs shook homes and rattled windows, and rumors of an earthquake spread quickly by phone and over the Internet, the report said.
Earthquake fears spread throughout China after last May's massive temblor in Sichuan province that left about 90,000 people dead or missing. The 7.9 magnitude quake rocked buildings in Beijing and other cities thousands of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter.
"Apparently, the residents are more vigilant after the strong earthquake hitting Sichuan province last May," Xinhua quoted local official Liu Xinghua as saying.
Notices were issued by local governments on Thursday reassuring people that no earthquake had occurred, Xinhua said. Liu said he worked until 3 a.m. on Friday trying to persuade villagers to go back home, but "many of them still feel unsafe."
Naval regiment carries out force-on-force exercise with Army unit
english.chinamil.com.cn 2009-02-10
A regiment of the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy maneuvered to complicated hinterland areas to carry out force-on-force exercise with an Army unit as soon as the Spring Festival was over. The Army unit acts as the blue army and the naval regiment acts as the red army.
As the naval regiment was formed not long ago, it lacks experience of actual-troop confrontation in previous trainings, especially the experience of tactic confrontation exercise with simulated strong "enemy" in complicated electromagnetic environment. Since last year, to tackle such factors not good for actual-troop exercise including narrow area, familiar opponents and single-modal electromagnetic environment, the regiment has established collaborative mechanism for tactic training with brother troops of various arms and carried out tactical confrontation exercise frequently. It also organized exchanges on test and argumentation of new equipment and new fighting methods to realize resources sharing.
In the exercise, after receiving an order of cutting off all radio communication links with the outside of the blue army in 24 hours, the command station of the naval regiment immediately deployed 3 standby groups to rush to the position.
In less than 3 hours, all combat groups have come to the designated positions. The scout and searching result showed that the "enemy" was making contact with 10 external targets at the same time. The command station then issued an order of interference, several interference vehicles then launched strong "electro-magnetic wave" and the communication network of the "enemy" paralyzed in a sudden. Shortly, the "enemy" attempted to change frequency and communication mode, but the red army then made a decisive and orderly interference. After more than 10 hours' of fierce combat, the communication system of the "enemy" was destroyed compeletely.
By Zhang Shengzhong and Zhou Yawen
(Feb 9, PLA Daily) Editor: Fan Aifeng
http://english.chinamil.com.cn/site2/news-channels/2009-02/10/content_1646221.htm
No thaw yet in U.S.-China military ties - U.S. admiral
Fri Feb 6, 2009 2:16am IST
By Andrew Gray
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of U.S. forces in the Pacific said on Thursday China had made no overtures to revive dialogue with the U.S. military since President Barack Obama took office but he was optimistic ties would improve.
China broke off high-level contacts with the U.S. military in October after the United States agreed a $6.5 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
"I have seen no change since the new administration came in," Navy Admiral Timothy Keating, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, told Reuters in an interview at the Pentagon.
"We do have ongoing dialogue with ... certain folks in China," Keating said. "We would much prefer it to be a more formal, a more regular and a more frequent dialogue than it is right now and that's what we're working to achieve."
The United States has repeatedly called on China to explain the intentions behind the modernization of its armed forces and large increases in its military budget in recent years.
Beijing has stated it is committed to a "peaceful rise" alongside its rapid economic development and rejected U.S. accusations it has not been transparent.
Keating said the United States wanted to encourage "responsible behavior" by China.
He said he was heartened by Chinese participation in international anti-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia. Chinese vessels were in contact with U.S. Navy ships there, he said. "There is ongoing dialogue at the tactical level so we are encouraged by that," Keating said.
"We think that there are ways for China to integrate into naval coalitions, to help with humanitarian disaster relief, so as to reflect a willingness to cooperate and collaborate," he said. "I'm optimistic about it."
U.S. and Chinese military officials exchanged visits throughout 2007 and 2008 until the Taiwan arms deal was announced, said Keating, who visited China twice as Pacific Command chief.
He said he hoped such contacts could resume as part of a return to more dialogue with the Chinese military.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37866720090205?sp=true