2012-10-08 By Richard Weitz Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent trip to Europe designed to secure the removal of the U.S. arms embargo on China is but the latest example of Beijing’s efforts to prevent Europe from supporting U.S. efforts to manage China’s rise. It also provides an opportunity to assess…
2012-09-25 Richard Weitz has brought the following interview to the attention of the Second Line of Defense team. In this interview, a Chinese expert underscores the potential impact of the first Chinese aircraft carrier on PRC operations in the Pacific. Naval expert Li Jie said that China's first aircraft carrier,…
2012-08-12 by Ed Timperlake Is it Time for a Counterintelligence Damage Assessment? In a recent article in the Wichita Business Journal, the CEO of Hawker Beechcraft reaffirms that there is no defense conflict in Superior deal to sell the company to a Chinese company. Boisture points out that when it comes to the King…
2012-07-14 By Richard Weitz Iraq’s oil industry is indispensable to the country’s economic growth. The oil sector provides more than 90 percent of the government’s revenue and 80 percent of Iraq’s foreign exchange earnings. Iraqi officials have tendered bids and recently awarded ten contracts to international oil companies. These investments…
07/6/12: by Richard Weitz A team of Russian defense analysts at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) in Moscow have produced the most comprehensive and comprehensible study of the Chinese defense industry in any language. In Shooting Star: China’s Military Machine in the 21st Century, Mikhail…
6/25/12: By Richard Weitz Sino-Iraq relations will likely continue to strengthen in the near future. China, which imports more than half its oil, needs Iraqi energy, while Iraq, which continues to suffer from sectarian violence and an unstable political environment, depends heavily on China’s willingness to invest in the country…
by Richard Weitz Russia and China conducted their first official bilateral naval exercise (variously referred to as “Maritime Cooperation 2012” and “Sea Interaction 2012”) from April 22-27 in the Yellow Sea near Qingdao, China. The exercise was a genuinely mixed operation, in which both countries made major contributions to the…
By Richard Weitz North Korea’s ballistic missile program has complicated the negotiations seeking to de-nuclearize the Korean Peninsula and achieve a comprehensive peace treaty for the Peninsula. Despite the recent failure, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is slowly improving the number, range, and capabilities of its missiles. Its…
