All about the armed forces – China’s latest political and current affairs news

There has been a lot of reporting on China’s military capabilities and plans this week. Here are some reports worth noting:

• A report on a July 25th meeting at which Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to further push the military reform has been the top story on English- and Chinese-language central state media for two days.
• In the South China Sea, China is speeding up underwater drone tests to track the location of foreign submarines, according to the South China Morning Post.
• An Australian ABC report reports that a Chinese spy ship was spotted off the Queensland coast inside Australia’s exclusive economic zone. The vessel did not enter Australia’s territorial waters.
• Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence firm, released recent satellite imagery, which apparently shows that China’s first overseas military base in Djibouti is “bigger and more secure than previously thought,” and includes a large underground area.
• The New York Times reports (paywall) that on July 26, China and Russian warships held a joint naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, which, according to both countries’ commanders, was not “aimed at any country.”
• Swarajyamag says that in the ongoing China-India-Bhutan border dispute, while China enjoys a military advantage, India might still have a chance to embarrass China in a limited military conflict along the border due to its operational superiority.

Corruption

• New TV series lifts lid on corrupt leaders / Caixin
  “Five senior Communist Party officials caught in the anti-graft net appeared on state TV to reflect on their misdeeds or crimes in the latest installment of a documentary airing on major TV networks across the country.”
• North Korea
  U.S. says progress with China on North Korea UN sanctions, true test is Russia / Reuters
  U.S. and China report progress on new North Korea sanctions / Washington Post
  Interesting: Fmr. Sen. Max Baucus: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is not a ‘nutcase’ / CNBC
• Human rights
  The lonely crusade of China’s human rights lawyers / NYT (paywall)
• Hong Kong
  Anger at plan to let Chinese police patrol in Hong Kong / The Guardian
• Taiwan
  Panama opens embassy in Beijing after break with Taiwan / Reuters
• Tibet
• China steps up warning to Botswana over Dalai Lama visit / Reuters