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Chinese and U.S. ships on June 25, 2016. Chinese Ministry of Defense Photo
CLARIFICATION: The PLAN ships bound for RIMPAC were accompanied by two ships from the Stennis Carrier Strike Group, not the entire CSG.
Five ships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy are training with ships from a U.S. carrier strike group ahead of next month’s Rim of the Pacific 2016 exercises, a Navy official confirmed to USNI News on Monday. Read More
The following is the May 31, 2016 Congressional Research Service report, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities — Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter greets Deputy Chief of the Peoples Liberation Army (China) General Staff Adm. Sun Jianguo in Singapore on June 3, 2016. DoD Photo
Chinese officials took aim at U.S. assertions freedom of navigation rights in the South China Sea were being restricted by Beijing in a terse Monday statement. Read More
An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Black Knights of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 4 operates near the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) and the People’s Republic of China medical ship Peace Ark (T-AH 866) during a close formation of 42 ships and submarines from 15 international partner nations during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014. US Navy photo.
The United States has not revoked its invitation to China to participate in this year’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise despite increasingly aggressive behavior towards its neighbors in the South China Sea because the U.S. hopes China may still participate in a “system of cooperative nations,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said April 15 aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). Read More
The following is the March 24, 2016 Congressional Research Service report, The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress. Read More
Corvette Tuo Jiang sets sail during the handover ceremony in 2014.
The Taiwan Navy (ROCN) announced a major overhaul plan that includes indigenous production of four 10,000-ton destroyers and 10-15 frigates in 2014. Read More
The following is the 2016 Japanese analysis of strategic and military trends in China from the National Institute of Defense Studies. Read More
Chinese troops patrol disputed holding in the Spratly Islands. Photo via Reuters
A recently revealed U.S. assessment of Chinese military capability on holdings in the South China Sea runs counter to a narrative from Beijing that weapons on the artificial islands are merely for self defense, according to the late February assessment outlined in a letter by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and obtained by USNI News. Read More
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
China’s foreign minster Wang Yi defended the People’s Liberation Army deployment of 32 anti-air missiles to a disputed South China Sea Island saying Beijing was well within its rights to send out the batteries. Read More
USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) in 2012. US Navy Photo
Chinese officials issued several condemnations of the latest U.S. freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea in which an American guided missile destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of Chinese administered Triton Island in the Paracel Island chain. Read More
