Georgetown Security Law Brief

Commentary: It's not just China, India is also buying and building aircraft carriers

05/17/13:  Foreign Policy published an article by John Reed who notes that as China commissioned its first-ever aircraft carrier aviation unit, Asia's other rising power, India, gave its carrier aviators a serious equipment upgrade with the introduction of 16 brand-new Russian-made MiG-29K and four MiG-29KUB carrier-borne fighters earlier this week. India has operated old British aircraft carriers for decades. Right now it flies aging Sea Harrier jump jets from INS Viraat, formerly the Royal Navy carrier Hermes. These Sea Harriers are subsonic attack planes with limited payloads operating from a carrier that was built in the 1950s. The supersonic MiG-29K is an updated, naval version of the Soviet Union's 1980s-vintage MiG-29, which was designed to counter U.S. Air Force F-15s and F-16s in the skies over Europe should the Cold War ever turn hot. The planes are way faster than the 1980s-vintage Sea Harriers and can carry more weapons capable of shooting down enemy planes and hitting enemy ships. The Indian navy's new MiGs are going to be flown off of India's newest carrier, the former Soviet navy "aircraft-carrying cruiser" Admiral Gorshkov. That vessel has been massively refurbished at a Russian shipyard into the soon-to-be delivered INS Vikramaditya, a full-on carrier that, after much work, looks remarkably similar to China's first carrier, the Liaoning -- herself an old Soviet carrier.

US sees China launch as test of anti-satellite muscle -source

05/16/13:  Reuters reports the US government believes a Chinese missile launch this week was the first test of a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit, a US defense official told Reuters on Wednesday.  China launched a rocket into space on Monday, but no objects were placed into orbit, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The object re-entered Earth's atmosphere above the Indian Ocean. The rocket reached 10,000 km (6,250 miles) above Earth, the highest suborbital launch seen worldwide since 1976, according to Jonathan McDowell at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. China has said the rocket, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in western China, carried a science payload to study the earth's magnetosphere. However, a US defense official said US intelligence showed that the rocket could be used in the future to carry an anti-satellite payload on a similar trajectory. Neither the US official nor the Pentagon released details of what the Chinese rocket carried into space.

Okinawa piques Chinese papers

05/09/13:  The New York Times reports Chinese state-run newspapers began carrying commentaries on Wednesday and Thursday questioning Japan’s sovereignty over the island of Okinawa, the latest sign of growing nationalism and territorial ambitions among a significant sector of China’s elite. People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, published an opinion column on Wednesday by two academics who noted that the Ryukyu Islands, of which Okinawa is the most important, for many years had been an independent kingdom that paid tribute to China. Japan took control of the islands in a series of moves through the 1870s, formally annexing them in 1879 and abolishing the local monarchy. Global Times, a sometimes stridently nationalistic newspaper, published a news article on Thursday asserting that questions about Okinawa’s sovereignty could help China in its long-running territorial dispute with Japan over seven uninhabited islands northeast of Taiwan, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China and Taiwan. The Chinese government has not endorsed the idea that Okinawa, the site of extensive American military bases, should be independent of Japan. At a regularly scheduled news conference on Wednesday, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman answered three questions about Okinawa with almost identical language, but did not take a clear position on sovereignty. The Japanese government quickly dismissed the People’s Daily column. “It is beyond doubt that it belongs to Japan, and that is the fact historically and internationally, so such an argument is absolutely undignified,” Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, said in a regularly scheduled news conference on Wednesday.

US directly blames China’s military for cyberattacks

05/07/13:  The New York Times reports the Obama administration on Monday explicitly accused China’s military of mounting attacks on American government computer systems and defense contractors, saying one motive could be to map “military capabilities that could be exploited during a crisis.” While some recent estimates have more than 90 percent of cyberespionage in the United States originating in China, the accusations relayed in the Pentagon's annual report to Congress on Chinese military capabilities were remarkable in their directness. Until now the administration avoided directly accusing both the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army of using cyberweapons against the United States in a deliberate, government-developed strategy to steal intellectual property and gain strategic advantage. “In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military,” the nearly 100-page report said. The report, released Monday, described China’s primary goal as stealing industrial technology, but said many intrusions also seemed aimed at obtaining insights into American policy makers’ thinking. It warned that the same information-gathering could easily be used for “building a picture of US network defense networks, logistics, and related military capabilities that could be exploited during a crisis.” It was unclear why the administration chose the Pentagon report to make assertions that it has long declined to make at the White House. A White House official declined to say at what level the report was cleared. A senior defense official said “this was a thoroughly coordinated report,” but did not elaborate.

India and China 'pull back troops' in disputed border area

05/07/13:  The BBC reports India and China have started pulling back troops from disputed territory near the two countries' de facto border, India's foreign ministry says. Soldiers were said to have set up camps facing each other on the ill-defined frontier in Ladakh region last month. The two sides held a series of talks to resolve the row and on Sunday, agreed to withdraw the troops. The two countries dispute several Himalayan border areas and fought a brief war in 1962. Tensions flare up from time to time. They have held numerous rounds of border talks, but all have been unsuccessful so far. A spokesperson for India's foreign ministry, Syed Akbaruddin, told the BBC that India and China had agreed to pull their troops back to positions they held prior to the current stand-off, which began last month. Meetings between border commanders were being held to confirm the arrangement, he added. Indian officials had accused Chinese troops of straying 10km (six miles) into Indian territory on 15 April and putting up tents in the Depsang valley in Ladakh, in eastern Kashmir. China had denied reports of an incursion. The pull-out comes days ahead of Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid's visit to China, ahead of a scheduled visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India. Mr Khurshid is visiting China on 9 May, ahead of Mr Li's visit on 20 May for his first overseas trip.

China cuts ties with key North Korean bank

05/07/13:  The New York Times reports the state-controlled Bank of China said on Tuesday that it had ended all dealings with a key North Korean bank in what appeared to be the strongest public Chinese response yet to North Korea’s willingness to brush aside warnings from Beijing and push ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Chinese analysts said the Bank of China’s move carried clear diplomatic significance at a time when the Obama administration has been urging China to limit its longtime support for the North Korean government. The Bank of China’s action also dovetails with a longstanding American effort to target the North Korean government’s access to foreign currency. Most countries’ banks already refuse to have any financial dealings with North Korea, making the Bank of China’s role particularly important. And in another sign of international pressure on North Korea, the United Nations announced Tuesday that it had appointed a prominent Australian jurist to lead a panel tasked with investigating human rights abuses and possible crimes against humanity in North Korea “with a view to ensuring full accountability.”

China makes waves as new force in drone warfare

05/04/13:  The Washington Times reports China is emerging as a real force in the drone warfare market, with aerospace firms developing and showcasing unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, that rival what’s produced in the United States. The Associated Press reported that Chinese firms have recently unveiled UAVs that are eerily similar to the Predator, Global Hawk and Reaper models used by the CIA and by the US Air Force. Military analysts say Chinese drone technology is still behind America’s and Israel's — but that it’s catching up quickly. The emerging drone technology represents China’s growing military intelligence. It also suggests that China is preparing a military challenge for dominance in the Asia-Pacific, a role currently filled by America. The concern is China — which said its drones can carry bombs and missiles — could take that technology and use it to intimidate neighbors, AP reported. Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines are among those who are watching.

Sensitive Army database of US dams compromised

05/02/13:  The Washington Times reports US intelligence agencies traced a recent cyber intrusion into a sensitive infrastructure database to the Chinese government or military cyber warriors, according to US officials. The compromise of the US Army Corps of Engineers' National Inventory of Dams (NID) is raising new concerns that China is preparing to conduct a future cyber attack against the national electrical power grid, including the growing percentage of electricity produced by hydroelectric dams. The database contains sensitive information on vulnerabilities of every major dam in the United States. There are around 8,100 major dams across waterways in the United States. The database categorizes US dams by the number of people that would be killed if a dam fails. They include “significant” and “high” hazard levels. Michelle Van Cleave, the former National Counterintelligence Executive, a senior counterintelligence policymaker, said the database compromise highlights the danger posed by hackers who are targeting critical U.S. infrastructure for future attacks.

Commentary: Xi's War Drums

05/02/13:  Foreign Policy published an article by John Garnaut: China's new leader is using the military to consolidate his power. But has he unleashed forces beyond his control? Xi has taken charge at a moment when China has been building up its military power as never before, surprising the United States and shocking its neighbors with the speedy development of new hardware and the aggressive manner in which it has deployed those tools to support its expanding ambitions. Top US intelligence analysts and generals have admitted to being caught out by the 2011 flight-testing of China's new J-20 stealth fighter. They were dumbfounded by China's subsequent deployment of the East Wind 21D, the world's first anti-ship ballistic missile, dubbed "the carrier killer" in the West. And now China is on track to nearly triple its fleet of maritime strike aircraft by 2020. China is simultaneously developing and producing seven types of submarine and surface warships. That's after a decade in which it quadrupled its number of modern submarines, including nuclear submarines designed to carry nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. It has massively expanded production of corvettes, frigates, amphibious ships, and destroyers. In September, China launched its first aircraft carrier.  But the specter of war is not the only possible explanation for Xi's saber rattling and demands for combat readiness. For even as Japanese leaders and US officials were publicizing their concerns this winter about a region on the brink of naval conflict, it became clearer that Xi and his close military confidants are squarely focused on domestic politics. Xi, then, has ultimately chosen to defend the Communist Party against internal political threats rather than prepare it to face external military threats. There is little doubt the Communist Party has been sharpening its identity in a post-communist world by defining itself against the West, fanning nationalist fervor, and promising a restoration of China's ancient grandeur. Xi thus has little choice but to keep pumping enormous resources into a war machine if he is to justify his party's continuing monopoly on power.

21 dead in clash with ‘gangsters’ in western China

04/25/13:  The New York Times reports at least 21 people were killed Tuesday in fighting in far western China between security officers and “gangsters,” according to a propaganda bureau spokeswoman for the regional government of Xinjiang, where the conflict took place. Six of those killed were identified as gangsters, and eight more people in the gang were detained during the violence, according to accounts from the bureau and a report Wednesday on a regional news Web site, Tianshan. The other 15 fatalities were police officers and community watch workers or volunteers who died after the large gang herded them at sword point into a house and set the building on fire, said the propaganda spokeswoman, who gave only her surname, Hou.  The death toll was the highest reported in Xinjiang in many months, despite the fact that violence in the region, a vast western territory with many ethnicities, has been relatively common there in recent years. The violence has sometimes been rooted in ethnic conflict, particularly between ethnic Uighurs and the country’s Han majority, and other times has involved criminal gangs or attacks by individuals or groups against state organizations. Ms. Hou said all 14 of the attackers were Uighurs who she said had been influenced by religious extremism and had been plotting a jihad since the end of last year, though there was no evidence they were working with foreign forces. 

US and China put focus on cybersecurity

04/23/13:  The New York Times reports the United States and China held their highest-level military talks in nearly two years on Monday, with a senior Chinese general pledging to work with the United States on cybersecurity because the consequences of a major cyberattack “may be as serious as a nuclear bomb.” Cybersecurity has become a sudden source of tension between the two countries. China has bristled over the growing body of evidence that its military has been involved in cyberattacks on American corporations and some government agencies. Last month, the Obama administration demanded that the Chinese government stop the theft of data from American computer networks and help create global standards for cybersecurity. At a news conference on Monday after talks with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the Chinese general, Fang Fenghui, said he would be willing to set up a cybersecurity “mechanism,” but warned that progress might not be swift. “I know how difficult it is,” General Fang said. “Anyone can launch the attacks — from the place where he lives, from his own country or from another country.” General Dempsey arrived in Beijing on Sunday for his first visit to China. His predecessor, Adm. Mike Mullen, held talks in Beijing in July 2011. General Dempsey’s three-day visit comes as mistrust has mounted between Beijing and Washington over a host of issues, including differences over North Korea, Washington’s strengthened military posture in the Asia Pacific region, China’s assertiveness in the South and East China Seas and basic problems of how the two militaries should communicate in a crisis.

Tensions flare between China and Japan over islands and shrine

04/23/13: The New York Times reports tensions between Japan and its Asian neighbors rose on Tuesday when a large group of Japanese lawmakers paid a symbolically charged visit to a Tokyo war shrine, while Chinese paramilitary ships and a flotilla of boats carrying Japanese nationalists appeared to converge on disputed islands. The group of 168 mostly low-ranking conservative lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo in what local news media described as the largest mass visit by Parliament members in recent memory. The shrine of the indigenous Shinto religion honors Japan’s war dead, including several who were executed as war criminals after World War II. This has made Yasukuni, and the political leaders who visit it, a target of criticism by China and South Korea, which suffered under Japan’s early 20th-century empire building. Last year, a group of 81 lawmakers visited the shrine during the same season, when Yasukuni celebrates a three-day spring festival. This year’s mass visit comes at a time when Japan’s relations with both those neighboring countries have frayed because of disputes over territory and history. The shrine is viewed by many in China and South Korea as a symbol of how Japan remains unrepentant for its brutal wartime expansion across Asia. For many Japanese nationalists, visits to the shrine appear have become a way of standing up to what they see as the increasingly insistent demands of China, which has usurped their country as the dominant power in Asia.

Chinese troops camping in "Indian territory:" police

04/20/13:  Reuters reports several dozen Chinese soldiers have set up a remote camp some 10 km (6 miles) inside territory claimed by India in the high altitude Himalayan desert of Ladakh, Indian police sources said, in a possible return to border tension between the Asian giants. An Indian foreign ministry spokesman said the two countries were in touch with each other to resolve the row. The ill-defined border has fuelled 50 years of mistrust despite blossoming economic ties. The Indian army set up its own temporary camp just 500 meters (1600 feet) from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers after the incident on April 15, a senior police official stationed close to the border told Reuters. India lost a short but bloody war with China in 1962, fought in Ladakh and the eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Today India controls Arunachal Pradesh, while China administers a large area adjacent to Ladakh called Aksai Chin. Neither side is comfortable with the arrangement. Small incursions are common across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border that runs some 4,000 km (2,500 miles) across the Himalayas, but it is rare for either country to set up camp so deep within disputed territory. The two countries have increased their military presence on each side of the border in recent years as their fast-growing economies permit more spending on defense of remote regions. They hold frequent meetings to diffuse tensions, but high-level talks to resolve the dispute have not produced results. The latest incident took place at Daulat Beg, where India established a landing strip during the 1962 war. At 5,100 meters (16,700 feet), the strip is one of the world's highest. It was reopened in 2008.

Strong quake in China kills dozens, injures thousands

04/20/13:  CNN reports a strong earthquake struck the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Saturday, killing more than 100 people and injuring thousands of others in a region that suffered a catastrophic quake five years ago, authorities said. Thousands of emergency workers, including soldiers, rushed to reach the affected zones in the hilly region, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang traveled to the area from Beijing, state media reported. The death toll rose steadily through the day. It currently stands at 113, with more than 3,000 people injured, the China Earthquake Administration said, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Xu Mengjia, the Communist Party chief of Ya'an, the city that administers the area where the quake struck, told CCTV that because of landslides and disruption to communications, determining the total number of casualties may take some time. The quake struck just after 8 a.m. local time about 115 kilometers (70 miles) away from the provincial capital, Chengdu, at a depth of around 12 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There was conflicting information about the earthquake's strength, with the USGS putting the magnitude at 6.6 and the China Earthquake Networks Center gauging it at 7.0. The event stirred memories of the devastating earthquake that hit Sichuan in 2008, killing more than 87,000 people.
 

China to send first aircraft carrier on high seas voyage: Xinhua

04/19/13:  Reuters reports China will send its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, on a voyage on the high seas for the first time within a year, the state-run news agency Xinhua said on Friday. The Liaoning, purchased used from Ukraine and refurbished in China, has conducted more than 100 exercises and experiments since it was commissioned last year, Xinhua said. Although considered decades behind US technology, the Liaoning represents the Chinese navy's blue-water ambitions and has been the focus of a campaign to stir patriotism. It has also been the most visible of China's efforts for more than a year to build up military hardware, including test flying two prototype versions of stealth fighter jets -- one of which is believed capable on landing on aircraft carriers. Last year, China also unveiled its first attack helicopter and a range of drone aircraft it hopes to export. In November a US government commission said it believed that within two years, Chinese submarines would be capable of deploying nuclear weapons. China is alone among the original nuclear weapons states to be expanding its nuclear forces, according to the report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

World experts to help China with bird flu investigation

04/16/13: Reuters reports an international team of flu experts will go to China this week to help with investigations into the deadly H7N9 virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The new strain of avian flu has killed 14 among 63 people known to have been infected, but no human-to-human spread of the virus has been confirmed. The team includes four specialists in areas such as emerging viruses, human-to-animal flu viruses and epidemiology, as well as an unspecified number of WHO staff, Thomas said. Another WHO spokesman, Gregory Hartl, said it would be made up of eight people in all. One of the points the mission wants to investigate is how some people seem to fight off the infection. China confirmed on Saturday a seven-year-old child had been infected by the virus in the capital Beijing, the first case outside the Yangtze river delta region in eastern China where the new strain emerged last month. No exact date has been set yet for the arrival of the team which is expected to hold talks in Beijing and visit affected provinces, he said. The mission - made up of American, European, Australian and Chinese experts - will get underway by Saturday and is expected to carry out a week-long study, Thomas said. In a statement issued late on Monday, the WHO said more than 1,000 close contacts of the people confirmed as having H7N9 were being closely monitored for symptoms. "So far, there is no evidence of ongoing human-to-human transmission," it said.

China 'reveals army structure' in defence white paper

04/16/13:  The BBC reports China has revealed the structure of its military units, in what state-run media describe as a first. The army has a total of 850,000 officers, while the navy and air force have a strength of 235,000 and 398,000, China said in its defence white paper. The paper also criticised the US's expanded military presence in the Asia Pacific, saying it had exacerbated regional tensions. China's defence budget rose by 11.2% in 2012, exceeding $100bn (£65bn). The defense white paper, which state media describe as China's 8th since 1998, emphasised China's "unshakable national commitment... to take the road of peaceful development". The white paper reveals details of China's military structure. According to state-run news agency Xinhua, this is the first time such information has been disclosed publicly. Correspondents say this appears to be part of an effort, on the part of the Chinese military, to become more transparent. The territorial army has 18 combined corps in seven military area commands: Beijing, Nanjing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Lanzhou, and Jinan. The air force has 398,000 officers and an air command in the same seven military areas, while the navy commands three fleets: the Beihai Fleet, the Donghai Fleet and the Nanhai Fleet, the paper said. The paper also describes the role of China's second artillery force, which contains China's nuclear and conventional missile forces.

China suggests US is stirring tensions in Asia-Pacific region

04/16/13:  The New York Times reports China published a national defense paper on Tuesday suggesting that the United States was creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region by strengthening its military presence and reinforcing its alliances there. The paper, released by the Ministry of Defense, did not declare that the United States was responsible, but the message was clear. Strongly alluding to the Obama administration’s policy to “pivot” toward a greater focus on the Asia-Pacific region, the paper said, “Some country has strengthened its Asia-Pacific military alliances, expanded its military presence in the region, and frequently makes the situation tenser.” Thus, China has an “arduous task to safeguard its national unification, territorial integrity and development interests.” Presented at a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, the paper has mostly a symbolic significance, defense analysts say. It is useful as a way of understanding how the Communist Party thinks defense issues should be presented to the public, they say. But it is scarcely looked at by China’s military officers. Over all, the paper suggested that China should be satisfied with its strategic position and offered a congratulatory note, saying that China “has seized and made the most of this important period of strategic opportunities for its development, and its modernization achievements have captured world attention.” In particular, it singled out a better situation with Taiwan, saying, “Cross-straits relations are sustaining a momentum of peaceful development.”

US opposes "coercive" China action in island dispute with Japan

04/14/13: The Miami Herald reports the United States said Sunday that it is committed to defending Japan and opposes any coercive action by China to seize territory under Japanese control in the East China Sea.  Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington isn’t taking a position in the dispute over the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.  Japan and China have sparred over the uninhabited islands in recent years.  Kerry’s strong words of support for America’s ally come just a day after he promised new levels of US-Chinese cooperation on a host of problems, most notably North Korea’s nuclear program.

Avian Flu virus confirmed in Beijing for first time

04/13/13:  The New York Times reports the bird flu virus that has been centered in the city of Shanghai and surrounding provinces has now been reported elsewhere in China, as a 7-year-old girl was being treated on Saturday in a Beijing hospital for avian influenza. The virus has already killed 11 people in China, with 7 of those deaths reported in Shanghai, and the rest coming from three surrounding provinces. The Beijing case involved a girl whose parents were in the poultry trade, according to the Beijing Health Bureau. She entered the hospital on Thursday and tests confirmed on Saturday that she had the H7N9 virus. The bureau said that she was in stable condition at the hospital, and that there were no indications that people she had come in contact with had the virus.

China and US make North Korea nuclear pledge

04/13/13:  The BBC reports China and the US have vowed to work together to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programme and to settle tensions through dialogue. A Chinese statement issued during a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry said the nuclear issue was the "shared responsibility of all parties". Mr Kerry said the two sides must decide "very quickly" how to proceed. North Korea has recently threatened nuclear attacks, and is feared to be preparing a missile launch. A flurry of warlike statements from Pyongyang has prompted speculation that a launch could happen on 15 April, when the country marks the 101st birthday of the nation's founder and former leader, Kim Il-sung.

China steps up bird flu precautions

04/06/13:  The BBC reports China is stepping up its efforts to contain the spread of a new strain of bird flu which has killed six people in the country. The authorities in Shanghai, where four deaths were recorded, have closed three poultry markets and banned the import of all live birds into the city. China has now identified 16 domestic cases of the H7N9 virus. The World Health Organization says there is no evidence yet that the virus is being transmitted between humans. The human cases of H7N9 have all occurred in eastern China, in Shanghai and its neighbouring provinces of Anhui and Zhejiang. The latest death was a 64-year-old man who died in Zhejiang, the second death there, state media report. There was no sign of infection in anyone who had had close contact with him, said officials. On Thursday, officials began the slaughter of at least 20,000 birds in Shanghai after the virus was detected in pigeons sold in Huhuai market. The trading of live birds - how poultry is traditionally sold in China - has also been halted at a market in the Zhejiang city of Hangzhou, after the virus was detected in quail being sold there.

China continues military buildup near North Korean border as tanks, armor deploy

04/04/13:  The Washington Times reports China continued moving tanks and armored vehicles and flying flights near North Korea this week as part of a military buildup in the northeastern part of the country that US officials say is related to the crisis with North Korea. The Obama administration, meanwhile, sought to play down the Chinese military buildup along the border with Beijing’s fraternal communist ally despite the growing danger of conflict following unprecedented threats by Pyongyang to attack the United States and South Korea with nuclear weapons. According to U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports, both intelligence and Internet reports from the region over the past week revealed the modest military movements in the border region that began in mid-March and are continuing. The buildup appears linked to North Korea’s March 30 announcement that it is in a “state of war” with South Korea after the United Nations imposed a new round of sanctions following the North’s Feb. 12 nuclear test and because of ongoing large-scale joint US-South Korea military exercises. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troop and tank movements were reported in Daqing, located in northeastern Heilongjiang Province, and in the border city of Shenyang, in Liaoning Province.

Japan shifts from pacifism as anxiety in region rises

04/02/13:  The New York Times reports the Japanese soldiers in camouflage face paint and full combat gear were dropped by American helicopters onto this treeless, hilly island, and moved quickly to recapture it from an imaginary invader. To secure their victory, they called on a nearby United States warship to pound the “enemy” with gunfire that exploded in deafening thunderclaps. Perhaps the most notable feature of the war games in February, called Iron Fist, was the baldness of their unspoken warning. There is only one country that Japan fears would stage an assault on one of its islands: China. Iron Fist is one of the latest signs that Japan’s anxiety about China’s insistent claims over disputed islands as well as North Korea's escalating nuclear threats are pushing Japanese leaders to shift further away from the nation’s postwar pacifism. The new assertiveness has been particularly apparent under the new prime minister, Sinzo Abe, a conservative who has increased military spending for the first time in 11 years. Until recently, a simulated battle against Chinese forces would have been unthinkably provocative for Japan, which renounced the right to wage war — or even to possess a military — after its march across Asia in World War II resulted in crushing defeat. The purely defensive forces created in 1954 are still constrained from acting in too offensive a manner: last year, a smaller mock assault by Japanese and American forces on an island near Okinawa was canceled because of local opposition. That recalculation — a large step in what analysts see as a creeping over the years toward a more robust Japanese military — could have broad implications for the power balance in the region, angering China and likely giving the United States a more involved partner in its pivot to Asia to offset China’s extended reach.

 

China to build two more Antarctic bases

03/29/13:  AFP reports China is to build two extra research stations in Antarctica, where it currently has three facilities, the State Oceanic Administration confirmed on Friday. A summer base, to be used between December and March, will be built between two of its existing stations—Kunlun and Zhongshan—on the frozen continent, the official Xinhua news agency said. Kunlun is on the summit of the East Antarctic ice sheet while Zhongshan is 1,280 kilometres away on the Antarctic coast. The new station will be used to study geology, glaciers, geomagnetism and atmospheric science, Xinhua added. A new all-year base will also be built in Victoria Land, on the Ross Sea, for multi-disciplinary research on bio-ecology and satellite remote sensing, it said. About 30 countries, all members of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, operate research bases in Antarctica. The pact aims to reduce the likelihood of confrontations over territorial disputes there. On the other side of the world, China is looking to expand its presence in the Arctic, which is thought could harbour huge natural resources and serve as a shipping route to Europe. The Antarctic, the target of more than 80 percent of China's polar expeditions, is China's main polar focus, a report released last year by Swedish think tank the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.

China targets ‘military crimes’ of treason including surrender and theft

03/29/13: The Washington Times reports China this week announced a tough new regulation, effective Thursday, that specifies severe prosecution and punishment for military personnel who commit any of 31 types of criminal acts. The rule covers active duty, civilian employees and reservists of the People’s Liberation Army, especially when China is at war. The new regulation is unusual for its comprehensive and detailed list of military crimes: Article 4 prohibits surrender in combat. Article 6 punishes a soldier for missing 10 bullets, or 30 bomb detonators, or 100 feet of fuse line, or any act leading to economic loss worth more than $48,000, as well as “cowardice and being slow on trigger in combat.” A large portion of the listed crimes relates to the misuse, theft and trade of military equipment and weapons for economic gain. But the focus of the new regulation is to define what constitutes treason and defection for active-duty troops and civilian support staff. Articles 11 to 15 provide a long list of these treasonous acts, including carrying out defection due to objections to the national government and socialism, issuing open statements announcing defection to an enemy country, applying for political asylum, delaying return to China while possessing military secrets, joining a reactionary foreign agency or organization, fleeing to a combat zone controlled by the enemy, distributing the defense budget, and illegally obtaining military secrets such as combat plans and defense research projects. Promulgation of the new regulation marks another sign that China is getting ready for general war, as the overall propaganda machine has been doing for the past several months: Most of the punishable crimes in the document are specified and conditioned as taking place under a “wartime situation,” and the regulation reads like a pre-war clarification of military discipline and conduct code.

US jails Chinese engineer for exporting trade secrets

03/26/13:  The BBC reports a US court has sentenced a Chinese national to more than five years in prison for illegally exporting military trade secrets to China. Liu Sixing, who formerly worked in US company L-3 Communications, was accused of taking information on US missile, rocket and drone technology to China. He was convicted of exporting military information, possessing stolen trade secrets, and lying to the authorities. Liu says he did not break the law, or intend to pass secrets to China. Liu Sixing, who was also known as Steve Liu, worked in L-3 Communications' space and navigation unit in New Jersey from 2009-2010 as a senior engineer. Prosecutors say he stole thousands of computer files in 2010, and took them to China on his personal computer, where he gave presentations about the technology he was working on to universities and conferences linked to the Chinese government. Prosecutors say he transported the files, which included information on the performance and design of guidance systems for missiles, rockets and unmanned drones, in the hope that it would help him gain future employment in China. Technical military data covered by US export regulations cannot be taken out of the country without a license.

China reportedly to buy Russian submarines, fighter jets

03/26/13:  NPR reports China has reportedly signed a deal to buy new submarines and Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, the first such arms deal in nearly a decade. The agreement, long in the works, was inked during last week's visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow, according to China Central Television CCTV.  But, somewhat oddly, Russia's ITAR-TASS has denied the reports. According to Chinese media, the agreement was for four Amur-1650 class diesel-electric submarines and 24 Su-35s, one of Russia's most advanced fighters. The submarines would supplement China's existing fleet of about 65 subsurface vessels, including indigenously built nuclear and ballistic missile submarines. China has also produced several of its own variants of Russia's Sukhoi Su-27, Su-30 and Su-33 warplanes and is in the process of developing its own stealth fighters. The BBC quotes China's People's Daily as saying the advanced Su-35s from Russia would "effectively reduce pressure on China's air defense" as China moved ahead with its stealth planes. The reports come as Beijing and Moscow have moved closer in an apparent desire to counterbalance U.S. interests in Asia and Europe and The China Daily described Xi's visit to Russia as a "well-deserved riposte to Washington for America's military 'pivot' to Asia. Xi is executing China's own 'pivot' — the visit to Moscow to cement ties with" Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the BBC.

Database is shut down by NASA for review

03/23/13:  The New York Times reports NASA has shut down a large public database and is limiting access to agency facilities by foreign citizens as part of a broader investigation into efforts by China and other countries to get information about important technology. NASA announced the security procedures this week, after the FBI arrested a Chinese citizen at Dulles International Airport in Virginia who had boarded a plane to Beijing. The man, Bo Jiang, had been working as a contractor at NASA’s Langley Research Center in southern Virginia. According to an affidavit filed on Monday, Mr. Jiang is being charged with making false statements to federal agents — failing to disclose that he was carrying a laptop, hard drive and SIM card that were discovered after a search of his belongings. On Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr, the NASA administrator, told a House committee that he has ordered a review of the “access which foreign nationals from designated countries are granted at NASA facilities,” and had issued a moratorium on any new requests for access from citizens of several countries, including China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. But it is another step that General Bolden announced — shutting down a giant NASA database used by scientists, engineers, academics and students — that some have criticized as draconian and unnecessary. The NASA Technical Reports Server is an online repository of millions of journal articles, videos, PowerPoint presentations and other scientific material that for decades has been an indispensable resource on aeronautics and aerospace.

 

China punished North Korea as US asks for more

03/23/13:  The Miami Herald reports China is trying to punish ally North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests, stepping up inspections of North Korean-bound cargo in a calibrated effort to send a message of Chinese pique without further provoking a testy Pyongyang government. Freight handlers and trading companies at ports and cities near the North Korean border complain of more rigorous inspections and surprise checks that are raising the costs to doing business with an often unpredictable North Korea. Machinery, luxury goods and daily necessities such as rice and cooking oil are among the targeted products, the companies said, and business is suffering. North Korea's economic lifeline, China is showing signs of getting tough with an impoverished neighbor it has long supported with trade, aid and diplomatic protection for fear of setting off a collapse. The moves to crimp, but not cut off trade with North Korea come as Beijing falls under increased scrutiny to enforce new UN sanctions passed after last month's nuclear test, Pyongyang's third. US officials in Beijing for two days of talks to lobby China on enforcement said Friday that they were heartened by Chinese expressions of resolve. Spurring Beijing to cooperate, the US officials said, is a concern that North Korean behavior had begun threatening China's interests in a region vital to its economic and security.

China to attend major U.S.-hosted naval exercises, but role limited

03/23/13:  Reuters reports China's People's Liberation Army has accepted an invitation to participate for the first time in a major US-hosted naval drill, but legal restrictions will limit its role to less sensitive exercises, like disaster relief, US officials say. Beijing's agreement to join the drills being held next year comes at a moment of heightened tensions between China and US ally Japan over disputed East China Sea islets, and unease in the United States about China's rapid military buildup and its cyber capabilities. The Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, is billed as the world's largest international maritime exercise, with 22 nations and more than 40 ships and submarines participating the last time it was held off Hawaii in 2012. Not all the participants are treaty allies with the United States. Last year's participants included Russia and India. But China has never participated in the event, although it did send observers to RIMPAC in 1998, the Pentagon said.  US law prohibits the Pentagon from any military contacts with the PLA if it could "create a national security risk due to an inappropriate exposure" to activities including joint combat operations. There is an exemption for operations or exercises related to search and rescue and humanitarian relief, and China participated with the United States last year in a counter-piracy drill.

China, Pakistan reach secret nuclear reactor deal for Pakistan

03/22/13:  The Washington Times reports China and Pakistan reached a formal agreement last month to construct a third nuclear reactor at Chashma that the Obama administration says will violate Beijing’s promises under an international anti-nuclear weapons accord. According to US intelligence and diplomatic officials, the secret agreement for the Chashma 3 reactor was signed in Beijing during the visit by a delegation from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from Feb. 15 to 18. The agreement calls for the state-run China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) to construct a 1,000-megawatt power plant at Chashma, located in the northern province of Punjab, where two earlier Chinese reactors were built. China’s government last month issued an internal notice to officials within its nuclear establishment and to regional political leaders urging care to avoid any leaks of information about the nuclear sale that Beijing expects will be controversial, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The reactor deal had been in the works for several years and prompted high-level US government efforts to block the sale because of concerns it will boost Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program.

South Korea links cyberattack to China, North Korea

03/21/13:  The Washington Times reports a Chinese Internet address was the source of at least one of the wave of cyberattacks that hit South Korean banks and broadcasters, wiping as many as 32,000 computers and shutting down ATMs and online banking, according to authorities in Seoul Thursday. Mr. Park stressed that tracking down the IP source to China did not explain who was behind the attack, which might simply have been routed through the Chinese address from elsewhere. Wednesday’s cyberattack, the largest against South Korea for at least two years and what looks like the most sophisticated to date, came in the midst of rising tensions on the peninsula and just days after North Korea accused the United States and its South Korean allies of knocking several of Pyongyang’s websites offline last week. North Korean leaders have ratcheted up their bellicose rhetoric recently, and on March 11, Pyongyang abrogated the 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean war — though not the conflict itself as the two sides remain technically in a state of hostilities. Pyongyang has been blamed for previous cyberattacks in 2009 and 2011 that had also targeted South Korean financial institutions and government agencies.

Chinese contractor at NASA makes court appearance

03/19/13:  CNN reports a Chinese aerospace contractor, who one senior lawmaker suspects is a spy, made his first appearance in federal court on Monday. Bo Jiang worked at NASA's Langley's Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and was seized over the weekend as he boarded a flight to Beijing at Dulles airport outside Washington. Jiang was charged with making false statements to U.S. authorities by failing to disclose all of the electronic devices he was carrying on his one-way flight. He was jailed following his appearance in federal court in Norfolk. U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, said Jiang recently arranged travel after the lawmaker went public with his concerns about NASA security. Wolf told reporters Monday that he believes Jiang had access to highly sensitive documents, including source codes for high-tech imaging used in missiles, unmanned aerospace equipment and other technology desired by the Chinese government. Wolf, who oversees congressional funding of several agencies, believes Jiang was spying.

China overtakes UK as fifth-largest arms exporter

03/19/13:  The Washington Times reports China has grown its weapons sales by 162 percent over the last five years, allowing it to crack the top five list of arms exporters for the first time and fueling concerns of an arms race in Asia, a new report shows. There is also some evidence that Chinese industries are using arms sales “as a lever” to open new markets for more lucrative, non-military contracts, according to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. For huge state-owned industries like China's North Industries Corp., known as Norinco, “the arms trade represents only a fraction of their overall revenue,” said Paul Holtom, the report’s lead author. The report shows that the United States remains the top arms exporter, with 30 percent of the global market — followed by Russia, with 26 percent; Germany, 7 percent; France, 6 percent; and China, supplanting Britain, with 5 percent of the market. It’s the first time since the survey began in the 1950s that China entered the top-tier of exporters.

China: US missile defense plan risks antagonizing North Korea

03/18/13: CNN reports China warned Monday that the United States’ plans to beef up its missile defenses against North Korea are likely to inflame tensions already running high over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.  “Bolstering missile defenses will only intensify antagonism, and it doesn’t help to solve the issue,” Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a news briefing in Beijing.  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Friday that the United States will deploy additional ground-based missile interceptors on the West Coast as part of efforts to enhance the nation’s ability to defend itself from attack by North Korea.  The announcement came after North Korea recently threatened a preemptive nuclear attack on South Korea and the United States in response to stepped-up UN sanctions over its latest nuclear test last month.

US official in China hacking call

03/12/13:  The BBC reports the Chinese government should acknowledge and investigate cyber-theft from China, a top US official has said. National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon said cyber security was a "growing challenge" to the US economic relationship with Beijing. The pointed remarks appeared to reflect growing US concern over cyber-crimes said to originate in China. On Saturday China's foreign minister criticised claims China was behind hacking attacks on US companies. In a speech at the Asia Society in New York on Monday, Mr Donilon said that US businesses were increasingly concerned about "cyber intrusions emanating from China" that stole confidential business information or intellectual property. "We seek three things from the Chinese side," he said. "First, we need a recognition of the urgency and scope of this problem. Second, Beijing should take serious steps to investigate and put a stop to these activities." "Finally, we need China to engage with us... to establish acceptable norms of behaviour in cyberspace." China has long been suspected of a role in cyber-hacking. But the issue has become more high-profile in recent months following widely reported hacks into media outlets including the New York Times - in that case apparently linked to a report by the paper on the wealth of relatives of outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao.

Taiwan’s massive, powerful radar system is finally operational

03/08/13:  Wired's Danger Room reports this weird, sloped 10-story green building gives the tiny island nation of Taiwan something that it’s wanted for 15 years: early warning of ballistic missiles and warplanes launched from over 3,000 miles away. For Taiwan, it’s a must-have. Neighboring China has over a thousand ballistic and cruise missiles pointed at it. Once launched, the missiles will slam onto the breakaway Chinese province within 10 minutes. Taiwan needs as much early warning as humanly possible if those missiles ever reach the air. This 105-foot system is about as advanced as early-warning radar arrays get. Known as PAVE PAWS, for Phased Array Warning System, the slopes of the building shown above are huge antennas built into the facade. Only a handful of countries — the U.S., Russia, maybe China itself — have this kind of early-warning system. Constructed on the top of a mountain in the country's north, the Raytheon-built system cost approximately $1.4 billion.  But with little international notice, Taiwan declared its PAVE PAWS operational last month.

China warns against Korea escalation

03/08/13:  The BBC reports China has appealed for calm on the Korean peninsula, hours after North Korea said it had scrapped all peace pacts with the South and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes. China, the North's only major ally, said all sides should continue to talk and avoid "further escalation". Pyongyang has reacted angrily to another round of sanctions imposed by the UN over its recent nuclear test. The sanctions restrict luxury goods imports and banking activities. Beijing provides fuel, food and diplomatic cover to Pyongyang. It has repeatedly voted in favour of UN sanctions imposed over the nuclear programme, but enforcement of the measures in China is patchy. Hua Chunying of China's foreign ministry told a news conference on Friday: "China and North Korea have normal country relations. At the same time, we also oppose North Korea's conducting of nuclear tests.

China’s annual defense spending will rise by 10.7 percent

03/05/13:  The Washington Times reports China's Communist Party leaders Tuesday announced their spending plans for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) this year, repeating last year’s double-digit growth in Beijing’s military budget, just as their only effective rival, the United States, is slashing defense spending across the board.  China's annual defense spending will rise by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan ($114.3 billion) in 2013, according to the official newspaper China Daily.  Last year, China’s military budget grew by 11.6 percent, the paper reported. China’s military spending will be about the same proportion of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year as last — about 1.3 percent, down from 1.4 percent in 2006, Bloomberg News reported.  The paper said China’s defense spending, second only to the United States, was about one-sixth of America’s and much lower on both a per capita basis and as a proportion of GDP.

China’s ‘second navy’

03/01/13:  The Washington Times reports in recent years, China’s State Oceanic Administration has become the de facto coast guard, with one important caveat. It acts as China’s second navy in deliberately challenging the existing maritime demarcations and claims of virtually all of China’s maritime neighbors. Before 2000, the State Oceanic Administration had no patrol vessels of any significance. In 1998, the little-known agency established a new division called the China Marine Surveillance. At the time, the division had only a limited number of vessels of several hundred tons of displacement in size. However, within a few years, the division emerged as a powerful maritime force with an impressive fleet of large vessels and helicopters, armed or unarmed, known to many as China’s second navy. In 2000, the service began to build surveillance ships larger than 1,000 tons. Now it deploys 13 ships, including several as large as 4,000 tons. Within the next several years, China is scheduled to launch 36 newer and more-modern large surveillance vessels. In addition to its fleet, a total of 11 naval warships were turned over to the surveillance division in recent years, including two missile destroyers, Nanjing (DDG 131) and Nanning (DDG 162), each around 4,000 tons.

US hackers attacked military websites, says China's defence ministry

02/28/13:  The BBC reports hackers from the US have repeatedly launched attacks on two Chinese military websites, including that of the Defence Ministry, officials say. The sites were subject to about 144,000 hacking attacks each month last year, two thirds of which came from the US, according to China's defence ministry. The issue of cyber hacking has strained relations between the two countries. Earlier this month a US cyber security firm said a secretive Chinese military unit was behind "prolific hacking". Mandiant said that Unit 61398 was believed to have "systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data" from at least 141 organisations around the world. The White House has said that it has taken its concerns about cyber-theft to the highest levels of China's government. China denied the allegations, saying it was also the victim of cyber attacks. The US is yet to respond to these latest allegations from China.

China navy launches new stealth frigate

02/26/13:  The BBC reports China's navy has taken delivery of the first of a new kind of stealth frigate, as tension continues with neighbouring countries over maritime borders. The Type 056 stealth frigate has a sleek design that helps it evade radar detection, and needs just one-third of the crew used by its predecessor. The first ship was delivered to the Chinese navy in Shanghai on Monday, state-run news agency Xinhua said. China said the new vessel is part of a systematic upgrading of naval hardware. The frigate - one of 20 being built - will mainly be deployed on escort missions and for anti-submarine operations. Xinhua said it would enhance the country's ability to safeguard national security and defend maritime sovereignty. The arrival of the new vessel comes at a time when China is in dispute with a number of neighbouring countries over national boundaries in the East and South China Seas. Mostly recently Beijing has been arguing with Tokyo over the Senkaku Islands - known as the Diaoyu Islands in Chinese - which are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China.

BBC World Service shortwave radio blocked in China

02/26/13:  The BBC reports shortwave broadcasts in English of World Service radio are being jammed in China. In a statement, the corporation said it was not possible to determine exactly where the blocking was coming from. But it said the "extensive and co-ordinated efforts are indicative of a well-resourced country such as China". "The BBC strongly condemns this action which is designed to disrupt audiences' free access to news and information," said the statement. The BBC has experienced several instances of satellite services being jammed in recent years. Shortwave jamming is less frequent, it says, although it has hit transmissions by BBC Persian in Iran and was historically used to block broadcasts during the Cold War. BBC director of global news Peter Horrocks said the jamming in China was being timed to cause maximum disruption to BBC World Service English broadcasts there.

Chinese troops prepare for spillover from Myanmar civil war

02/23/13:  The New York Times reports Chinese Army units have been undergoing intense training near the border with Myanmar in anticipation of an ethnic war there spilling into soutwestChina, according to official Chinese news media reports on Friday. The training has been taking place in the hills of Yunnan Province. It borders Kachin State in northern Myanmar, where a civil war between an ethnic Kachin rebel army and the Burmese Army has been unfolding. The fighting intensified in late December, and Chinese officials and news organizations reported that shells had landed in China and that Kachin refugees had begun living in hotels and the homes of family and friends in Yunnan. Last month, the Myanmar government announced a cease-fire with the rebels of the Kachin Independence Army in order to hold peace talks, but foreigners in the area reported continuing attacks by the Burmese Army in the days after. One Chinese news report on Friday said there had been “no significant improvement” in the peace talks.

 

Chinese buoys are focus of latest dispute over contested islands

02/22/13:  The New York Times reports Japan has asked the Chinese government to explain why Chinese ships have strategically placed several buoys in the East China Sea near a group of disputed islands, a Japanese government spokesman said on Friday. The spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, told reporters that ships from China’s State Oceanic Administration, which is similar to the coast guard, had placed the buoys last week in Chinese-controlled waters near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The uninhabited islands have been controlled by Japan for decades, but are claimed by China and also Taiwan. Japanese media reported that the buoys might be used to track Japanese submarines in waters around the uninhabited islands, where Japanese and Chinese ships have chased each other in recent months. If so, their placement could represent another step in an ominous escalation in the standoff, which began with coast guard and other nonmilitary ships, but has recently begun to involve more heavily armed navy ships.

Chinese plan to kill drug lord with drone highlights military advances

02/21/13:  The New York Times reports China considered using a drone strike in a mountainous region of Southeast Asia to kill a Myanmar drug lord wanted in the murders of 13 Chinese sailors, but decided instead to capture him alive, according to an influential state-run newspaper. The plan to use a drone, described to the Global Times newspaper by a senior public security official, highlights China’s increasing advances in unmanned aerial warfare, a technology dominated by the United States and used widely by the Obama administration for the targeted killing of terrorists. Liu Yuejin, the director of the Ministry of Public Security’s antidrug bureau, told the newspaper in an article published online on Tuesday that the plan called for using a drone carrying explosives to bomb the outlaw’s hide-out in the opium-growing area of Myanmar, in the Golden Triangle at the intersection of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Chinese Army unit is seen as tied to hacking against US

02/19/13:  The New York Times reports On the outskirts of Shanghai, in a run-down neighborhood dominated by a 12-story white office tower, sits a People’s Liberation Army base for China’s growing corps of cyberwarriors, headquarters of P.L.A. Unit 61398. A growing body of digital forensic evidence — confirmed by American intelligence officials who say they have tapped into the activity of the army unit for years — leaves little doubt that an overwhelming percentage of the attacks on American corporations, organizations and government agencies originate in and around the white tower.  An unusually detailed 60-page study, to be released Tuesday by Mandiant, an American computer security firm, tracks for the first time individual members of the most sophisticated of the Chinese hacking groups — known to many of its victims in the United States as “Comment Crew” or “Shanghai Group” — to the doorstep of the military unit’s headquarters.

Report: North Korea tells China it plans 1-2 more nuclear tests this year

02/16/13:  The Washington Times reports North Korea has told China, its major ally, that it will conduct one or two more nuclear tests before the end of this year, according to a source who claimed direct knowledge of the message.  “It’s all ready. A fourth and fifth nuclear test and a rocket launch could be conducted soon, possibly this year,” the unnamed source said, in a Reuters report. The source also reportedly claimed the next test would be much bigger than the one conducted Feb. 12. That one yielded an estimated six-to-seven kilotons of TNT; the next will surpass 10 kilotons, according to source statements in the Reuters report.  The source was described as high-level, with direct access to top government officials in both Beijing and Pyongyang, Reuters reported.

UN condemns North Korea nuclear test

02/13/13: Al Jazeera reports the UN Security Council has “strongly condemned” North Korea’s third nuclear test and vowed to take action against Pyongyang.  “The members of the Security Council strongly condemned this test, which is a grave violation of Security Council resolutions,” said South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, whose country is president of the Council this month.  He said the council would now consider “appropriate measures” but did not elaborate on what those might be.  The nuclear test drew universal condemnation from several countries and organizations, including the US and Pyongyang’s usual ally China.  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was “deplorable” that North Korea had defied international appeals to refrain from such provocative acts.  Ban’s spokesman called the test “a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.”