June 15:
According to The Irawaddy, Myanmar’s air force has procured 50 K-8 jet trainer aircraft from China. Parts of the K-8 aircraft were transported by cargo ship from China and are being assembled at the Aircraft Production and Maintenance Base in Meikhtila. The purchase comes after Burma's air force chief Lt-Gen Myat Hein travelled to China in November to negotiate an upgrade to a fleet of Chinese-made military aircraft already owned by Myanmar. The jets could either serve for training exercises or for counter-insurgency. The K-8 jet trainer – sometimes called the K-8 Karakorum or the Hongdu JL-8 – is a joint venture between China and Pakistan, and is fitted with air-to-air missiles and rockets. In 1998-9, the Mynmar’s air force bought 12 K-8 jet trainers from China, which are now stationed at Taungoo Air Base in Pegu Division.
Still reeling from its debt crisis, Greece has turned to China for help. China has agreed to a series of bilateral investment agreements worth billions. During a visit by China's Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang to Athens he and Prime Minister George Papandreou signed 14 bilateral agreements. Papandreou said bilateral relations were excellent and praised China’s investment in the Greek shipping, transport, tourism, logistics, airport and telecoms sectors, which he said “deepened Greek-Chinese cooperation on an international and regional level.” Extensive agreements were concluded with the China Ocean Shipping (COSCO) shipyards and Huawei Technologies. China also agreed to build several shopping complexes throughout the country, the Associated Press reports.
June 18:
Several senior Chinese leaders specializing in security affairs including Meng Jianzhu, Minister for Public Security, and Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission have met with Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. China is relying on Pakistan's support to fight Uighur separatists in the region bordering Xinjiang, who have posed a growing challenge to Chinese authorities. The two countries have devised an anti-terrorism program under which Pakistani security forces will push back Uighur fighters trying to cross the border to seek sanctuary in terrorist camps in Pakistan. Beijing desperately wants Pakistani help to cut links between Uighur separatists and Islamic fundamentalists. Both countries held anti-terrorism exercises in Xinjiang, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in 2004 and a second such exercise in northern Pakistan's Abbottabad in 2006. Preparations are underway for another military exercise aimed at the Xinjiang separatists, the Times of India reports.
June 21:
China’s military buildup may be undermining the country’s relations with Japan. China is estimated to have about 400 nuclear warheads and is building new missiles including the Dong Feng 31A, an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 14,000 kilometers. The shorter-range Dong Feng 21C missile has Japan well within its range and China’s new anti-ship ballistic missile travels at supersonic speeds. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is also constructing underground bases for nuclear missiles in mountainous areas in Henan and Shanxi provinces, aimed at protecting them from preemptive strikes. "If we place U.S. aircraft carriers and U.S. bases in Japan within the range of our missiles, the U.S. fleets will not be able to enter the western Pacific freely. As a result, we will make the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty ineffective," said a PLA source in comments. The PLA has also developed state-of-the-art Song-class and Kilo-class submarines with quiet propulsion technologies that make them difficult to detect. According to the International Herald Tribune (Asahi), the Japanese Defense Ministry asserts Chinese destroyers have been detected near Miyakojima island and Okinotorishima island five times since 2008.
[Editor’s Note: Last month, a testy exchange between the foreign ministers of China and Japan suggests tensions are rising. During one meeting Japan’s Katsuya Okada told China’s Yang Jiechi that: “Among the countries that possess nuclear weapons, only China is increasing its nuclear weapons.” This angered Yang who, before leaving, replied that: “There is nothing to justify being told such a thing by Japan, which is protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella.”]
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