– China Daily – The Chinese navy is considering taking on supplies in the Seychelles while conducting escort missions to tackle piracy.

– The Diplomat – In sum, Hu’s statement didn’t reflect a change in policy or a new emphasis on preparing for war. His routine statement received more attention than it warranted.

– BBC – China’s navy should speed up its development and prepare for warfare, President Hu Jintao has said.

– BBC – China’s navy will carry out exercises in the Pacific Ocean in the coming days, amid continuing tension over maritime disputes in the region.

– Reuters – A Chinese navy hospital ship called the Peace Ark sailed on Friday into Havana Bay in Cuba, reflecting good relations between the communist allies and China’s expanding global presence.

– Defense Technology International – OK, so we’ll skip a day or so (otherwise there won’t be anything left for you to read about in the next issue of DTI) and move onto the day we visited the Shanghai naval base, a first ever by journalists of any nationality apparently.

– Washington Post – When China’s largest offshore petroleum producer launched a $1 billion oil rig this summer from Shanghai, Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, the commander of Philippine military forces 1,500 miles away in the South China Sea, began preparing for trouble.

– BBC – China is on course to build a modern military by 2020, a move that could threaten stability in the Asia-Pacific region, the Pentagon says.

– Chinese Navy – China Flexes Naval Muscle – China sent its first aircraft carrier to sea, a defining moment in its effort to become a top-tier naval power that seeks to challenge U.S. military supremacy in Asia and protect Chinese economic interests that now span the globe.

– The Diplomat – There’s been much speculation about the implications of China’s first aircraft carrier. The Diplomat answers some of the key questions.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Scenarios of a military conflict with a rising China are pointless if they leave out a glaring detail—the global economy.

– MIT Security Studies Program Working Paper – By Owen Cote and highly recommended!

This paper will assess the undersea balance between the U.S. and China by comparing their relative abilities to accomplish their respective undersea warfare objectives. I will assess both the current balance, and how it might evolve in the future. In the latter case, I will focus on opportunities each side will have to adopt competitive strategies, or strategies designed to exploit its unique strengths or its opponent’s weaknesses in ways that create favorable asymmetries in the resources that must be committed to accomplish particular missions.

– Associated Press – China officially acknowledged Wednesday that it is rebuilding an aircraft carrier bought more than a decade ago, but says the refurbished ship will be used only for research and training – a strong indication it plans to build carriers of its own.

– Aviation Week – For more than a century, surface warships have been struggling to survive against mines, submarines, aircraft and, more recently, cruise missiles. Now China’s rapid development of a sophisticated anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) raises the threat to a new level.

– Washington Times – Beijing’s top military leader on Monday called for U.S. forces to halt joint naval exercises with China’s neighbors in the South China Sea and issued a string of complaints about U.S. policy after meeting his U.S. counterpart.

– Mindanao Examiner – The question in everybody’s mind is: What if China attacked the Spratlys? And if so, can the Phillipines survive a Chinese attack?

– The Diplomat – Is the talk around the port of Gwadar a sign that China is considering a string of pearls strategy? Anti-air missile batteries will be the first sign.

– Defense Technology International – U.S. analysts are already suggesting that the new Chinese UAV design — with its 60,000-ft. cruising altitude, 300-mi. radar surveillance range and, possibly, lower radar reflectivity if made from the right composites — could serve as the targeting node for China’s anti-ship ballistic missiles.

– Wall Street Journal – Tensions in the disputed waters of the South China Sea threaten to distract Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a visit to China intended to build on a recent thaw in bilateral military ties.

– BBC – A maritime arms race is under way in the South China Sea. Beijing is rapidly developing a host of military capabilities that will enable it to project power well beyond its own shores.

– Foreign Policy – Not yet.

– Daily Telegraph – China will boost offshore surveillance by adding ships and 6,000 personnel by 2020 in a move likely to raise tensions with South China Sea neighbours staking rival claims to waters thought to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.

– Chinese Navy – China stages military drills in South China Sea – China said Friday that its maritime defense forces recently staged three days and nights of exercises in the South China Sea, a disputed, resource-rich region where tensions are rising.

– BBC – China is to expand its ocean monitoring agency to protect its maritime interests, a senior official has said.

– Aviation Week – Defense analysts and U.S. Navy brass agree—China’s recent successes in developing an anti-ship ballistic missile and a more robust navy have made the powerhouse Asian nation a much greater military force to reckon with.