China's Defense/Military Breaking News Thread

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goldenpanda

Banned Idiot
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

I'm sure Adm Mullen is extremely dedicated and skilled. Chinese have much more to fear from him, than from some prima dona like MacArthur.
 

Schumacher

Senior Member
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

China, US militaries seem to be finally setting up a hotline. Gates seems to have better things to say about Sino-US ties compared to the more outspoken Rumsfeld in the same forum 2 years ago.

Does anyone know if US & USSR had such 'hotline' during the cold war ?

Title : US, China take pains to cool military dispute
By :
Date : 02 June 2007 1538 hrs (SST)
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SINGAPORE : The United States and China turned down the heat Saturday in a simmering dispute over Beijing's military build-up, with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates expressing optimism about future relations.

Gates called for a more detailed military dialogue with China to avoid future miscalculations, while a top Chinese general said Beijing was prepared to open a "hotline" with Washington.

The comments from the two officials, both of whom were attending an Asian security conference in Singapore, came in the wake of a Pentagon report that questioned the motivation behind Beijing's drive to modernise its military.

Gates downplayed past US rhetoric on China's military might, alluding only in passing to the Pentagon report by reiterating Washington's concerns over "the opaqueness of Beijing's military spending and modernisation programmes."

"But as General Pete Pace, our chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pointed out, there is some difference between 'capacity' and 'intent.' And I believe there is reason to be optimistic about the US-China relationship."

"As we gain experience in dealing with each other, relationships can be forged that will build trust over time," Gates said.

His mild tone contrasted with that taken by his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld, who used the same forum two years ago to sharply question China's intentions in building up its military.

Later in a question-and-answer session, Gates said dialogue could be a useful tool in helping countries with differing ideologies to understand each other better, referring to Washington's Cold War-era negotiations with Moscow.

"While we have no conflict at this point, this kind of transparency, this kind of discussion is the kind of thing that prevents miscalculation, and helps each side understand where the other is headed and what its intentions are," Gates said.

"That kind of dialogue, whether or not it involves specific proposals for arms control or anything else, I think is immensely valuable, and I think is one of the great assets of developing the military-to-military dialogue between the United States and the People's Republic."

For his part, Lieutenant General Zhang Qinsheng, the Peoples Liberation Army's military intelligence chief, defended the buildup but said Beijing was "gradually making progress" in meeting US demands for greater openness.

He said China would finalise arrangements for a "hotline" with Washington in September when the two sides meet for annual defence talks, satisfying a long-standing US objective.

Zhang, the highest ranking Chinese military officer ever to attend the conference, also insisted that Beijing's strategic "intent" was purely defensive, saying: "China shall never fire the first shot."

But he denounced the Pentagon's recent report that detailed Beijing's drive to acquire warships, aircraft and missiles as a "product of the Cold War mindset" that sought to foster the view that China is a threat.

"This report is unreliable; it's not to be believed," Zhang said.

Zhang and Gates both spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international conference on Asian security organised by London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, an independent think tank.

The general said China's declared US$45 billion defence budget was "true and authentic".

The Pentagon estimates China's military spending is really two or three times that much.

Responding to US charges that its projected military force goes beyond what it needs to defend itself, he said China needed a "proportionate military capability" for a country of its territorial size and population.

"China also has another problem, which is the Taiwan issue," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

"Some people in Taiwan are still dreaming about secession. So China's military must be prepared to cope with this kind of threat. If anything happens, China's military must be prepared to respond."

"China will try everything, including diplomatic, political, economic and even military force to defend the territorial integrity of China to prevent Taiwan secession," he said.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification.

Gates also used his speech to rebut perceptions that the United States has become too bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan to focus on East Asia.

"We are an Asian power with significant and long term political, economic and security interests," he said. "Our commitments elsewhere notwithstanding, we will fulfil our commitments in Asia." - AFP/ch
 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

Does anyone know if US & USSR had such 'hotline' during the cold war ?

Yes there was a hotline between the White House and Kremlin. The phone was actually red in color. And it was used extensively during the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962.
 

The_Zergling

Junior Member
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

Yes there was a hotline between the White House and Kremlin. The phone was actually red in color. And it was used extensively during the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962.

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Um Popeye, I've read that it was established AFTER the Cuban Missile Crisis, sometime in 1963.
 

Schumacher

Senior Member
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

Yes there was a hotline between the White House and Kremlin. The phone was actually red in color. And it was used extensively during the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962.

But I remember the movie '13 days' I think by Kevin Costner, there was no communications with the Kremlins which made the situation more tense & they had to use back door channels to communicate their intentions to avoid the 'hawks' in both US & USSR. Maybe the movie just made stuffs up ?
 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

But I remember the movie '13 days' I think by Kevin Costner, there was no communications with the Kremlins which made the situation more tense & they had to use back door channels to communicate their intentions to avoid the 'hawks' in both US & USSR. Maybe the movie just made stuffs up ?

Humm. I think Schumacher maybe correct on this. But I'm almost sure there was some direct line of communication between the White House and Kremlin.
Maybe I'm wrong. Won't be the last time!:eek: :)

Years ago (1982)there was a TV mini series about the Crisis and they claimed to be using White House transcripts for the actual dialoug. Seems I remember someone talking to the Kremlin through a translator...
 

Schumacher

Senior Member
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

In the movie, they communicated thru a Russian spy in US who had close relations with Khrushchev.
'13 days' is one of my favourite movies. I've always liked 'non-fiction' better. Another favourite is 'Apollo 13' by Tom Hank & I sometimes mixed up these 2 movies. :)

Speaking of show business .... I just heard Mr Gates speech at the forum above on the news few mins ago. No disrespect whatsoever, but just an observation that he sounds a lot like the guy JR Ewing, Larry Hackman I think, of the 70s-80s series 'Dallas'. I bet Mr Gates is a Texan.
 
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zaky

Junior Member
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

In the “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964) movie they used direct telephone line between Moscow end the bunker.
This is one of the best early cold war movie.
:D
 

Schumacher

Senior Member
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

This story was printed from channelnewsasia.com


Title : India, China to conduct first joint army exercises
By :
Date : 07 June 2007 1540 hrs (SST)
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NEW DELHI : India and China have agreed to hold their first ever joint army exercise as part of a wider effort to improve ties between the one-time Asian enemies, military officials said Thursday.

The manoeuvre is slated for October and will see 100 Indian troops sent to China for a workout in anti-terrorism tactics, the Indian army chief, General J.J. Singh, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper.

"We had a small thing earlier - not an exercise but a mountaineering expedition - two years ago," army spokesman Colonel S.K. Sakhuja told AFP.

The agreement comes after the army chief visited China at the end of May, which the defence ministry said had led to a decision on "engagement and mutual confidence building" including more joint training exercises.

The two nations - who fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962 - conducted joint naval exercises in the East China Sea in 2003, but otherwise contacts between two of the world's largest armed forces have been scant.

India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of its territory, while Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometres, or the whole of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Diplomatic contacts between the two economic rivals have increased in recent years, with many bilateral visits and two-way trade touching two billion dollars a month. - AFP/ch




Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd
<< back to channelnewsasia.com
 

yehe

Junior Member
Re: Chinese Military News Thread

Guys, I think this hotline is different from the one between Kremlin and Whitehouse, this is a military hotline, I thought there is a political hotline between ZhongNanHai(Chinese leadership residence, old imperial palace) and WhiteHouse for several years already.
 
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