16/11/2008 - (Photos by Duncan Yum) The biannual China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (also known as Zhuhai Air Show or Air Show China) was held in the southern city of Zhuhai between 4th and 9th November 2008. This is the 7th such airshow to be held by China since 1996. This year’s show featured the biggest line-up of Chinese-made civil and military aircraft, as well as aviation systems and conventional weapon systems developed by the Chinese aircraft industry. For the first time, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has sent its aircraft in current service to participate in the event. FULL STORY
In June 2008, Jin Muchun disclosed more details about the new launch vehicle to the press. According to Liu, the ShenZhou 7 launch would be the last mission undertaken by the CZ-2F. Future flight missions were to be carried out by improved variants with radical modifications. He said that the improvement of the CZ-2F would be implemented in two stages. The first stage of the project aimed to develop a launch vehicle designated CZ-2F/G for unmanned missions, followed by the further improved CZ-2F/H model using the LOX/Kerosene propellant for manned missions in the second stage. FULL STORY
20/09/2008 - A fire has broken out at the Tianwan nuclear power station in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province on 26 August 2008, forcing the No.1 reactor to shut down. The Chinese authority confirmed that all safety systems worked correctly and there was no radioactive leakage detected. The two reactors at the Tianwan nuclear power station are the largest nuclear reactors ever built in China. The two Russian-built VVER-91 pressurised water reactors each has outputs of 1,060MW. The fire took place only 15 months after the power station began commercial operations. The incident came just weeks before the Beijing Olympic Games and was not reported until the late September, almost a month after it took place. It is not known whether the reactor has resumed operations. FULL STORY
Fortifying China explores the titanic struggle to turn China into an aspiring world-class military technological power. The defense economy is leveraging the country's vibrant civilian economy and gaining access to foreign sources of technology and know-how. Drawing on extensive Chinese-language sources, Tai Ming Cheung explains that this transformation has two key dimensions. The defense economy is being reengineered to break down bureaucratic barriers and reduce the role of the state, fostering a more competitive and entrepreneurial culture to facilitate the rapid diffusion and absorption of technology and knowledge.
Shrouded in secrecy, output from the Chinese aviation industry was, until recently, largely unknown in the West. In the 1950s, when communist China and the Soviet Union were on friendly terms, the Soviet Union assisted in the establishment of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) by delivering combat aircraft and training Chinese personnel.
Following the 1960s' rift between Moscow and Beijing, the Chinese authorities set up an indigenous aircraft industry, and as they gained experience, versions of Soviet aircraft started appearing together with their own designs.
