China to have ‘world’s largest navy’ by 2020, says report

Based on the number and variety of warships that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is likely to have in commission by the year 2020, a new report says that China will have not only the largest but also the second-most capable blue-water navy in the world within the next four years.

China hits the launch button for massive PLA shake-up to create a modern, nimble force

Xi Jinping announced on September 3 that the army would shed 300,000 troops. Photo: Xinhua

 

Top leaders of the People’s Liberation Army were yesterday told the long-awaited overhaul of the armed forces had been launched, with the existing seven military commands to be regrouped into four strategic zones, sources close to the PLA said.

The restructure was formally announced at a plenary session of the leading group for national defence and military reform under the Central Military Commission.

China Deploys Surveillance Ships to Waters off Hawaii

China has started deploying maritime surveillance vessels to the waters off the coast of Hawaii, according to reports by the Nihon Keisha Shimbun. The Tokyo-based publication says the provocative Chinese move is a countermeasure against United States activities in the South China Sea.

Beijing’s Belt and Road means overseas military bases

China’s ninth defense white paper published on May 26 openly declared that overseas military bases will be necessary to carry out the New Economic Silk Road Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (“Belt and Road”) initiatives, according to Chinese political analyst Mao Yulin in an article for Duowei News, a media outlet operated by overseas Chinese.

PLA building fleet of 100 large transport aircraft

 

China is building a fleet of a hundred large transport aircraft that will be able to deploy troops all around the world, according to a Russian military expert.

In an article published Oct. 16 on the Russian Council website, Vasily Kashin, a China expert at the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, says that the People’s Liberation Army hopes to complete the project by 2020.

To reach that goal, China is in the process of acquiring Il-76 multi-purpose four-engine strategic airlifters and Il-78 four-engined aerial refueling tankers from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and is also developing its own Xian Y-20 large military transport aircraft.

According to Kashin, the quality of China’s military technology has reached a new level, such that the PLA is now a modernized force capable of fighting a technically advanced war. The new generation PLA has a blue-water navy and maritime force capable of operating across the deep waters of open oceans as well as a powerful strategic air force, he wrote.