PLA Orbat of the day: UAV Company, organic to an artillery regiment

It is claimed that by having its own UAV  artillery directing assets, this artillery regiment of the 26 Group Army can boost it is effectiveness by 100%

Non-headline news of the day: Mine clearance mission along China-Vietnam border

Since 1990, both China and Vietnam have been conducting mine-clearing campaigns along their joint border.  This is to address the legacy of the 1979 boarder war and the skirmishes that followed. An estimated 2 million landmines were laid during the war.


According to China daily:

Around 6,000 people, aged between eight and 84, have been injured or disabled in Wenshan prefecture, 600 meters away from the frontier at the nearest, since 1979 after stepping on the landmines, which also killed a number of wild animals and livestock, Yunnan.cn reported in 2011.

In Funing county of Wenshan prefecture, one or two people are still hurt every year by landmines, despite many mine clearance projects and warnings and fences set up around mine fields and its Tianpeng village, 600 meters from the China-Vietnam border, was once infamous in China for having "87 villagers with only 78 legs"

 

Note the mine-protection shoes he is wearing. 

UN peacekeeper from China killed, 4 injured in Mali attack

RIP


BEIJING, June 1 (Reuters) - One Chinese United Nations peacekeeper has been killed, and four injured, after an attack in Mali, China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, calling for an investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Soldiers of a United Nations peacekeeping mission have been stationed in northern Mali, along with French forces, for three years since separatists joined jihadists to seize the region from the government in Bamako.

The militants have staged several high profile attacks in the past year, not only in Mali but also in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

A peace accord signed last year was meant to bring stability to the region, but attacks against the U.N. mission, Malian military and civilians are still frequent.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China urged the Mali government and the United Nations to investigate the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"This is a grave and intolerable crime. China strongly condemns it," Hua told a daily news briefing, describing the incident as a terrorist attack on the U.N. peacekeeping mission.

She did not say who China thought was behind the attack.

China now has more than 2,400 peacekeepers in Mali and other African countries, she said, adding that the country would continue to positively contribute to U.N. peacekeeping missions to help ensure peace and stability in Africa.
China will contribute a tenth of the budget for U.N. peacekeeping operations between 2016 and 2018, slightly behind the United States, the U.N.'s peacekeeping chief told the country's official Xinhua news agency on Sunday.
Five U.N. peacekeepers from Togo were also killed and one person was seriously injured in an ambush in central Mali on Sunday. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Non-headline news of the day: Chinese combat peacekeepers in Mali

China's peacekeepers working in Mali
Xinhua | 2013-12-13 21:51:02
By Agencies   
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The first batch of 135 peacekeepers in Mali have conducted the mission's first defense drilling operation to improve emergency handling capabilities, according to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense on Friday.

China sent the peacekeepers to Mali on Dec. 4, marking the first time the country has dispatched security forces for such a mission.

The team consists of engineers, medical staff and security guards from the Shenyang Military Area Command and the 211 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army. They are the advance troops of a 395-strong force that China will send to Mali at the request of the United Nations.

After they arrived, they prepared tents and constructed military bunkers, according to a statement from the ministry's peacekeeping office.

More than 1,700 tonnes of equipment and materials have been transported by sea to the area.

The team will be tasked with repairing roads and bridges, airport runways and facilities at camps, safeguarding the security of mission headquarters, as well as providing medical treatment and epidemic prevention.

The force's remaining servicemen are ready for departure according to the UN arrangement.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

China commits combat troops to Mali

After weeks of speculations,  China has officially committed combat troops to Mali today.

You can read a good summary from today's FT.com

 http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e46f3e42-defe-11e2-881f-00144feab7de.html#axzz2XRWBsxTX

June 27, 2013 2:14 pm
China commits combat troops to Mali

By Kathrin Hille in Beijing

China has publicly committed combat troops on a UN peacekeeping mission for the first time, marking a big shift in Beijing’s foreign policy.

Having close to 1,900 personnel deployed as of December last year, China is already the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping missions among the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council. But Beijing has long shied away from sending combat troops.

China Coast Guard Decommission Of The Day: ex PLAN FFG510 Shaoxing, CCG1002

After 9 years of serving as a CCG cutter (CCG1002), the old JiangHu FFG501 is finally decommissioned for good. 

Believe it or not, back in those dark days of 2007,  it was the largest cutter of the Hainan 3rd Coast Guard detachment and the only one heavier than 1000 tons. Now with newer boats entering services in rapid succession, the CCG is no longer interested in keeping this 38 years old workhorse around.  Progress, right?

My old blog post back in 2008 on the Shaoxing:
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2008/07/photos-of-two-old-jianghu-ffg-in-coast.html

Friday, July 11, 2008

Photos of two old Jianghu FFG in Coast Guard colors.

Latest photos of two old Jianghu FFG in Coast Guard colors.

In case you are wondering why they look so different from their sisters ships, well, because they have been transferred from PLAN to the Chinese Coast Guard as Ocean Patrol Vehicle in 2007. Additional fuel capabilities were also added during the refit to extend their patrol range (Notice both the main guns and missile were removed)

1002 (old PLAN FFG 509) is currently serving with Hainan 3rd Coast Guard detachment and 1003 (old PLAN FFG510) is currently serving with Guangzhou 2nd Coast Guard detachment

There were suggestions out there to suggest that as more modern surface ships entering service with the PLAN, it will be interesting to see if more older FFG will be transferred to civilian hands. However, looking at the recent activities of MSA21 and MSA31 around East China Sea, it does seems that China is preferred to used more newly purpose build ships to “show-the-flag” and reserve those two old workhorses for less attractive duties. If Coast Guard has the budget, I am sure they will prefer new boats, after all, they did not take any of the old PLAN Hainan class, which is available by the hundred and build a new batch of crafts that has a similar size and range

The PLAN gone "politically correct" on us?

During a recent visit by the Malaysian Navy chief Dato' Seri Panglima Ahmad Kamarulzaman bin Hj Ahmad Badaruddin to the Liaoning,  the PLAN proudly served lunch at their "Muslim Mess Deck" with "permissible" or "Halal" items to their visitors.  I suppose it is their way of telling the world that they have gone PC. Good for them. 

Looking at those food pics below ... I don't know about you but lunch is looking fairly bland. Yuk! 

The next generation of PLAAF hardened aircraft shelters

The PLAAF 12th Fighter Division at Wendeng Shandong’s main task is to monitor events in North Korea across the Yellow Sea to the East.  To improve scramble time, they are now constructing hardened aircraft shelters right next to the runway, a break from the tradition – and famous for - using nearby caves.    Expect to see those new shelters in more PLAAF bases soon. 


For an excellent overview of China's cave and underground bases, check out Gary Vey's China's Air Force Goes Underground website. http://www.viewzone.com/chinabases/base1.html

Note the blast door on top.

Ole School, from Gary Vey's site

Rest of the CCTV report on the 12th.