US satellite pictures China aircraft carrier Varyag. 14 December 2011Last updated at 16:47 ET The 300m (990ft) carrier began its sea trials in August A commercial US satellite company says it has taken a picture of China's first aircraft carrier during its sea trials in the Yellow Sea. It is believed to be the first time that the refitted Soviet vessel has been photographed sailing. The warship began its sea trials in August, raising fresh concerns over Beijing's military build-up. China is currently involved in several maritime territorial disputes, particularly in the South China Sea. Stephen Wood, director of DigitalGlobe's analysis centre, said the vessel was photographed on 8 December off the Chinese coast by one of the company's orbiting satellites. Mr Wood added that he was confident it was the Chinese carrier because of the location and date of the photo.
China, which says the carrier is intended for research and training, has so far not publicly commented on the claim. Maritime disputes. China Hijacks 15% Of Internet Traffic? More Like .015% - Andy Greenberg - The Firewall. China’s Carrier Killer Ballistic Missiles are Operational. It looks like this is the week China’s military rapidly advancing military tech keeps getting the limelight . First, we saw pics of the Asian giant’s new stealth fighter. Now, it looks like China is one step closer to fielding ballistic missiles aimed at holding U.S. forces throughout the Pacific at bay. Adm. Robert Willard, the top U.S. officer in the Pacific said this week that China’s new DF-21D anti-ship balistic missiles, with their 900-mile range, have reached an early operational status. Apparently, the missiles, widely fretted over in Washington as one of the most serious threats to the United States’ ability to project power in the Pacific (read here, here and here) have reached the equivalent of initial operational capability, Willard said in an interview with the Japanese Newspaper, Asahi Shimbun.
While the U.S. hasn’t seen an “over water” test of the missile, Willard says that the fact that the system is at IOC, means it can likely hit intended targets. Comparing India and China: Chasing the dragon. China navy to carry out Pacific exercises. 23 November 2011Last updated at 23:48 ET China's military build up has caused concern elsewhere in the region China's navy will carry out exercises in the Pacific Ocean in the coming days, amid continuing tension over maritime disputes in the region. The defence ministry said the drills were routine and were not targeting any specific country. China is locked in territorial rows with several nations, and the US has recently made a series of announcements bolstering its presence in the region. A Pentagon spokesman said the US had no problem with the naval exercises. Captain John Kirby said that China was "entitled to exercise their military in ways they deem fit".
A short statement on the defence ministry's website announced the exercises late on Wednesday. "This is an annual, planned, routine drill. "China's freedom of navigation and other legal rights should not be obstructed. " China is the Voldemort of hacking: it that must not be named! The most striking thing about news of the latest high-level hacking campaign isn’t just that it has been going on for at least five years. It isn’t even that among the victims of the hack attack were some of the biggest world organisations (including the United Nations), some national governments (including India), and some of the biggest companies (defence contractors and high-tech enterprises).
The most striking thing about it is that, from all accounts, the hack attack was carried out by Lord Voldemort, the evil antagonist of the fictional boy wizard Harry Potter. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. What else could account for the fact that the cybersecurity expert who narrated graphic details of the cyberwar to Vanity Fair magazine said he would not speculate on which country was behind the hacking operation, named (somewhat curiously) Operation Shady RAT? At the time that Google went public, it pointed out that other firms were also known to have been similarly targetted by Chinese hackers. The Chinese Way of Hacking. Cyberwarfare in 2011 is an odd beast.
Many Western governments reportedly actively monitor rivals and engage in online sabotage, while countries ranging from Israel to Iran to India also engage in cyberwarfare programs of their own. But it's attacks against the American government and commercial websites such as Google that grab headlines. As foreign governments learn the ease of obtaining intelligence online and foreign corporations continue to get the edge on their competitors through massive online attacks, future hacker efforts will only become more ambitious.
One of the countries where many of these civilian and military attacks reportedly originate is China. Fast Company recently spoke with Adam Segal, the Ira A. Lipman senior fellow for counterterrorism and national security issues at the Council on Foreign Relations, about bored Chinese teenagers, the Chinese way of hacking, India's rush to create a patriotic hacker corps, and much more. Yes. Is Bismarck China’s Man? | China, What's Next? Would a China that models its diplomacy on that of Otto von Bismarck qualify as a ‘responsible stakeholder’ in the globalized, US-led international order? Not unless it takes Bismarck’s conservative statesmanship out of historical context, ignoring what it took to bring about a German-led order in Europe, how the ‘Iron Chancellor’ managed that order, and what befell Germany and Europe after he left office.
Taken as a whole, German unification and its aftermath represent more a cautionary tale than an example worth imitating. Yet China watchers in the West are still debating this question, studying the implications of the Imperial German experience for China, Asia, and the United States. Those leery of Chinese ambitions warn that a strong, revisionist China could distort the regional balance of power, giving rise to intense rivalries across Asia. They typically point to the Germany of Kaiser Wilhelm II, which marched Europe over the precipice in 1914. Cold Comfort Anatomy of Revolutions.
China Takes Aim at U.S. Naval Might. China Wants Bases an Endless War in Pakistan | Danger Room. Washington just got a golden opportunity to end its decade-long excursion into central Asia and deplete the power of its Pacific rival/banker, all in one fell swoop. The Chinese are seeking bases in the tribal regions of Pakistan, precisely where the U.S. fights its drone war. The plugged-in Asia Times Online reports that China wants to set up military hubs in Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, formerly known as the Northwest Frontier Province. China’s reasoning will sound familiar to American ears: That’s where anti-Chinese terrorists operate.
Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa abuts the restive, non-Han Chinese province of Xinjiang, home to ethnic Uighur separatists. This is usually when Pakistan expects the U.S. to freak out over the spread of Chinese power and draw a line in the sand. The Asia Times Online story smells like a calculated Islamabad leak, especially since it comes on the heels of last week’s demand by Secretary of State that Pakistan cut off its terrorist proxies in the Haqqani Network.