China Reform Monitor: No. 1047

July 5:

In response to the military takeover in Egypt, China’s official press has reiterated the Communist party’s position that “Western-style democracy” is not good for developing countries with different cultural traditions. Commentaries in this vein appeared in the People’s Daily, the Beijing Daily, the Oriental Morning Post and other state-run media. The official China Daily says Egypt’s unrest shows the West’s “export of democracy” is a “faulty diagnosis.” “Western countries should take Egypt as an example, engage in serious reflection, wake up their brains and not readily find fault with other countries. Then they wont lose face.” The Global Times writes that developing countries that copy the West come to “grief.” Wen Wei Po says Hong Kong should learn from Egypt and not let “unrealistic radicalism” for political reform hurt stability and economic livelihood.

July 7:

China is providing Pakistan both JF-17 combat fighter aircraft and 150 Russian-made Klimov RD-93 turbojet engines to power them. China and Pakistan are jointly developing the JF-17, an upgrade over the RD-33-powered MiG-29. Moscow, which promised India it would not to sell arms to Islamabad, has consented to the engines’ re-export from China to Pakistan. The JF-17 will allow Pakistan’s air force to counter India’s 65 MiG-29s; which New Delhi has signed a fresh agreement with Moscow to upgrade. With 150 RD-93-powered JF-17s Pakistan could easily match India’s three-squadron MiG-29 fleet at Adampur airbase on the Pakistan border, New Indian Express reports.

July 11:

RIA Novosti reports China plans to sign a deal to acquire 24 Su-35 fighters and will likely buy more in the future along with a license to make them. The Su-35’s complexity and lack of foreign components make it difficult for China to copy. Ukraine and Belarus assisted China in copying the Su-27 by supplying its technologies, but “the Su-35 is an exclusively Russian product so apart from Russia, nobody can help China. Hence, the official license,” said Konstantin Makiyenko, director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. He expressed concern that Russia’s warplane exports have been declining for a decade and could soon be dependent only on Su-35 sales to China. Russia is thus eyeing increased sales to Vietnam, Indonesia and Venezuela.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Russian Navy have concluded a week of joint “Joint Sea-2013” exercises, reports the People's Daily. They practiced maritime search and rescue and held live-fire exercises involving air, sea and underwater targets. Additional drills included air-defense, maritime supply, countering submarine threats, joint escort, and rescuing hijacked ships. The PLAN sent seven vessels, three aircraft, five ship-borne helicopters and two special operations detachments to Russia’s port of Vladivostok. Russia’s Pacific Fleet supplied 12 vessels. Leonid Sukhanov, deputy chief of staff of Russia’s Navy, said future joint drills would include training officers and increased naval cooperation.

July 12:

Wu Shengli, commander-in-chief of the PLAN, has reassured Admiral Choi Yoon-hee, South Korea’s chief naval operations, that China’s coast guard will help control Chinese fishing boats operating illegally near the tense inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap reports. Chinese fishermen hover near the border during the spring and summer crabbing seasons and sail back across when South Korea’s Coast Guard appears. In Qingdao, Shandong, Choi also met with Vice Admiral Tian Zhong, commander of the PLAN North Sea fleet, to discuss the establishment of military hotlines and increased interactions with South Korea’s Second Fleet, JoongAng Daily reports.