China

Russia Says IS Making Afghanistan “Resting Place” For Terrorism

Russia’s Ambassador to Pakistan had strong words against the rise of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, stating that the terror group is turning northern Afghanistan into a “resting base” of international terrorism and a “bridgehead” for establishing its destructive caliphate in the region.

The “international wing of Daesh” is spearheading the effort of terrorists spilling over the borders of Syria and Iraq and moving worldwide, asserted Russian ambassador to Pakistan, Alexey Dedov.
“With clear connivance, and sometimes even with direct support of certain local and outside sponsors, thousands of militants of various nationalities are consolidating under the banners of Daesh there (in northern Afghanistan), including jihadis from Syria and Iraq,” Dedov told a seminar in Islamabad.
He did not elaborate but Russia and Iran accuse the United States of supporting Islamic State’s rise in Afghanistan.
Iran’s top military commander earlier this week also alleged that the U.S. is transferring IS militants to Afghanistan to fuel regional instability and justify its presence in the region.
Washington vehemently rejects the charges as “rumors” and says its sustained operations in partnership with Afghan forces against IS bases in the country have significantly degraded and reduced the terrorists.
The U.S. military maintains its recent airstrikes in northern Afghan regions are targeting Taliban training camps and those of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a terrorist organization operating near the border with China and Tajikistan.
“The U.S. strikes support Afghanistan in reassuring its neighbors that it is not a safe sanctuary for terrorists who want to carry out cross border operations,” the military said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has accused Russia of arming the Taliban, something Moscow denies yet says they support the Taliban because they promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Russia has also moved quickly into the vacuum of denied U.S. support for Pakistan and has increased military sales to the country including M-35 attack helicopters.

The Pakistanis have praised the role of Russia, stating they’re helping to “stabilize” the situation. China, has increased its influence with Pakistan with the building of a huge economic corridor. They remain Pakistan’s biggest ally in the region

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Chinese Military Plane Crash Kills at Least 12 Members

A Chinese military aircraft crashed in Guizhou killed at least a dozen crew and passengers as military officials are examining what is being termed as a “fatal gap” between their current technology and the Air Force’s orders to push the training of its members to the limit.

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has confirmed that an aircraft crashed in the southwestern province during a training exercise on Monday.
It did not give details of the casualties or type of aircraft involved, but a source close to the air force told the Post that at least a dozen crew members were killed. It was a new type of refuelling plane modified from the air force’s Y-8 transport aircraft, the source said.
“There were about a dozen men and women on board and none of them managed to escape when the plane went down,” the source, who requested anonymity, said.
“There are no ejection seats on those aircraft, so the pilots and crew members would have been relying on the parachute packs on board. But they wouldn’t have had enough time to jump because the aircraft fell so fast.”
The source said the incident had undermined morale in the air force because it happened just a few weeks after a J-15 carrier-based fighter jet crashed.
A second military source said it was not known whether there were any casualties from the J-15 crash last month, but added there was growing concern in the air force that there could be more accidents as flight drills were stepped up.
The defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Chinese officials are aware that both the Y-8 and J-15 have some problems, including the engines, aircraft design, and modifications. But sources told the media that the pilots are being pushed to push the envelope farther than the aircraft’s limitations, as political concerns to build a “combat-ready fighting force take precedence over crew safety.

Others sources said that morale is plummeting in the force as they continue to rattle their saber around Taiwan and other spots in the South China Sea.

To read the entire article from The South China Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Chinese President Xi Jinping Tells Army, “Not to Fear Death”

President Xi Jinping spoke to a huge rally of Chinese troops on Wednesday morning as he addressed the entire army via a live feed in a show of strength and resolve for the Chinese armed forces. It also showed, thru Xi Jinping’s comments that for the first time the Chairman of the Communist Party will be heavily involved in the training of their army.

At 10 a.m., in Baoding, in the northern province of Hebei, China, Xi told 7,000 heavily armed officers and soldiers standing in formation that they should not fear “hardship or death” as they fight for their country’s Communist values.
The in-person address was simultaneously broadcast to 4,000 other military bases across the country—spanning China’s army, navy and air forces—who were ordered to watch Xi’s address via a live feed, according to the state-owned Xinhua News Agency.
During his speech, Xi encouraged the troops to “enhance their military training and combat readiness” to “grasp the capability to win battles” as dictated by the Chinese Communist Party (CPC).
“Commanders and personnel should firmly implement the decisions and instructions by the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission [CMC] with a fighting spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death,” Xi said.
The military “should also train hard in a scientific way, be brave to overcome difficulties and surpass opponents, and create an elite and powerful force that is always ready for the fight, capable of combat and sure to win in order to fulfill the tasks bestowed by the party and the people in the new era,” he added.

Xi Jinping’s comments seem to add to the fear of rising tensions emanating from North Korea where the dictator Kim Jong Un is always threatening nuclear war. And his constant engaging of President Trump with childish tweets back and forth has set many, including those in China on edge.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

South Korea Seizes Ship Allegedly for Illegal Oil Shipments to the North

The South Korean government seized a Hong Kong-registered ship last month for allegedly supplying oil to the North in breach of United Nations sanctions. The Koreans, armed with U.S. satellite photos said the ship Lighthouse Winmore transferred 600 tons of refined oil to a North Korean ship.

The UN Security Council resolution bans any ship-to-ship transfers of goods destined for Pyongyang.

The revelations came as China denied claims by President Donald Trump it had allowed oil shipments to the North.
The ship entered Yeosu port in South Korea on 11 October to load up with refined oil and left for Taiwan four days later, Yonhap news agency reported.
But instead of going to Taiwan it transferred the oil to a North Korean ship and three other vessels in international waters on 19 October, South Korean officials were quoted as saying.
This defies a UN Security Council resolution imposed on 11 September.
The New York Times said the transfer was captured in US satellite photos, released by the US Treasury in November, although the Lighthouse Winmore was not named by the Treasury.

The ship is registered in Hong Kong but the company that owns it is a shadowy group supposedly based in Taiwan. President Trump announced that the Chinese were behind it, which Beijing reported “was not consistent with the facts.”

North Korean state-owned news services have responded with the usual bluster that the sanctions are “an act of war” by the U.S.

To read the entire article from The BBC, click here:

Chinese Flyby Drills Closer To Taiwan Sound the Alarm

The Chinese are growing increasingly bolder and more aggressive toward Taiwan as their navy and aircraft get closer and closer to the island in a challenge to the Taiwanese armed forces.

Planes from China flew near Taiwan in November and December, raising concern last week at the presidential office in Taipei. Over the past two years, Chinese military units have sent planes 10 times just outside the Taiwanese air defense zone, former Taiwan defense minister Andrew Yang estimates.
China considers self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory that must eventually be unified. Officials in Beijing resent Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen for not accepting their “one-China” principle, which would bind the two sides under one flag, as a condition for any talks.
China is conducting the long-range flights in part to warn Taiwan against moving toward formal independence at the risk of a military strike, analysts say.
The two sides have been separately ruled since Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to Taiwan after the Chinese civil war, but the government in Taipei has never declared official independence. Surveys in Taipei show most Taiwanese oppose unification.
China wants to prove it can send ships and planes past the “first island chain,” said Joshua Pollack, editor of The Nonproliferation Review in Washington.
Taiwan, which sits 160 kilometers from China at its nearest point, has sent its own aircraft to monitor China’s movements and urged people on the island to stay calm.

Neither side wants a mishap, but the Chinese have shown that they are growing increasingly impatient to a unification that they want and are willing to use force. These drills are putting both sides in dangerous situations that may ignite at any time.

To read the entire article from Voice of America click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Dec. 20, 1941, the AVG, Flying Tigers Flies in Combat For the First Time

The First American Volunteer Group [AVG] popularly known as the Flying Tigers was a civilian contractor group of US Army, Navy and Marine Corps aviators who volunteered to fight for the Chinese against the Japanese in the early days of World War II.

Although the Flying Tigers were in existence for a very short time, they established a stellar combat record and have become one of the most iconic units of the war, readily identifiable by their Shark’s tooth nose art painted on their P-40 fighters.

The AVG was recruited from the military with Presidential authority and was commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The strength of the group was never more than about 90 planes with three squadrons of 30 aircraft each. The three squadrons were named “Adam & Eve”, “Panda Bears” and “Hell’s Angels” after the 1930 Howard Hughes film.

R.T. Smith of the 3rd Pursuit Squadron, (Hell’s Angels) of the AVG. The Flying Tiger logo was done by the Walt Disney Co.

Although they were in combat from only December 20, 1941 – July 4, 1942, they shot down 229 Japanese aircraft and destroyed another 68 on the ground against a loss of just 16 of the AVG. The members of the volunteer group were in actuality members of the Chinese Air Force although their pay $250 a month for a mechanic, and up to $750 a month for a squadron commander was about three times what they were paid in the US military.

Chennault, was a retired U.S. Army Air Corps officer who had worked in China since August 1937, as an advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and later as the director of a Chinese Air Force flight school centered in Kunming.

The pilots were discharged from the military and promised $600 a month for flight officers, $675 for flight leaders and $750 for squadron commanders. They were promised a bounty of $500 for every Japanese plane shot down. In April 1941, the pilots took ships from the United States to Burma while they awaited their aircraft to be shipped over and shuttled to their training fields.

Chennault’s Training Doctrine Proves Effective: Chennault studied the Japanese aircraft, their tactics and the results the Soviet pilots had while flying against them in 1940. He decided to break from established US doctrine that was being taught to US fighter pilots in the states.

Chennault’s doctrine forbid the AVG pilots from taking on the enemy in a turning dogfight. The Japanese fighters were far too maneuverable for the P-40s to take on in a dogfighting. Instead, the AVG would dive on enemy aircraft in teams from an altitude advantage, and then to execute a diving or slashing attack and to dive away to set up for another attack. This “dive-and-zoom” technique proved to be extremely effective once the Tigers took on the Japanese fighters. Although much more nimble, the Japanese fighters didn’t have the dive speed of the heavier American fighters.

The P-40 was superior to the Japanese fighters in a few areas. The pilot’s armor protection, much heavier armament and self-sealing gas tanks. Plus, they had the advantage of diving faster which fit their tactics to a tee.

Combat begins: Shortly after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the AVG was now combat ready. Chennault moved a squadron [Hell’s Angels] to Kunming to defend the Burma road on December 20, the Japanese sent a force to bomb Rangoon and the AVG shot down four aircraft with no losses of their own while breaking up the attack.

On the 23rd, the Japanese struck again and the Tigers shot down eight more of the enemy while losing three of their own.

On Christmas Day 1941, the Japanese Air Force sent 63 bombers escorted by 25 fighters to attack again, they were met by a force of just 14 P-40s. The AVG ripped into the Japanese formations shooting down a combination of 35 bombers and fighter with a loss of just five of their own.

The combat continued into 1942 as the AVG found itself consistently outnumbered by superior Japanese numbers and although the Chinese and Allies were pushed back, the AVG took a toll on the attacking Japanese pilots. The AVG maintained a superior kill ratio to the enemy and far beyond anyone else in the theater.

Nineteen AVG pilots became Aces while in the service of the Chinese:

Robert Neale: 13 victories
Ed Rector: 10.5 victories
David Lee “Tex” Hill: 10.25 victories
George Burgard: 10 victories
Robert Little: 10 victories
Charles Older: 10 victories
Robert T. Smith: 8.9 victories
William McGarry: 8 victories
Robert Walters: 8 victories
Charles Bond: 7 victories
Frank Lawlor: 7 victories
John V. “Scarsdale Jack” Newkirk: 7 victories
Robert Hedman: 6 victories
C. Joseph Rosbert: 6 victories
J. Richard Rossi: 6.25 victories
Robert Prescott: 5.5 victories
Percy Bartelt: 5 victories
William Bartling: 5 victories
Edmund Overend: 5 victories
Robert Sandell: 5 victories
Robert H. Smith: 5 victories

Return to the US Military: In typical bean-counter form, the US military decided to revert the AVG back into the armed services in mid-1942, and in a total snafu sent a general officer General Clayton Bissell to strong-arm the Tigers back into the US military. Bissell was a long-time hater and enemy of Chennault. His “recruitment” speech for the AVG was full of demands and threats as to what would happen to the Tigers if they refused. Most of the pilots told him to pound sand. Only a few stayed on out of respect for Chennault who was promoted to Brigadier General and put in command of the new unit.

From the diary of Dick Rossi: We were in actual combat for seven months; we had less than 300 people. As of Dec 2, 1941, there were 82 pilots and of the original 100 P-40s sent out to Chennault, 78 remained with 62 in commission, 68 with radios and 60 with armament. There were shortages of just about everything and no spare parts to speak of. The group has a confirmed count of 297 enemy aircraft destroyed with another 150 probable. Our losses were 4 pilots lost in aerial combat, 7 shot down and killed by anti-aircraft fire during strafing runs, 8 killed in operational and training accidents unrelated to enemy action. Four were MIA and of those 3 were found to be POWs. Three died from Japanese bombing raids. One was shot down and seen alive, but no word as to his fate. The American Fighter Aces Association confirms 20 AVG pilots as Aces with another 6 pilots achieving Ace status during the next few years.

Chinese Memorials: Despite not being on the best terms with the US during the Communist years, the Chinese people remember the Flying Tigers and the AVG quite fondly and there are numerous memorials built to honor the memory of the American men who risked their lives for the Chinese people.

From Wikipedia: A Flying Tigers Memorial is located in the village of Zhejiang, Hunan Province, China and there is a museum dedicated exclusively to the Flying Tigers. The building is a steel and marble structure, with wide sweeping steps leading up to a platform with columns holding up the memorial’s sweeping roof; on its back wall, etched in black marble, are the names of all members of the AVG, 75th Fighter Squadron, and 14th Air Force who died in China. In 2005, the city of Kunming held a ceremony memorializing the history of the Flying Tigers in China, and on 20 December 2012, the Flying Tigers Museum opened in Kunming. The date is the 71st anniversary of the first combat from Kunming of the Flying Tigers. The Memorial Cemetery to Anti-Japanese Aviator Martyrs in Nanjing, China features a wall listing the names of Flying Tiger pilots and other pilots who defended China in World War II, and has several unmarked graves for such American pilots.

The largest private museum in China, Chengdu Jianchuan Museum, devotes a wing in its military section to the history of the Flying Tigers, including a tribute wall featuring a thousand porcelain photos of members of the Flying Tigers as well as many historical artifacts from the era.

In March 2015, the Flying Tiger Heritage Park was opened in Guilin in collaboration with the Flying Tiger Historical Organization. The park is built on the site of Yangtang Airfield and includes a museum, aircraft shelters, and relics of a command post located in a cave.

Photos; US Archives

China Flexes Military Muscle in the Western Pacific as a Warning to Taiwan

The Chinese continued to act more aggressively in the Pacific, the latest bellicose move by Beijing was a series of military exercises in the Western Pacific in what Chinese officials described as “island encirclement patrols” over Taiwan by their air forces.

These latest drills came just a week after a spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army said that the Chinese Air Force had recently staged drills over the Yellow and East seas near the Korean peninsula, using “routes and areas it has never flown before”. The latest moves are messages to Taiwan and to the US and South Korea that they intend on increasing their influence, far beyond their borders.

Monday’s drills involved aircraft flying over the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, and the Miyako Strait near the Japanese island of Okinawa. Other patrols encircled Taiwan, air force spokesperson Shen Jinke said, according to a statement posted on the air force’s website.
“Exercises near Taiwan are [primarily] a warning to the DPP, which always plays down Beijing’s military might, and a reminder to the Taiwanese public,” Beijing-based military expert Zhou Chenming said.
“In the East China Sea, however, where China’s air defence identification zone overlaps with Japan’s, drills are more complicated and challenging, because Tokyo scrambles its fighters to [effectively] join the training, which helps the Chinese pilots to improve their combat skills,” he said.
Taiwan’s Defence Minister Feng Shih-kuan said on Tuesday that the island had dispatched aircraft and ships to monitor the PLA’s exercises, but said they were not unusual and that the public should not be alarmed.

Chinese actions continue to show their aggressive and confident nature in pushing their influence in the region. With the situation in North Korea bubbling, the Chinese are not limiting their attention there. And are preparing for any scenario.

To read the entire article from The South China Post click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Chinese General Accused in Corruption Probe, Commits Suicide

Chinese Gen. Zhang Yang, accused of corruption with ties to two other disgraced military authorities, committed suicide at his home, according to Chinese state-run media. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s aggressive anti-corruption drive was investigating Yang of charges of “violating Party discipline.”

The South China Morning Post, quoting China’s state media reports that Zhang, 66, a former head of the powerful Central Military Commission’s (CMC) political work department, “hanged himself at his home in Beijing on the morning of November 23, and the news of his death had been relayed to all People’s Liberation Army theatre commands.”
Xinhua said Zhang had “serious disciplinary violations,” something the Post describes as “euphemism for corruption.” NPR’s Rob Schmitz, reporting from Shanghai, says the general “had disappeared from public sight more than two months ago amidst a crackdown on corruption within military ranks launched by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.”
Zhang had ties to Gen. Xu Caihou, the former head of the army’s political department, and Gen. Guo Boxiong, a former vice-chairman of the CMC. Both were accused of corruption — Xu died of cancer before he could be imprisoned and in July 2016, Guo was given a prison term of life.

Xi Jinping’s drive to erase the rampant corruption in Chinese society has made him a popular figure with the populace but not so much with the high-ranking members who have profited from the practice, but according to NPR, is still a major issue in the Chinese healthcare and education sectors.

To read the entire article from The National Public Radio, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

China in Military Showcases Global Expansion With Military Exercises

China established its first overseas base in Djibouti only a few months ago but the base has been a beehive of activity. Chinese state-run television showed images of armored vehicles firing cannons, and soldiers engaging targets as the Chinese continue to expand their influence around the world.

“The overseas troops will engage in regular military exercises just like troops serving [in China]. But their practice should soon have a different focus, rather than basic shooting training because their mission in Djibouti is to protect China’s interests in Africa, as well as peacekeeping,” Zhou said.
China’s overseas military expansion was the focus of a July Pentagon report, which said that Beijing may soon seek to establish a network of similar facilities around the world.
China first started constructing the Djibouti base in early 2015. Located near one of the world’s busiest shipping channels, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the move would allow China to contribute to regional peace and stability, and extend its efforts to combat Somali pirates.
According to the Pentagon report, the Djibouti base, “along with regular naval vessel visits to foreign ports, both reflects and amplifies China’s growing influence, extending the reach of its armed forces,” and it may be the first of many such overseas bases.
“China most likely will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries,” the report says.
In a landmark speech in 2015, President Xi Xinping said: “We Chinese love peace. No matter how much stronger it may become, China will never seek hegemony or expansion. It will never inflict its past suffering on any other nation.”

The Chinese are looking to push the US in an attempt to have the most influence in different parts of the world as their expansion of power and influence continues. The base in Djibouti is just the first of many new bases the Chinese government will open in the next few years.

To read the entire article from Newsweek click here:

Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

Taiwan’s President Arrives in Hawaii Amid Chinese Protests

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is on a trip to visit and strengthen its support among its allies its diplomatic allies in the Pacific, stopped over in Hawaii despite strong objections from China.

The Chinese considered Taiwan, part of their territory, despite the Taiwanese having a self-governed body ruling it. The Taiwanese have been in control of the island since the end of the 1949 Chinese Civil War when Mao Zedong’s communist forces drove out the Nationalists of Chiang Kai-Shek. They frequently have mentioned using force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Tsai, who China believes is seeking formal independence for Taiwan, left on Saturday on a week-long trip to three Pacific allies – Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands – via Honolulu and the US territory of Guam.
For her part, Tsai has said she wants to maintain peace with Beijing but will defend Taiwan’s democracy and security.
Earlier this week, the US State Department said Tsai’s transits through American soil would be “private and unofficial” and were based on long-standing US practice consistent with “our unofficial relations with Taiwan”.
It noted there was “no change to the US one-China policy” which recognises that Beijing takes the view that there is only one China.

Tsai is on her second trip to the US in 2017, having stopped over on a trip to Latin America. She visited Pearl Harbor and laid a wreath at the memorial site for the Battleship Arizona.

To read the entire article from the South China Morning Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia