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China Says Military Budget Up 17.6 percent in 2008
(AFP, Mar. 4, 2008) China announced its defense spending would rise 17.6 percent this year but insisted the increase was moderate, after the United States expressed concerns about Beijing's expanding military power.

Russia, China Challenge US Space Arms
(Associated Press, Feb. 13, 2008) China and Russia renewed their push for a global ban on arms in space at a disarmament conference Tuesday with a proposal opposed by Washington on the grounds it is directed at U.S. military technology.

Singapore and China Sign Defense Pact
(Straits Times, Jan. 8, 2008) Singapore and China signed their first defense agreement, deepening bilateral ties. These include mutual visits, sending personnel to each other's courses and seminars, and port calls.

China and India Hold First Joint Military Exercise
(Straits Times, Dec. 21, 2007) India and China will launch their first-ever joint military exercise today in the mountain ranges of China's south-western Yunnan province. The anti-terrorism drill, called Hand-in-Hand 2007, involves only 100 troops from each side. But analysts said it is not the scale but the scope for potential cooperation between the Asian giants in combating international terrorism that is significant.

China's Hu in Control of Rapidly Modernizing Military
(Agence France Presse, Oct. 20, 2007) After five years in power, President Hu Jintao has finally gained unquestioned control of China's massive military while transforming it into wealthy, high-tech fighting force, analysts said.

Chinese Warships Arrive in Sydney
(AFP, Sep. 29, 2007) Two Chinese warships arrived in Sydney ahead of the first joint military exercises between Australia and the Asian nation, with officials saying more operations were planned. Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said next week's joint exercises involving the Australian, Chinese and New Zealand navies signaled closer military cooperation between Beijing and Canberra.

 

Ma Win Won’t Affect PLA Modernization: Experts
(Taipei Times, Apr. 9, 2008) US Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis Tom Fingar said that the outcome of the presidential election in Taiwan may have lowered Beijing’s anxieties over the cross-strait situation, but would not put an end to the modernization of its military. Susan Shirk, former deputy assistant secretary of state during the Bill Clinton administration, said China could seek to shift the world’s attention away from Tibet by dealing with Taiwan.

China Beefing Up Military Brains By Richard Halloran
(Taipei Times, Mar. 9, 2008) Tacked onto the end of the US Defense Department's new report on Chinese military power is an appraisal of the effort by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to transform itself "from a force dependent on mass to a streamlined, information-based military with highly qualified officers and soldiers."

China Plans Steep Increase in Military Spending
(New York Times, Mar. 5, 2008) China announced a further sharp increase in military spending on Tuesday, a day after the United States renewed its warning that a lack of openness surrounding the rapid buildup of China’s armed forces posed a threat to stability in Asia.

China's Taiwan Buildup Continues
(Associated Press, Mar. 4, 2008) China continues its huge military buildup opposite Taiwan, further pushing the balance of power between the two rivals toward the mainland's favor, the Defense Department says in its annual report on China's military. "A potential military confrontation with Taiwan, and the prospect of U.S. military intervention, remain the PLA's most immediate military concerns," the report said.

China's Computer Hacking Worries Pentagon
(LA Times, Mar. 4, 2008) China in the last year has developed ways to infiltrate and manipulate computer networks around the world in what U.S. defense officials conclude is a new and potentially dangerous military capability, according to a Pentagon report.

PRC Still Expanding Sub Fleet: Analysts
(Taipei Times, Feb. 26, 2008) Several recent events, from an eagle-eyed spotting of an image on Google Earth to an overt military delivery from Russia, suggest that China is continuing its rapid expansion of a submarine fleet that would be particularly useful in a conflict with the US over Taiwan, analysts and military officials said.

Defense Focus: China's Weapons -- Part 3 By Martin Sieff
(United Press International, Feb. 8, 2008) The weapons that China wants from Russia -- and that Moscow won't sell Beijing -- provide a remarkable insight into the current transitional state of the Chinese arms industry.

Defense Focus: China's Weapons -- Part 2
(United Press International, Feb. 7, 2008) China is certainly in no state yet to produce its own long-range strategic bombers, air-refueling tankers or air transport aircraft like the C-130 Hercules or the C-17 Globemaster and must therefore continue to try and buy them off the shelf, if not from the United States because of deteriorating relations, then from Russia.

Defense Focus: China's Weapons -- Part 1
(United Press International, Feb. 6, 2008) The Chinese domestic arms industry may one day be one of the biggest and most important in the world, but it is very far from that yet. Western experts believe China will need major outside suppliers for large amounts of equipment for years to come.

China's Weapons Exceed Self-Defense Needs: US Military
(Agence France Presse, Jan. 29, 2008) The head of the US armed forces in the Asia-Pacific, Admiral Timothy Keating, said he was told by Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing that its so-called "area denial weapons" were "to protect those things that are ours". But he said, "we find it troubling that the capabilities of some of these weapons systems would tend to exceed our own expectations for protecting those things that are 'ours'".

China's Submarines Giving US the Jitters
(Straits Times, Jan. 19, 2008) The Chinese Navy is extending its reach across the Asia-Pacific, a development that has prompted the United States to intensify calls for more transparency in their military relations. In the past year, the Chinese military has put on a show of strength amid a robust military build-up.

China Reshuffles Military But No Hint of Succession By Benjamin Kang Lim (Reuters, Oct. 22, 2007) China reshuffled its top military body, reappointing President Hu Jintao as chairman but elevating no other civilian -- a sign that the country's leadership succession remains up in the air. People's Liberation Army generals Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou were reappointed vice-chairmen of the powerful commission.

China Promotes Military Officers Experienced in Taiwan Affairs By David Lague (International Herald Tribune, Oct. 9, 2007) China has promoted senior military officers with experience in planning for war over Taiwan ahead of a key political meeting next week at which the Communist Party has said it will adopt a new strategy to stop the self-governing island moving toward independence.

US Official Notes China's Military Gains
(
Associated Press, Sep. 30, 2007) While the U.S. has been tied up in Iraq, China is modernizing its military and its air defenses are now nearly impenetrable to all but the newest of American fighters, the senior U.S. military official in Japan said.

China and India Leading Asian Missile Buildup
(
International Herald Tribune, Sep. 19, 2007) Two decades after developed nations agreed to halt the proliferation of strategic missile technology, China and India are leading the most significant modernization of nuclear-capable ballistic missile and cruise missile forces in Asia since the Cold War.