Hawkish generals around Xi ridiculed online after U.S. B-52s ignored new Air ID Zone

Hawkish generals around Xi ridiculed online after U.S. B-52s ignored new Air ID Zone

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Beijing’s designation of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) that partially overlaps with that of Japan and South Korea has raised alarms throughout the Asia-Pacific Region. While attention has focused on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership’s immediate goal of securing de facto control over the Diaoyu-Senkaku islands […]

China seen as next major player in global drone export market

China seen as next major player in global drone export market

Special to WorldTribune.com Geostrategy-Direct.com WASHINGTON — China was expected to become the next major exporter of unmanned aerial vehicles, particularly to the Middle East, a report said. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has determined that Beijing would succeed in marketing UAVs to developing countries in several regions. In a report, the commission said […]

China’s ‘Defense and Aerospace Faction’ is upwardly mobile with Gang of Princelings

China’s ‘Defense and Aerospace Faction’ is upwardly mobile with Gang of Princelings

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com In its just-published White Paper on National Defense, China’s military establishment has revealed new information about the country’s secretive People’s Liberation Army (PLA). For example, the Paper noted that the PLA’s ground forces consisted of 850,000 officers, while the navy and air force had strengths of respectively 235,000 […]

PLA generals go for the money, and Xi Jinping raises no objections

PLA generals go for the money, and Xi Jinping raises no objections

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com With the acquiescence of Party boss and commander-in-chief Xi Jinping, hawkish generals are aggressively lobbying for a bigger share of China’s economic resources. Officially, the military budget this year of 720.17 billion yuan was a modest 10.7 per cent over that of last year. This figure also represents […]

Obama’s Alice-in-Wonderland foreign policy

Obama’s Alice-in-Wonderland foreign policy

Sol W. Sanders   That clanking and screeching you hear out of Washington, almost drowning out the caterwauling of the budget debate, is the Obama administration making a 180-degree turn on Pacific Ocean anti-missile defense. As usual with the cloying mainstream media, the significance of this complete reversal of strategy has been obfuscated at the […]

As U.S. ‘pivots’ to East Asia, Taiwan is drifting into Beijing’s orbit

As U.S. ‘pivots’ to East Asia, Taiwan is drifting into Beijing’s orbit

Sol W. Sanders   TAIPEI – The U.S.’ 50-year-old alliance with [Formosa] Taiwan is eroding slowly but surely in the face of Beijing’s siren call and growing indifference of the Obama administration. Yet at a moment when U.S. strategy ostensibly calls for a “pivot” toward Asia, the de facto alliance could never have been more […]

Odds of military conflict between China, Japan increase as Xi calls for ‘actual combat’ training

Odds of military conflict between China, Japan increase as Xi calls for ‘actual combat’ training

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The likelihood of an at least small-scale military conflict between China and Japan over the Diaoyu-Senkaku islands has increased dramatically. Latest reports from Beijing say that General Secretary Xi Jinping, who is also commander-in-chief of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has given orders to deploy more short- to […]

As Xi takes the helm, a foreign military ‘adventure’ is an attractive option

As Xi takes the helm, a foreign military ‘adventure’ is an attractive option

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com One of the biggest foreign and national security questions regarding the new Chinese Communist Party leadership is whether newly anointed General Secretary and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping will sponsor a foreign “adventure” to consolidate his relatively weak power base. Historical parallels are not lacking. […]

Hu Jintao seen prevailing in PLA power struggle with Xi Jinping and Jiang Zemin

Hu Jintao seen prevailing in PLA power struggle with Xi Jinping and Jiang Zemin

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com President Hu Jintao has clawed back some territory with a reshuffle of the People’s Liberation Army’s top brass that largely tallies with the wishes of the 69-year-old supremo. It seems likely that Hu will remain chairman of the policy-setting Central Military Commission (CMC) for a couple more years […]