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Pentagon: New Defense Strategy In Asia-Pacific ‘Not Intended To Contain China’

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Divisions stalk China-Russia unity: Analysts

BEIJING: China and Russia are presenting a united front against the West to boost their firepower on issues from Syria to Iran, but analysts say their alliance belies deep divisions.

Putin Arrives in China for Regional Summit

BEIJING — The Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, arrived inChina on Tuesday for meetings aimed at strengthening a partnership between the two countries and offsetting the influence of the United States.

Control of Chinese Regime’s Armed Forces Raised by Dispute With Philippines

A spat between the People’s Republic of China and the Philippines regarding Huangyan Island, or Scarborough Shoal, in the South China Sea has forced the issue of who now controls the armed forces in China to the fore. While ships from both countries have faced off near the island for three weeks, senior naval officials from China have been pledging allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party central’s command. 

Report raises fear of South China Sea war

 

The chances of a full-scale war erupting which could drag in China, the US, the Philippines and Vietnam are not as remote as one may think.

U.S. Takes China ‘At Word’ on N. Korea Sanctions

 

WASHINGTON — The United States said April 19 that it believed China’s assurances that it is abiding by sanctions on North Korea after charges that Beijing supplied technology for a missile launcher.

Analysts: China broke sanctions if N. Korea using its missile launcher

 

China likely provided the mobile long-range missile launcher that North Korea displayed in a military parade over the weekend, which would put Beijing in violation of U.N. sanctions, analysts say.

The 16-wheeled vehicle, known as a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL), is apparently based on a Chinese design, said Ted Parsons of IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly.

The Chinese and North Korean versions of the TEL “have the same windscreen design, the same four windscreen wiper configuration, the same door and handle design, a very similar grill area, almost the same front bumper lighting configuration, and the same design for the cabin steps,” Mr. Parsons noted.

North Korea’s TEL was featured in a massive parade in Pyongyang over the weekend, one of a series of events held to commemorate the centenary of the communist regime’s founder, Kim Il-sung.

“If confirmed, China’s involvement in providing this erector-launcher to North Korea would put it in breach of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874,” said James Hardy, the Asia Pacific editor for Jane’s Defense Weekly.

The resolution bans countries from supplying North Korea with “any arms or related materiel, or providing financial transactions, technical training, services, or assistance related to such arms.”

The supply of such a vehicle to North Korea in defiance of international sanctions “would require approval from the highest levels of the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army,” said Mr. Parsons.

That has serious implications for the six-party talks on curbing North Korea’s nuclear program – the only forum for discussions between Pyongyang and the international community.

China, which hosts the talks, has been consulting with the U.S., Russia, Japan and South Korea to persuade the North to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for concessions like food aid or a suspension of sanctions.

If China has been secretly aiding the North Korean ballistic missile program, that “could fatally undermine the six-party talks [because they are] built on the premise that there is a unanimous desire to prevent the North from developing a nuclear capability,” Mr. Hardy said.

Washington Times

Missile unit deployed in Taipei after getting upgraded in US: report

The first batch of the Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missile launchers that Taiwan previously sent to the United States for upgrade has been secretly sent back to the country after being upgraded to the more advanced PAC-3 configuration, according to the United Evening News (UEN) report yesterday.

China urges calm ahead of N Korea rocket launch

China on Friday urged restraint ahead of the launch of a North Korean rocket, after Tokyo said it was readying its missile defence systems to shoot the missile down if it posed any threat to Japan.