1,700 Planes Ready for War: Everything You Need To Know About China's Air Force
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Roughly 33 percent of the PLAAF and PLANAF’s combat aircraft are old second-generation fighters of limited combat value against peer opponents, save perhaps in swarming attacks. Another 28 percent include strategic bombers and more capable but dated third-generation designs. Finally, 38 percent are fourth-generation fighters that can theoretically hold their own against peers like the F-15 and F-16. Stealth fighters account for 1 percent. However, the technical capabilities of aircraft are just half the story; at least as important are training, organizational doctrine and supporting assets ranging from satellite recon to air-refueling tankers, ground-based radars and airborne command posts.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the...t-chinas-23901
China’s modern Silk Road hits political, financial hurdles
An AP article that starts with Pakistan and goes much further afield, e.g. Tanzania.
Link:https://apnews.com/0956dd7edd7344cfa...ancial-hurdles
I'll just leave this here...
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Chinese authorities have demolished a well-known Christian megachurch, inflaming long-standing tensions between religious groups and the Communist Party.
Witnesses and overseas activists said the paramilitary People's Armed Police used dynamite and excavators to destroy the Golden Lampstand Church, which has a congregation of more than 50,000, in the city of Linfen in Shaanxi province.
ChinaAid, a US-based Christian advocacy group, said local authorities planted explosives in an underground worship hall to demolish the building following, constructed with nearly $2.6m (£1.9m) in contributions from local worshippers in one of China's poorest regions.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a8156031.html
A gift that listened: the AU HQ building
Almost amusing, even if other nations also seek to learn, this Chinese gift may harm how African nations see China:
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In 2012, the Chinese government “graciously offered” African States a gift and constructed the African Union’s HQ in Addis Ababa. The act of soft diplomacy proved to be a rather self-serving maneuver to spy on the activities and discussions being conducted by leaders of the exclusive continental group.
Link:https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/201...s-addis-ababa/
(Added)
A BBC report that cites Kuang Weilin, the Chinese ambassador to the AU:
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Certainly, it will create problems for China-Africa relation.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42861276
Chinese peacekeeping in Africa
A short article that concludes:
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While there may be more material drivers behind China’s increased involvement in peacekeeping in Africa, these two national narratives – that of the responsible great power and the leader of the developing world – have shaped how China develops its role within peacekeeping, creating limitations to China’s actions. These narratives will therefore shape China’s role in peacekeeping in Africa in the future.
Link:https://sustainablesecurity.org/2018...ing-in-africa/
China's Belt and Road Initiative
https://www.csis.org/analysis/chinas...-years-later-0
China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Five Years Later
This is balanced statement, with numerous implications. Much more in the article than what I'm focused on below.
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Politically, China is already benefitting from the BRI with individual countries and globally. Traditional partners like Pakistan, where BRI-related investments total roughly $62 billion, have become even closer. Chinese infrastructure loans have helped persuade some countries, including the Philippines and Cambodia, to reevaluate military or diplomatic ties with the United States. China is also forging ties with countries further west, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe. China’s “16+1” framework brings together a diverse set of countries in the region, many of whom have little in common other than their interest in doing business with China. These and other developments suggest the BRI is producing political dividends.
Most SWJ readers understand the nexus of economic and security interests, but perhaps don't have visibility on the global scale of this challenge to U.S. and allied interests.
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Even more important to U.S. economic interests is the BRI’s longer-term impact on major global systems. Since World War II, the United States has played a leading role in creating, expanding, and defending open trade and financial systems. The United States has done this not merely out of goodwill, but also out of self-interest.
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A BRI that succeeds on China’s terms could revise these systems to reflect Chinese interests. Changes would be seen in supply chains for goods, from manufactured products to energy and other resources. China’s currency would become more widely used. Chinese technical standards, for everything from high-speed railway systems to wireless networks, would become more widely adopted, as would Chinese preferences for environmental and social safeguards. Collectively, these changes would push the United States away from its current position in the global economy and move China toward the center.
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A BRI that fails also has implications for U.S. economic interests.
The following assertion calls into question our ability to predict the future, and how fast things can change. Although we arguably did create a vacuum both economically and militarily.
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It is sobering to recall the U.S. position in Asia at the beginning of this century. In 2000, a bipartisan commission at the Harvard Kennedy School examined U.S. national interests and noted, “No country in East Asia, including China, appears capable of seriously challenging US leadership any time soon unless America, through neglect or indifference, were to create a vacuum.”24 Today, the U.S. position in Asia is considerably weaker.
Finally the recommendation.
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The BRI has all the marks of a difficult foreign policy challenge. It is a slow-moving development that will unfold in decades rather than days. It is functionally and geographically vast, spanning the responsibilities of many U.S. agencies. It requires grappling with both economics and security issues. It will be tempting to delay action and difficult to coordinate an effective response. Ultimately, the best U.S. response to the BRI is not a response at all, but a compelling U.S. economic vision, resourced strategically and sustained over time.
From a European "armchair"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bill Moore
China Has Big Plans to Win the Next War It Fights
Not entirely new....China may have big plans to win, but big plans can and do fail big also.
Bill,
Sometimes I enjoy RAND's product, this one failed my simple test. It is more alarmist than predictive. Plus as you neatly say 'Not entirely new'. From my faraway armchair I do wonder how the PLA can successfully adapt to win.
How many national armies do not have such plans and assumptions? The PLA is no different, although I would wager it is a far more conformist culture than most Western militaries in peacetime and possibly when at war or engaged in combat operations.
Yes the PLA may have studied waging war etc. Aided no doubt by the relatively large numbers studying openly abroad: a couple each year @ Oxford University CCW, a good number at Australian military colleges and a large number doing their PhD in the USA. How many wars or combat operations have the PLA been engaged in since Korea? Assisting North Vietnam, a border war with Vietnam, border clashes with the USSR, some UN ops and sometimes "hot".
China has a new friend: Vanuatu
This Sydney Morning Herald article's full title is: China eyes Vanuatu military base in plan with global ramifications.
It opens with:
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China has approached Vanuatu about building a permanent military presence in the South Pacific in a globally significant move that could see the rising superpower sail warships on Australia’s doorstep. Fairfax Media can reveal there have been preliminary discussions between the Chinese and Vanuatu governments about a military build-up in the island nation. While no formal proposals have been put to Vanuatu's government, senior security officials believe Beijing’s plans could culminate in a full military base.
Both governments deny this.
Link:https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fede...09-p4z8j9.html
The map of 'Bases and potential bases: China, US and India' is well different and spot the US base that is missing?
Australia has an old friend: Racist BS
The Vanuatu Daily Post's article's full title is: Want To Lead In The Pacific? Try Listening First
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The Chinese Bases folderol is just the latest chorus in a litany of Australian indifference to Pacific voices. Every time some tendentious prat opens their mouth and starts telling the Pacific that what’s good for Australia is obviously good for us, the entire region sighs.
That jolt you just felt was a collective eye roll that nearly tipped the island.
Can we get something clear? If you want us to listen to you, you’ve got to listen to us.
http://dailypost.vu/opinion/want-to-...35cb27275.html