May 14:
For the first time in history, the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy (PLAN) is visiting Senegal. For two days three PLAN warships were anchored at Dakar port, each with 660 officers and sailors aboard and equipped with antiaircraft missiles and helicopters. According to the Chinese Ambassador to Senegal, Xia Huang, the PLAN visit is intended to strengthen and expand military relations between China and Senegal. In addition to Senegal, the frigates will head for seven other African countries, including South Africa, Senegal’s state-run Agence de Presse Senegalaise reports.
May 22:
While in Rabat, Morocco, for two days General Hou Shusen, deputy chief of general staff of the People’s Liberation Army held meetings with General Abdelaziz Bennani of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR). “Cooperation between the FAR and the PLA is focused on training, exchange of visits and sharing expertise,” Morocco’s official MAP news agencyreports. The delegation included Wang Xixin, deputy commander of the Shenyang Military Area Command (MAC) of the PLA, among others, the PLA Daily reports.
May 23:
Chen Kun-shan, one of Taiwan’s leading experts on remote sensing technology, has defected to China. Chen’s case poses a “serious threat” to Taiwan's national security, Liberty Times reports. As head of the Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research at National Central University (NCU) since 2001, Chen had access to satellite images covering Taiwan and China’s military deployments and was privy to state secrets and restricted from visiting China. Chen was hired to work at China’s State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science under Beijing’s “Thousands Talents Program,” which seeks to attract overseas scientists, Taipei Times reports. NCU suspended Chen in November 2013, two months after he went absent without leave. He has now been dismissed.
May 24:
The first of two U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drones has arrived at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture in northeastern Japan. U.S. forces deployed the pair of the drones temporarily from Guam for a tour from May to October. The Global Hawk, which is 14.5m long and has a wingspan of about 40 meters, is capable of conducting extended surveillance at altitudes above 15,000 meters, Kyodo news agency reports.
May 26:
Beijing has accused Japan’s Self Defense Force (SDF) planes of “monitoring and interfering with a joint military drill by the navies of China and Russia,” adding that Chinese fighters were scrambled and necessary identification and security measures were taken. The incident, which happened above the East China Sea in airspace where the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean air defense identification zones overlap, occurred when two SDF aircraft were monitoring the joint China-Russia naval exercises. First, a Chinese SU-27 fighter jet approached Japan’s OP-3C surveillance plane coming within 50 meters. Then, an hour later, another SU-27 flew within 30 meters of Japan’s YS-11EB aircraft, Japan Times reports. South Korea also stepped up surveillance and reconnaissance in the area and summoned a military attaché from China’s Embassy to express concern, the Chosun Ilbo reports.