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30/05/2020

China battles to control nationalist narrative on social media

  • Embassy in France removes ‘false image’ on Twitter in latest online controversy amid accusations of spreading disinformation
  • After months of aggressive anti-US posts by Chinese diplomats Beijing is cracking down on ‘smear campaigns’ at home
Beijing’s ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomacy has coincided with a rise of nationalist content on Chinese social media. Photo: Reuters
Beijing’s ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomacy has coincided with a rise of nationalist content on Chinese social media. Photo: Reuters

Beijing is battling allegations that it is running a disinformation campaign on social media, as robust posts by its diplomats in Western countries promoting nationalist sentiment have escalated into a spat between China and other countries, especially the United States.

In the latest in a series of online controversies, the Chinese embassy in France claimed its official Twitter account had been hacked after it featured a cartoon depicting the US as Death, knocking on a door marked Hong Kong after leaving a trail of blood outside doors marked Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. The inclusion in the image of a Star of David on the scythe also prompted accusations of anti-Semitism.

Top China diplomats call for ‘Wolf Warrior’ army in foreign relations

25 May 2020

“Someone posted a false image on our official Twitter account by posting a cartoon entitled ‘Who is Next?’. The embassy would like to condemn it and always abides by the principles of truthfulness, objectivity and rationality of information,” it said on Monday.

The rise of China’s aggressive “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy has been regarded by analysts as primarily aimed at building support for the government at home but the latest incident is seen as an attempt by Beijing to take back control of the nationalist narrative it has unleashed.

Florian Schneider, director of the Leiden Asia Centre in the Netherlands, said the removal of the embassy’s tweet reflected a constant concern in Beijing about the range of people – including ordinary citizens – who were involved in spreading nationalistic material online.

“The state insists that its nationalism is ‘rational’, meaning it is meant to inspire domestic unity through patriotism but without impacting national interests or endangering social stability,” he said.

“This makes nationalism a mixed blessing for the authorities … if nationalist stories demonise the US or Japan or some other potential enemy, then any Chinese leader dealing diplomatically with those perceived enemies ends up looking weak.

“Trying to guide nationalist sentiment in ways that further the leadership’s interests is a difficult balancing act and I suspect this is partly the reason why the authorities are currently trying to clamp down on unauthorised, nationalist conspiracy theories.”

Too soon: Chinese advisers tell ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomats to tone it down

14 May 2020
Last month the European Union toned down a report which initially accused China of running a “global disinformation campaign”
to deflect blame for the coronavirus outbreak using “overt and covert tactics”. The section was removed after intervention by Beijing.

The report came after months of social media posts – including by Chinese diplomats – defending China against accusations it had mishandled the coronavirus pandemic and attacking the US and other perceived enemies.

In March, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian promoted a conspiracy theory on Twitter suggesting the virus had originated in the US and was brought to China by the US Army. His comments were later downplayed, with China’s ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai saying questions about the origin of the virus should be answered by scientists.

Schneider said this showed that the state-backed nationalistic propaganda online was at risk of backfiring diplomatically.

“The authorities have to constantly worry that they might lose control of the nationalist narrative they unleashed, especially considering how many people produce content on the internet, how fast ideas spread, and how strongly commercial rationales drive misinformation online,” he said.

Last month, a series of widely shared social media articles about people in different countries “yearning to be part of China” resulted in a diplomatic backlash against Beijing. Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador in April to lodge a formal protest against the article.

Following the incident, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet regulator which manages the “firewall” and censors material online, announced a two-month long “internet cleansing” to clear privately owned accounts which engage in “smear campaigns”.

A popular account named Zhidao Xuegong was shut down by the Chinese social media platform WeChat’s owner Tencent on Sunday after publishing an article which claimed Covid-19 may have killed 1 million people in the US and suggested the dead were “very likely” being processed as food.

The article had at least 100,000 readers, with 753 people donating money to support the account. According to Xigua Data, a firm that monitors traffic on Chinese social media, the account garnered more than 1.7 million page views for 17 articles in April.

According to a statement from WeChat, the account was closed for fabricating facts, stoking xenophobia and misleading the public.

A journalism professor at the University of Hong Kong said this case differed from the Chinese embassy’s tweet, despite both featuring anti-US sentiment.

Masato Kajimoto, who leads research on news literacy and the misinformation ecosystem, said the closure of the WeChat account seemed to be more about Chinese authorities feeling the need to regulate producers of media content whose motivations were often financial rather than political.

“I would think the government doesn’t like some random misinformation going wild and popular, which affects the overall storylines they would like to push, disseminate and control,” he said.

One way for China to respond to the situation was to fact-check social media and to position itself as a protector facts and defender of the integrity of public information, he said.

“In the age of social media, both fake news and fact-checking are being weaponised by people who try to influence or manipulate the narrative in one way or another,” Kajimoto said.

“Not only China but also many other authoritarian states in Asia are now fact-checking social media. Governments in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries all do that.

“Such initiatives benefit them because they can decide what is true and what is not.”

Source: SCMP

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18/05/2020

China sends special investigation team to Israel after ambassador’s death

  • Details remain scant one day after body of 57-year-old diplomat Du Wei is found at his home in Tel Aviv
  • Top Israeli foreign ministry official extends condolences to deputy ambassador Dai Yuming
Police, ambulance and embassy staff at the residence where Chinese ambassador Du Wei was found dead on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Police, ambulance and embassy staff at the residence where Chinese ambassador Du Wei was found dead on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE
China is sending a special investigative team to Israel following the sudden death of its ambassador Du Wei, whose body was found at his residence on Sunday.
The team, accompanied by a member of Du’s family, was due to travel on Monday, and will handle arrangements for the remains, as well as conducting its own internal investigation, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Israel’s foreign ministry said its director general Yuval Rotem had spoken with deputy ambassador Dai Yuming to express his condolences. Local police are continuing to investigate at Du’s residence in a suburb of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.
Details from the Chinese side have been scant. China’s foreign ministry provided a statement to AFP on Sunday which said the preliminary verdict was that Du, 57, had died unexpectedly for health reasons, and details awaited further confirmation. AFP also reported that Du’s wife and son were not with him in Tel Aviv.

“As far as I know, China’s ambassador to Israel Du Wei passed away in ambassador’s residence in Tel Aviv this morning for physical reasons. It happened abruptly,” said Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of state media tabloid Global Times in a tweet late on Sunday night.

Du was last seen in public on Tuesday in a video conference with an official from Israel’s foreign affairs ministry, according to the embassy website.

James Dorsey, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said Du’s untimely death should be seen as a personal, rather than a political, tragedy for the growing relationship between China and Israel, but he said it came at an important moment for the two countries because of rising US-China tensions.

Dorsey said Israel’s increasing hi-tech cooperation with China, as well as continuing US hostility to Iran – which has close ties with China – were potentially problematic for relations between the two countries.

“I’m not sure that the China-Israel relationship can be seen as independent of the Israel-US relationship. One could argue that the Chinese may be well advised to very quickly replace him soon,” Dorsey said. “Israel could find itself on the fault line of deepening US-China decoupling,” he added.

Israel’s ambassador to China in quarantine after ‘infected’ flight to Seoul

28 Feb 2020

Following a brief trip to Jerusalem on Wednesday – his first foreign visit since March – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo renewed warnings about China-Israel ties in an interview with Israeli state-owned media outlet Kan News.

“We do not want the Chinese Communist Party to have access to Israeli infrastructure, Israeli communication systems, all of the things that put Israeli citizens at risk,” he said.

China’s embassy in Tel Aviv blasted Pompeo’s comments as “absurd” and “ill-intentioned”. However, the embassy statement was not written by Du, but by a spokesperson.

Du had only served in Israel since February. Just before his arrival, the Chinese embassy had to issue an apology after then-acting ambassador Dai denounced Israel’s tightened restrictions on Chinese visitors by comparing them to the Holocaust.
During his brief tenure, Du gave frequent interviews to local media, speaking mainly about China’s virus control measures, US-China tensions, and friendship between China and the Jewish people.
Du had worked as a career diplomat since entering China’s foreign service in 1989. Before his appointment in Tel Aviv, he served as China’s ambassador to Ukraine from 2016-2019.
Source: SCMP

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30/04/2020

It’s complicated: China-Europe relations hit by diversity, distrust and dogmatism during pandemic

  • European nations are divided over how best to deal with Beijing, which looms larger in their policy and public debates
  • Think tanks came together and reported on China’s much-touted medical aid and ‘mask diplomacy’ during Covid-19 crisis
European nations are looking to be more cohesive in their approach towards relations with China. Photo: Bloomberg
European nations are looking to be more cohesive in their approach towards relations with China. Photo: Bloomberg

As Beijing steps up its pressure campaign on Europe in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, their relations look set to become more diverse and contested amid growing distrust and wariness of China’s expanding influence, according to new research.

The study, based on analysis of China’s role in 19 European countries’ handling of the coronavirus crisis, showed that Europe remained largely divided over how to deal with Beijing, which has figured ever more prominently in policy and public debates in many parts of the continent.

A total of 28 experts from 21 think tanks across the continent, collectively known as the European Think-tank Network on China, were involved in the research.

It came on the heels of a diplomatic debacle in the past week that saw the European Union reportedly bowing to pressure by China. The EU reportedly toned down part of a report documenting Beijing’s disinformation efforts to deflect the blame and rewrite the global coronavirus narrative.

Although a spokesperson for the EU denied those allegations, the saga has “moreover revealed the pressures that China has placed on

European Union

officials during the crisis”, according to John Seaman, editor of the report and a research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations.

In a phone call on Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shrugged off concerns about their discord and vowed to boost the fight against the virus and boost economic recovery, according to Xinhua.

Germany ‘rejected China’s bid for positive spin’ on pandemic response

27 Apr 2020

According to Seaman, the Covid-19 crisis hit at a time when traditionally trade-driven China-EU relations had grown more complex and competitive after the European Commission said for the first time last year that Beijing was a systemic rival.

“Debates over the need to adopt more coherent strategies towards China have been emerging across Europe. In many ways, the current crisis has become a catalyst for a number of trends that have been shaping Europe-China relations in recent years, while in other ways it has turned the tables,” he said in the report.

“It has simultaneously brought Europe and China into closer cooperation, pushed them further apart, and seemingly underlined the fractures that exist within Europe on how to approach an increasingly influential China.”

A growing number of European countries, including Sweden and Britain, have joined the United States and Australia in calling for an international inquiry into China’s handling of the pandemic. Leaders from Germany and France have also pressed Beijing for greater transparency about the origin of the deadly virus.

The European think tanks’ report was also focused on China’s unusually aggressive coronavirus diplomacy, with Chinese embassies and ambassadors shifting the blame on to Western democracies and promoting Beijing’s messaging “with varying degrees of dogmatism, divisiveness and moderation” on Twitter and in traditional media.

“While China’s increasingly proactive public diplomacy is widespread, and there appears to be a relative degree of consistency in messaging, there is a diversity in method that ranges from low key (Latvia or Romania) to charm offensive (Poland, Portugal, Italy or Spain) to provocative or aggressive (Sweden, Germany or France),” the report said.

It examined China’s much-touted medical aid and “mask diplomacy” and found “a correlation between Chinese companies with commercial interests in the country and donations from these companies” in countries including Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Boxes of medical supplies from China in Rome. Some European nations are growing wary about China’s diplomatic overreach and apparent willingness to alter the coronavirus narrative. Photo: Xinhua
Boxes of medical supplies from China in Rome. Some European nations are growing wary about China’s diplomatic overreach and apparent willingness to alter the coronavirus narrative. Photo: Xinhua
Many countries have pushed back against China’s diplomatic overreach and its preferred narrative that has served to “[underline] the apparent successes of its autocratic governance model, ignoring its clear downfalls in managing the crisis initially, while sowing doubt on the effectiveness of liberal democracies”, according to Seaman.

While the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned of Beijing’s geopolitical game to expand its influence through spinning and “politics of generosity”, countries such as Germany and Sweden have moved to tighten investment screening, 5G and industrial policies targeting Chinese firms.

Zhang Ming, China’s top envoy to the EU, last week dismissed the concerns about China’s alleged ploy to use the vulnerabilities of other countries to advance China’s geopolitical interests, such as with the country’s embattled tech giant Huawei and the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.

“Disinformation is our common enemy and we need to make joint efforts to eradicate it,” Zhang said, claiming China had been a victim of unspecified disinformation campaigns.

The report also noted that China’s actions towards Europe in times of crisis looked set to amplify the fractures across the continent and prompt further debates about the need for a coherent EU strategy on China.

A poll of more than 12,000 people across the 28 EU member countries by German think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung in September last year showed 45 per cent of Europeans saw China as a competitor while only 9 per cent believed their countries shared the same political interests or values with China.

Another survey of 16 European countries released by the Pew Research Centre in December also showed the continent remained deeply divided over how to approach China.

While people in most of western Europe and some of Central and Eastern Europe, such as Slovak and Czech, saw China negatively, 51 per cent in Greece had a positive view of China and those in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria and Lithuania tended to see China more favourably.

Source: SCMP

Posted in according, Australia, “disinformation”, Beijing, Britain, Bulgaria, Chinese premier Li Keqiang, Covid-19 crisis, Czech, distrust, diversity, divided, dogmatism, during, Eastern Europe, European Commission President, European nations, European Union, France, French Institute of International Relations, Germany, Greece, hit, Hungary, international inquiry, Italy, Lithuania, medical aid, pandemic, Poland, Portugal, Rome, Russia, Slovak, Spain, Sweden, Twitter, Ukraine, Uncategorized, United States, Xinhua | Leave a Comment »

18/04/2020

Ukraine court rejects Chinese appeal in aerospace deal opposed by United States

  • China’s Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings bought a majority stake in Motor Sich, but the shares were frozen in 2017 pending an investigation by Ukraine’s security service
  • Washington and Beijing have competed for influence in Ukraine since its relations with Moscow soured when Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014
Chnia’s Skyrizon says it will appeal a Kiev court’s decision to block its purchase of Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich. Photo: Getty Images
Chnia’s Skyrizon says it will appeal a Kiev court’s decision to block its purchase of Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich. Photo: Getty Images

A court in Kiev has rejected an appeal by Chinese investors to unfreeze the shares of a Ukrainian aircraft engine maker, a setback for the Chinese company that sought to buy the Ukrainian firm in a deal opposed by the United States.

China’s Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings bought a majority stake in Motor Sich, but the shares were frozen in 2017 pending an investigation by Ukraine’s security service (SBU). Washington wants the deal scrapped.

The US and China have competed for influence in Ukraine since its relations with Moscow soured when Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014.

In its ruling, the court kept the shares frozen, citing the SBU investigation into whether selling Motor Sich sabotages national security by allowing sensitive technology into foreign hands. The ruling was dated March 13, shared with the parties this week.

Skyrizon plans further appeals, said a lawyer involved in the case, speaking anonymously due to the political sensitivity of the case. Zelensky’s office, the US embassy and the Chinese embassy did not respond to requests for comment. Motor Sich and the SBU declined to comment.

Motor Sich severed ties with Russia after the annexation of Crimea. Photo: Wikipedia
Motor Sich severed ties with Russia after the annexation of Crimea. Photo: Wikipedia
Motor Sich severed ties with Russia, its biggest client, after the annexation of Crimea. The wrangle over its future has held up efforts to find new markets, and supporters of a quick resolution say it is now operating at less than half capacity.

“Motor Sich has become a hostage to the geopolitical situation,” former prime minister Anatoliy Kinakh, chairman of an industrial union which has called for the government to resolve the dispute quickly, said.

The state’s anti-monopoly committee has launched its own investigation and says it is waiting to receive more documents before deciding whether to sanction the sale.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration has had to balance strengthening ties to Beijing with keeping the United States, its biggest military aid donor, onside. In recent weeks, Beijing and Washington have both offered aid to Ukraine to fight the coronavirus.

At the moment it is a very difficult task when we have the biggest powers in the world and their interests are in conflict in Ukraine,” Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former top security official under Zelensky, said.

Source: SCMP

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02/04/2020

Coronavirus latest: more than 21,000 dead as UN warns of threat to ‘whole of humanity’

  • US$2 trillion rescue package passes US Senate, heads to House
  • Malaysia’s king and queen in ‘self-quarantine’ after staff test positive
Police commandos in Sri Lanka hand out food to homeless people during a nationwide curfew against the spread of coronavirus. Photo: AFP
Police commandos in Sri Lanka hand out food to homeless people during a nationwide curfew against the spread of coronavirus. Photo: AFP

More than three billion people are living under lockdown measures as soaring death tolls in Europe and the US underlined a United Nations warning that the coronavirus, which has now infected nearly half a million people globally, threatens all of humanity.

The global death toll from the virus now stands at more than 21,000, with Spain joining Italy in seeing its number of fatalities overtake China, where the virus first emerged just three months ago.

“Covid-19 is threatening the whole of humanity – and the whole of humanity must fight back,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, launching an appeal for US$2 billion to help the world’s poor.

“Global action and solidarity are crucial. Individual country responses are not going to be enough.”

The G20 major economies will hold an emergency videoconference on Thursday to discuss a global response to the crisis, as will the 27 leaders of the European Union, the outbreak’s new epicentre.

The economic damage of the virus – and the lockdowns – could also be devastating, with fears of a worldwide recession worse than the financial meltdown more than a decade ago.

Here are the developments:

US$2 trillion rescue package passes US Senate

The US Senate passed the nation’s largest-ever rescue package late Wednesday, a US$2 trillion lifeline to suffering Americans, depleted hospitals and an economy all ravaged by a rapidly spreading coronavirus crisis.

The monster deal thrashed out between Republicans, Democrats and the White House includes cash payments to American taxpayers and several hundred billion dollars in grants and loans to small businesses and core industries. It also buttresses hospitals desperately in need of medical equipment and expands unemployment benefits.

The measure cleared the Senate by an overwhelming majority and was headed next to the House of Representatives, which must also pass it before it goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.

US President Donald Trump has voiced hope the US will be “raring to go” by mid-April, but his optimism appeared to stand almost alone among world leaders.

Unemployment benefit filings by Americans workers to surge to 3.3 million last week – the highest number ever recorded, the Labour Department reported on Thursday.

The normally routine report is at the front lines of the economic crisis caused by the outbreak, which has forced widespread closures of restaurants, shops and hotels, and brought airline travel to a virtual halt, prompting the stunning increase in people filing for benefits nationwide in the week ending March 21.

Nearly every state cited Covid-19 for the jump in initial jobless claims, with heavy impacts in food services, accommodation, entertainment and recreation, health care and transport, the report said.

Malaysia’s king and queen in quarantine after staff test positive

The official residence of Malaysia’s monarchy on Thursday confirmed seven of its staff have tested positive for Covid-19 and are currently receiving treatment at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

Malaysia’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and queen, Tunku Azizah, have also been tested, but their results showed a clean bill of health, a spokesman for the Istana Negara said in a statement.

“Nevertheless, Their Majesties are now observing a 14-day self-quarantine, starting yesterday, ” he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, along with all federal ministers and their deputies, announced they will take a two-month pay cut, with the savings to be donated to Putrajaya’s Covid-19 fund.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the decision was made during a cabinet meeting and showed the government’s sincerity in helping those affected by the pandemic.

“The Covid-19 fund was launched on March 11 as part of the government’s efforts to help those who were affected by the disease outbreak,” the office said, adding that 8.5 million ringgit (US$1.97 million) has been collected, including government grants.

Malaysia on Wednesday announced a two-week extension of a national lockdown as part of stepped-up measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

The “movement control order,” which requires people to stay home and was originally set to expire on March 31, will now continue until April 14.

Moscow monitors people in coronavirus quarantine with 100,000 ‘under the skin’ surveillance cameras

Russia to ground international flights

Russia will halt all international flights from midnight on Friday under a government decree listing new measures against the coronavirus outbreak.
The decree published on Thursday orders aviation authorities to halt all regular and charter flights, with the exception of special flights evacuating Russian citizens from abroad.
The announcement came after Russia on Wednesday recorded its biggest daily spike in confirmed coronavirus infections so far, with 163 new cases for a total of 658 across the country.
Denis Protsenko, head doctor of Moscow’s new hospital treating coronavirus patients, told President Vladimir Putin that Russia needed to be ready for an “Italian scenario”, referring to what is now the hardest-hit country in the world in terms of deaths.

Singapore boosts stimulus package to 11 per cent of GDP

Singapore reported 52 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking its tally to 683 infections.

The health ministry said that out of the 52, 28 were imported while 24 were locally transmitted.

The city state earlier on Thursday unveiled more than $30 billion in new measures to help businesses and households fight the coronavirus pandemic that threatens to push the bellwether economy into a deep recession.

Drawing on national reserves for the first time since the global financial crisis to support an economy heading for recession, the additional spending will push up the government’s virus-related relief to almost S$55 billion, or 11 per cent of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said in a speech in parliament Thursday. It also will widen the budget deficit for the financial year starting April 1 to 7.9 per cent of GDP, from a previous target of 2.1 per cent.

“This extraordinary situation calls for extraordinary measures,” Heng said. “We have saved up for a rainy day. The Covid-19 pandemic is already a mighty storm, and is still growing.”

Coronavirus: Italy’s slowing infection rate boosts case for lockdowns

26 Mar 2020
‘If you catch it, don’t spread it to others’, 1949 flu advice still applies to coronavirus pandemic

Imported cases rise in China

Mainland China reported a second consecutive day of no new local coronavirus infections as the epicentre of the epidemic Hubei province opened its borders, but imported cases rose as Beijing ramped up controls to prevent a resurgence of infections.

A total of 67 new cases were reported as of end-Wednesday, up from 47 a day earlier, all of which were imported, China’s National Health Commission said in a statement on Thursday.

The total number of cases now stands at 81,285.

The commission reported a total of 3,287 deaths at the end of Wednesday, up six from the previous day.

All of the new patients were travellers who came to China from overseas, with the mainland reporting no locally transmitted infections on Wednesday.

Fearing a new wave of infections from imported cases, authorities have ramped up quarantine and screening measures in other major cities including Beijing, where any travellers arriving from overseas must submit to centralised quarantine.

Coronavirus could become seasonal

There is a strong chance the new coronavirus could return in seasonal cycles, a senior US scientist said Wednesday, underscoring the urgent need to find a vaccine and effective treatments.

Anthony Fauci, who leads research into infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told a briefing the virus was beginning to take root in the southern hemisphere, where winter is on its way.

“What we’re starting to see now … in southern Africa and in the southern hemisphere countries, is that we’re having cases that are appearing as they go into their winter season,” he said.

“And if, in fact, they have a substantial outbreak, it will be inevitable that we need to be prepared that we’ll get a cycle around the second time.

“It totally emphasises the need to do what we’re doing in developing a vaccine, testing it quickly and trying to get it ready so that we’ll have a vaccine available for that next cycle.”

There are currently two vaccines that have entered human trials -one in the US and one in China – and they could be a year to a year-and-a-half away from deployment.

British Columbia is testing for Covid-19 faster per head than South Korea
27 Mar 2020

Spain extends emergency by two weeks

Spain’s parliament has voted in favour of the government’s request to extend the state of emergency by two weeks that has allowed it to apply a national lockdown in hopes of stemming its coronavirus outbreak.

The parliamentary endorsement will allow the government to extend the strict stay-at-home rules and business closings for a full month. The government declared a state of emergency on March 14. It will now last until April 11.

Spain’s government solicited the two-week extension after deaths and infections from the Covid-19 virus have skyrocketed in recent days. Spain 47,600 total cases. Its 3,434 deaths only trail Italy’s death toll as the hardest-hit countries in the world.

The parliament met with fewer than 50 of its 350 members in the chamber, with the rest voting from home to reduce the risk of contagion.

Greece locks down Muslim towns

Greek authorities have quarantined a cluster of Muslim-majority towns and villages in the country’s northeast after several cases and a death from the new coronavirus in the area.

The area in Xanthi prefecture was placed in lockdown as of Wednesday evening as nine people in the region overall have tested positive for the virus over the past six days, civil protection deputy minister Nikos Hardalias told reporters.

“All residents have been temporarily confined at home. No exceptions are allowed,” Hardalias said.

The centre of the outbreak appears to be the small Pomak town of Ehinos, a community of about 2,500.

“Ehinos residents will be provided with food and medicine,” Hardalias said.

Police were deployed on Thursday on a bridge leading into town to enforce the lockdown, television footage showed.

One 72-year-old Ehinos man has died from the virus, local mayor Ridvan Deli Huseyin told Antenna television.

“It’s better to take some measures now than to cry about this later,” said Huseyin, the mayor of the local administrative centre of Miki.

The Pomaks are a Muslim group of Slavic origin who live mainly in neighbouring Bulgaria.

They make up part of Greece’s roughly 110,000-strong Muslim minority in the country’s northeast bordering Turkey.

Many of them work as migrant industrial workers in other European countries.

Economy seats go for business-class fares as travellers flee
27 Mar 2020

Colombia goes into lockdown, Chile extends schools closures

Countries across Latin America tightened measures on Wednesday to halt the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus, with more lockdowns, border closings and school closures as well as increased aid to the region’s poorest.

As cases of Covid-19 cases continue to rise – more than 7,400 and 123 deaths up to now – Bolivia and Colombia became the latest countries to impose a total lockdown, while Chile extended its schools closures until the end of April.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has warned of possible “chaos” and the “looting” of supermarkets if state shutdowns ordered by the governors of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro aren’t ended.

Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly scoffed at the severity of the deadly pandemic, had previously criticised the closing of schools and businesses in Sao Paulo and Rio states, two of the country’s most populous states.

Germany ramps up testing, approves huge bailout

Germany has boosted its coronavirus test rate to 500,000 a week, Christian Drosten, who heads the Institute of Virology at Berlin’s Charite University Hospital, said on Thursday, adding that early detection has been key in keeping the country’s death rate relatively low.

Drosten also highlighted Germany’s dense network of laboratories spread across its territory as a factor contributing to early detection.

The news came after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government secured emergency spending, unlocking a historic rescue package designed to cushion the blow of the coronavirus pandemic.

A majority of lawmakers in the Bundestag voted on Wednesday to allow additional borrowing to combat the crisis, according to the legislature’s president. The Bundesrat, or upper house of parliament, will vote on Friday.

The extraordinary authorisation is part of a packet of legislation aimed at protecting German jobs and businesses. The new borrowing of €€156 billion (US$169 billion) is equivalent to half of the country’s normal annual spending.

The country, which tightened lockdown measures this week, has about 32,700 cases and more than 150 deaths.

Trump and Widodo back chloroquine treatment, but fake news is deadly

25 Mar 2020

Ukraine declares ‘emergency situation’

Ukraine on Wednesday declared a month-long “emergency situation” to slow the coronavirus outbreak, as the number of confirmed cases jumped to 113.

Ukraine has already closed schools, universities and public spaces to stem the spread of the disease, but the measures were due to expire at the beginning of April.

The emergency situation announced on Wednesday effectively extends existing measures for 30 days until April 24, a government spokesperson said.

“We are extending quarantine and imposing an emergency situation in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.

Unlike an official state of emergency, the initiative announced by the prime minister does not have to be rubber stamped by both the parliament and president. Ukraine has confirmed 113 cases of Covid-19 and four deaths, according to official statistics.

Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus

Mexican governor says poor are ‘immune’

The governor of a state in central Mexico is arguing that the poor are “immune” to the new coronavirus, even as the federal government suspends all non-essential government activities beginning Thursday in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus.

Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa’s comment on Wednesday was apparently partly a response to indications that the wealthy have made up a significant percentage of Mexicans infected to date, including some prominent business executives.

Officials say three-quarters of Mexico’s 475 confirmed cases are related to international travel, and the poor do not make many international trips. Some people apparently caught the virus on ski trips to Italy or the United States. The country has seen six deaths so far.

“The majority are wealthy people. If you are rich, you are at risk. If you are poor, no,” Barbosa said of the coronavirus. “We poor people, we are immune.”

Barbosa also appeared to be playing on an old stereotype held by some Mexicans that poor sanitation standards may have strengthened their immune systems by exposing them to bacteria or other bugs.

There is no scientific evidence to suggest the poor are in any way immune to the virus that is causing Covid-19 disease around the world.

No agreement on ‘Wuhan virus’ name as G7 spars over infection source

26 Mar 2020

Japan belatedly bans entry from Europe, Iran

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has established a task force under the country’s revised emergency law to deal with the global rise in coronavirus infections and deaths.

In Tokyo on Thursday, Abe said it was necessary for people to act as one to overcome what can be described as a national crisis.

Japan will ban entry from 21 European countries as well as Iran, to take effect from Friday, he added.

The country has already begun asking visitors and its nationals arriving from some countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Arrivals from a total of seven Southeast Asian countries and four in the Middle East and Africa are also asked to refrain from using public transport.

Similar steps are in place for visitors from China, South Korea, most of Europe and the United States.

Malaysia to lock down two communities to curb spread

Malaysia on Thursday announced that 3,570 residents in two communities in the country’s south will be placed under complete lockdown due to their high coronavirus infection rates.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a statement that the residents in Kluang district of Johor state are banned from leaving home for two weeks beginning Friday, to enable the health authorities to conduct door-to-door screening.

The tough measure was taken after 73 per cent of the 83 infection cases found in the district were traced to the two small communities of Kampung Dato Ibrahim Majid and Bandar Baru Dato Ibrahim Majid.

Ismail said the residents cannot leave home, not even to buy food, as the welfare department will supply them with two weeks’ worth of food. All businesses must close and all access into the two areas will be sealed. The police and army have been deployed to ensure compliance.

Australia scraps haircut time limit

The Australian government scrapped a time limit on haircuts following a backlash.

The government had imposed a rule on hairdressers and barbers on Tuesday that haircuts should take less than 30 minutes, as part of social distancing restrictions to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

The restriction put around 40,000 hairdressers at risk, the Australian Hairdressing Council said in response.

“This decision is outrageous,” the council’s chief executive Sandy Chong said in a statement.

“Whilst many barbers can do a male haircut within that time frame, it really isn’t feasible for a majority of hairdressing salons.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a statement Thursday saying the policy would be reversed with immediate effect.

But salons and barbers must still strictly observe new rules that there may only be one person per four square metres within the premises, Morrison said.

India unveils US$22.6 billion stimulus package

India’s government announced a 1.7 trillion rupee (US$22.6 billion) stimulus package, as it stepped up its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The measures will include cash transfers as well as steps on food security, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi on Thursday, adding that the package will benefit migrant workers.

Asia’s third-largest economy joins countries from the US to Germany that have pledged spending to contain the economic fallout of the pandemic. India is on a total lockdown for three weeks from Wednesday in the world’s biggest isolation effort, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to prevent the virus from spreading locally.

The government will also provide an insurance cover of 5 million rupees to medical workers, Sitharaman said.

Source: SCMP

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03/03/2020

Coronavirus: China orders travellers quarantined amid outbreak

A Chinese office worker wears a protective mask as she waits to take a public bus after leaving work on 2 March 2020 in Beijing, ChinaImage copyright GETTY IMAGES
Image caption Authorities are also asking overseas Chinese to reconsider travel plans

Travellers from countries with severe coronavirus outbreaks who arrive in some parts of China will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine, state media say.

Travellers from the virus hotspots of South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy arriving in the capital will have to be isolated, a Beijing official has said.

Shanghai and Guangdong announced similar restrictions earlier.

Authorities are worried the virus might be imported back into the country.

Although most virus deaths have been in China, Monday saw nine times more new infections outside China than in.

Presentational grey line

What do I need to know about the coronavirus?

Presentational grey line

Shanghai said it would require new arrivals from countries with “relatively serious virus conditions” to be isolated, without naming the countries.

Authorities are also asking overseas Chinese to reconsider travel plans.

“For the sake of your family’s health and safety, please strengthen your precautions, carefully decide on your travel plans and minimise mobility,” officials in one southern Chinese province said.

China reported 125 new virus cases on Tuesday – the lowest number of new daily infections in six weeks. There were also 31 more deaths – all in Hubei province, where the virus emerged.Presentational white space

Coronavirus chart 3 March 2020
Presentational white space

In other developments:

  • Finance ministers from the G7 countries have said they are “ready to take action”, including fiscal measures to aid the response to the virus and support the global economy
  • The Pope, who had cancelled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy because he was suffering from a cold, has tested negative for the virus, Italian media report
  • South Korean President Moon Jae-in has put the country into a “state of war” and ordered all government departments to shift to a 24-hour emergency system
  • Jailed British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is in good health, Iran’s judiciary has said. She was assessed after her husband said she was showing symptoms of Covid-19
  • Japan’s Olympic minister says the Tokyo 2020 Games could be postponed until later in the year. BBC Sport is keeping track of all events that are affected
  • In the UK, where there are 39 confirmed cases, the government has warned that up to a fifth of the workforce may be off sick during the peak of a coronavirus epidemic
Media caption Julie, who lives in Singapore, was diagnosed with coronavirus and then put into isolation

How are different countries affected?

There are now almost 90,000 cases worldwide in about 70 countries, although the vast majority – just under 90% – remain in China, and most of those are in Hubei province where the virus originated late last year.

Of the nearly 8,800 cases outside China, 81% are in four countries – Iran, South Korea, Italy and Japan.

Coronavirus chart 3 March 2020

One of the countries worst affected outside China – Italy – said on Monday that the death toll there had risen by 18 to 52. There are 1,835 confirmed cases, most of them in the Lombardy and Veneto areas of the north. Nearly 150 people are said to have recovered.

However, the country is seeing a slowdown in new cases. On Monday, the authorities said there were 258 new cases of the virus – a 16% increase on the previous day – after new cases spiked by 50% on Sunday.

European coronavirus map 3 March 2020
Presentational white space

On Tuesday, Iran said the latest death toll from the virus was 77 – although the real figure is believed to be much higher. More than 2,300 people are said to be infected, including senior political figures. The head of Iran’s emergency medical services, Pirhossein Kolivand, was one of them, the Ilna news agency reported on Tuesday.

Some 23 MPs are also reported to have tested positive for the virus, and an official close to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reported on Monday to have died of the disease.

Health officials in the US state of Washington said on Monday that four more people had died, bringing the total there to six. They are the only deaths in the US so far. Local officials say they are buying a hotel to convert it into an isolation hospital.

On Tuesday, Ukraine confirmed its first case of coronavirus, while Portugal, Iceland, Jordan, Tunisia, Armenia, Latvia, Senegal, Morocco and Andorra confirmed their first cases on Monday.

Coronavirus global map

How deadly is Covid-19?

The WHO says the virus appears to particularly affect those over 60, and people already ill.

In the first large analysis of more than 44,000 cases from China, the death rate was 10 times higher in the very elderly compared to the middle-aged.

Most patients have only mild symptoms and the death rate appears to be between 2% and 5%, the WHO said.

By comparison, seasonal flu has an average mortality rate of about 0.1%, but is highly infectious – with up to 400,000 people dying from it each year.

Other strains of coronavirus, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers), have much higher death rates than Covid-19.

Death rates for different groups

Source: The BBC

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11/12/2019

Chinese navy trains top guns to command expanding aircraft carrier fleet

  • Best pilots from carrier-borne squadrons sent to naval academy for warship training to meet ‘urgent need’ for commanders
  • They had to pass more than 10 assessments – from political thought to psychological testing – before they could join the programme
China’s second aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, is expected to be operational by the end of this year. Photo: Sina
China’s second aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, is expected to be operational by the end of this year. Photo: Sina
The Chinese navy is training fighter pilots experienced in carrier-borne operations to command and manage its warships as it seeks to expand its global naval power.
Its best pilots from carrier-borne squadrons – including some qualified to fly fighter jets during both daytime and at night – were sent to a naval academy for warship combat and command training late last month, PLA Daily reported on Monday.
It did not say how many pilots had been selected, but all of them were required to pass more than 10 assessments – ranging from political thought to psychological testing – before they could join the training programme, the official People’s Liberation Army newspaper said.
Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the programme would focus on command and control skills for air and sea operations, and some of the pilots would ultimately be selected to command China’s new aircraft carrier strike groups.
As part of its ambition to build a powerful blue-water navy that can operate globally, China plans to have four aircraft carriers in service by 2035. Its second aircraft carrier – the first built in China, known as the Type 001A – is undergoing sea trials and is expected to be operational by the end of this year.

Work on the more modern Type 002 carrier started two years ago and a naval source told the South China Morning Post that construction of a second Type 002 vessel could begin as early as 2021.

But they will need suitable carrier pilots to take command.

“It’s quite an urgent need for the Chinese navy to have carrier group commanders – like its Western counterparts do – who are capable of commanding different warships and aircraft in modern joint-operation combat situations,” Li said.

China to deploy Sharp Sword stealth drone for new Type 001A aircraft carrier

“Aircraft carrier strike groups are supposed to sail on the high seas and into unfamiliar territory, so aside from having a background as naval aviators, all commanding officers should have a broad set of skills and knowledge – from foreign languages and international maritime law to air and sea operations – to help them make good decisions,” he said.

Other navies, such as the United States Navy, require more experience for the role – commanding officers of US aircraft carriers must be former naval aviators as well as former captains of different types of warships.

For example, Captain Pat “Fin” Hannifin, commanding officer of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, has over 2,800 flight hours in 33 different aircraft under his belt. He was also executive officer on another aircraft carrier and commander of an amphibious transport dock.

Rear Admiral Li Xiaoyan, the first captain of China’s only active aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was a pilot with no experience on carrier-borne aircraft, though he did have experience on a destroyer and frigates. He was replaced by Zhang Zheng just days after the Liaoning formally joined the PLA Navy in 2012, and later by Liu Zhe – neither of whom had naval aviator backgrounds.

Li Xiaoyan was one of the first group of 10 pilots selected for a training programme designed specifically for China’s future aircraft carriers back in 1987. But the whole aircraft carrier plan was suspended in 1998 by premier Zhu Rongji for political and economic reasons, according to China’s Carrier, a book published by China Development Press.

China’s navy begins national search for trainee top-gun pilots

Naval expert Li Jie said the Chinese navy now had to catch up in terms of training pilots, and especially commanding officers, for its aircraft carriers.

“China resumed the aircraft carrier plan and in 2004 started refitting the hull of the Varyag. But after that first group of pilots was trained in 1987, there was no formal training in air and sea operations because there was no aircraft carrier training platform until 2012,” Li said, referring to the unfinished Admiral Kuznetsov-class vessel China bought from Ukraine in 1998, which became the Liaoning.

He said the latest training programme for commanding officers was a continuation of the one that began more than 30 years ago.

Source: SCMP

Posted in Admiral Kuznetsov-class vessel, Aircraft carrier, assessments, blue water navy, carrier-borne squadrons, China’s Carrier, Chinese navy, command, expanding, fleet, foreign languages, international maritime law, Liaoning, naval academy, newspaper, People’s Liberation Army, People’s Liberation Army (PLA), PLA Daily, political thought, psychological testing, Sharp Sword stealth drone, top guns, trains, Ukraine, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

22/10/2019

Chinese icebreakers set sail for Antarctic rendezvous that will herald ‘new era of polar exploration’

  • ‘Snow Dragons’ Xuelong and Xuelong II leave on China’s 36th Antarctic expedition
  • Mission to resource-rich continent carries great scientific and economic weight
A ceremony is held for the maiden voyage of China’s home-built polar icebreaker Xuelong II in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Photo: Xinhua
A ceremony is held for the maiden voyage of China’s home-built polar icebreaker Xuelong II in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Photo: Xinhua
China has sent two icebreakers to the Antarctic in its most ambitious polar expedition to the Earth’s resource-rich southernmost continent yet.
The Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, left Shanghai on Tuesday morning with a crew of 107 and 1,450 tonnes of supplies on board. It is expected to meet another icebreaker, Xuelong II, at Zhongshan Station on Prydz Bay in East Antarctica in late November before the ships carry out separate missions in the region.
This will be the 36th official Antarctic expedition for China, and the first involving two research icebreakers. Xuelong II, the first Chinese-built vessel of its kind, was commissioned in July and left for its maiden Antarctic journey last week. The ships will be back in China by late spring next year.
The voyages have been hailed by state media as “the start of China’s new era of polar exploration”. Zhao Yanping, the captain of Xuelong II, was quoted by the Science Daily website as saying that experts believed the ships could significantly expand Chinese science missions in the polar regions.
China’s Xuelong icebreaker was bought from Ukraine in 1994. Photo: Handout
China’s Xuelong icebreaker was bought from Ukraine in 1994. Photo: Handout

Xuelong II, with propellers at bow and stern, can make up to 15 knots (28km/h) in open water and three knots (5.6km/h) when breaking ice. Observers said it could pave the way for a nuclear-powered icebreaker.

Xuelong, the country’s first polar research vessel, bought from Ukraine in 1994, is to carry out surveys in the Amundsen and Ross seas.

A report by The Beijing News said that Xuelong’s crew would also visit Inexpressible Island in Terra Nova Bay on the Ross Sea to help in construction work on China’s fifth Antarctic scientific station, which is expected to be operational in 2022.

How Chinese access to Chilean port could give Antarctic exploration activities a boost

Since it joined the Antarctic Treaty in June 1983, China has steadily increased its stakes in a region that contains vast, untapped natural resources, including oil, gas and minerals.

Last year, China announced it would begin building its first permanent airfield on Antarctica – a 1,500 metre strip to be located on an ice cap about 28 kilometres from Zhongshan Station.

Meanwhile, Chinese businesses have taken an interest in the region. Food companies have been among the largest players in fishing krill – tiny, protein-rich shrimp-like creatures that are abundant in Antarctic waters. Tourists from China now account for 16 per cent of the total number of travellers to the world’s last great untouched wilderness, second to visitors from the United States, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.

While Beijing said its engagement in the Antarctic would be “peaceful” and the focus of its expeditions was on protecting the environment, its growing presence there has raised concerns in the West, particularly among established explorers such as Australia and the US.

Australia said at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in Hobart, Tasmania, this week, that despite opposition from China and Russia, it would push for the creation of marine reserves off East Antarctica.

China’s new icebreaker Snow Dragon II ready for Antarctica voyage later this year
China and Australia have also been at odds over Beijing’s proposal to establish a code of conduct for the region around Dome A on the Antarctic Plateau, an area on the top of the ice sheet ideal for space and satellite observation. Canberra rejected the proposal, saying that Dome A is inside its territory.
Source: SCMP

Posted in airfield, Amundsen and Ross seas, Antarctic Plateau, Antarctic rendezvous, Antarctic Treaty, Australia, ‘Snow Dragons’, Canberra, ceremony, Chilean port, Chinese icebreakers, Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, Dome A, guangdong province, herald, Inexpressible Island, International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, krill, mission, new era, polar exploration, polar icebreaker, Prydz Bay, resource-rich continent, Ross Sea, scientific and economic weight, set sail, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Snow Dragon II, Terra Nova Bay, The Beijing News, Ukraine, Uncategorized, United States, Xuelong, Xuelong II, Zhongshan Station | Leave a Comment »

13/09/2019

John Bolton accuses China of stealing F-35 technology to make a stealth fighter. Is this what he was talking about?

  • US National Security Adviser recently said an unnamed Chinese fighter ‘looks a lot like the F-35 … because it is the F-35’
  • The PLA’s only active stealth fighter the J-20 looks rather different to its US counterpart, but the FC-31 prototype may be closer to the mark
A Chinese FC031 stealth fighter pictured during a test flight in November 2014. Photo: Xinhua
A Chinese FC031 stealth fighter pictured during a test flight in November 2014. Photo: Xinhua

US National Security Adviser John Bolton recently accused China of stealing US technology to make a stealth fighter, a charge Beijing has denied.

On a visit to Ukraine last week, Bolton said an unnamed fifth-generation aircraft “looks a lot like the F-35, that’s because it is the F-35. They just stole it”.

At present China’s only active stealth fighter, the J-20 or Mighty Dragon, looks very different to the F-35 because it has two nose canards – which are not found on any modern US fighters – and it is larger and around 50 per cent heavier.

However, Bolton might have had another fighter in mind – the Shenyang FC-31 Gyrfalcon, which is still in the prototype phase.

John Bolton said China “just stole” the F-35 for its own fighter. Photo: EPA-EFE
John Bolton said China “just stole” the F-35 for its own fighter. Photo: EPA-EFE

The FC-31 is made by the Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, a branch of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

The aircraft, which made its maiden flight in 2012, has broadly similar specifications to the F-35 although it does have twin engines rather than the American jet’s single engine.

The Chinese fighter has a maximum take off weight of 25 tonnes, a combat range of 1,200km (746 miles) and a top speed of Mach 1.8, or 2,205km/h (1,370mph), whereas the US fighter’s take-off weight varies between 27 and 32 tonnes, has a top speed of Mach 1.6 and a range of up to 2,200km (1,367 miles).

The FC-31 has a weapons payload of 8 tonnes, compared with 6.8 to 8.1 tonnes for the different varieties of F-35, and a service life of up to 30 years.

Graphic: SCMP
Graphic: SCMP

Lockheed Martin, which makes the American stealth fighter, has produced three different varieties – the land-based f-35A and two for use on ships: the vertical jump F-35B and catapult-assisted F-35C.

While the Chinese jet was primarily designed for the use of the air force, its light weight also means it could be adapted for use on carriers.

It was reported to have been in the running to be used on China’s next-generation aircraft carriers, but military sources recently said it would lose out to the J-20 because of its slow pace of development and reports of technological problems.

The US currently restricts sales of the F-35 to its closest allies: Photo: EPA-EFE/ USAF
The US currently restricts sales of the F-35 to its closest allies: Photo: EPA-EFE/ USAF

However, the Chinese manufacturer is already actively marketing the fighter to other countries and a model of the plane appeared at the Paris Air Show in June.

One official from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China who attended the Air Show told state media that the firm hoped to “seize some share in the military aircraft market of developed nations”.

One area where the plane does have a definite advantage over its American counterpart is price. The price of a single FC-31 is expected to be about US$70 million, significantly less than the F-35 which has a price tag of around US$100 million per unit.

The US also restricts sales of the fighter to its allies, leaving a potential gap in the market for China to exploit when the fighter is ready for use.

Source: SCMP

Posted in accuses, air force, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Beijing, China alert, F-35 technology, John Bolton, Lockheed Martin, make, Mighty Dragon, military aircraft market, Paris Air Show, Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, Shenyang FC-31 Gyrfalcon, stealing, stealth fighter, two nose canards, Ukraine, Uncategorized, US National Security Adviser | Leave a Comment »

01/08/2019

China’s first home-grown aircraft carrier the Type 001A set for new round of sea trials as it prepares to enter service

  • Maritime authorities close off area of Yellow Sea near vessel’s home port of Dalian for naval training exercise
  • Analysts say trials have been faster and more efficient than those carried out by its sister ship the Liaoning
The carrier leaves the port of Dalian for a sea trial in December. Photo: Reuters
The carrier leaves the port of Dalian for a sea trial in December. Photo: Reuters
China’s first home-grown aircraft carrier the Type 001A is expected to start a four-day sea trial on Thursday, which military experts said signalled that it would soon be ready for official commissioning.
Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration issued a statement on its website on Wednesday saying a naval exercise would take place in a designated zone in the north of the Yellow Sea between Thursday and Monday, and warned other vessels not to enter the area.
The statement gave little detail about the exercise, but military experts said the location of the drill – near the carrier’s home port of Dalian – pointed to new sea trials for the ship.

Song Zhongping, a military commentator for Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, said it would be the seventh such trial for the carrier, adding: “It is likely that the carrier will join the navy for trial runs in the coming months.”

Song said that sea trials for the Type 001A had been faster and more efficient compared with those for its sister ship, the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier.

The Liaoning started life as a Soviet Kuznetsov-class vessel, and was still incomplete when China bought it from Ukraine in 1998. It underwent 10 sea trials before being commissioned in 2012.

“China has accumulated more experience with the Liaoning and that has helped in the construction and operation of Type 001A,” Song said.

North Korea fires two ballistic missiles in latest ‘warning’ to South
Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the upcoming sea trial for the Type 001A would be led by naval officers instead of the engineers and technicians from the Dalian Shipyard, which built the warship.

“Besides testing the carrier’s propulsion system and electronic communication systems, the sea trial will focus on inspection and acceptance. Both are critical parts of the testing before the ship can be handed over to the navy,” he said.

The trials will be held near the ship’s home port of Dalian. Graphic: SCMP
The trials will be held near the ship’s home port of Dalian. Graphic: SCMP

The 65,000-tonne Type 001A was built using the Liaoning as a prototype. It was launched in 2017 and conducted its latest sea trial in May. When it returned to Dalian on May 31 after the test it was seen to have J-15 fighter jets and Z-18 helicopters on its deck.

Li said aircraft take-off and landing exercises would be conducted on the high seas after the Type 001A formally entered service.

Both he and Song said the carrier was likely to be named after Shandong province, in line with the practice of giving warships geographical names.

Some naval enthusiasts and China watchers were disappointed when the Type 001 failed to appear at a grand naval parade held off the coast of Shandong in April to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the PLA Navy.

Chinese navy tests new Z-20 helicopter for use on its warships

Chinese navy tests new Z-20 helicopter for use on its warships

Source: SCMP

Posted in Aircraft carrier, Dalian, home-grown, Liaoning, Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration, naval training exercise, Phoenix Television, pla navy, sea trials, Soviet Kuznetsov-class vessel, Ukraine, Uncategorized, Yellow Sea | Leave a Comment »

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