Turkey Choice of Chinese Missile Systems Causes Concern in West

This week, Chinese defense firm CPMIEC beat out US, Russian, and European firms to supply Turkey with a new air defense system. The FD-2000 is a modern SAM system based on a Russian design and priced to make headway in defense markets. The US expressed serious concerns to Turkey about the sale since CPMIEC is under US sanctions for arms proliferation to Syria, North Korea, and Iran. A US State Department official said that talks with Turkey over the sale would continue.

China Plans To Man Orbiting Space Lab In Summer

China announced plans to launch its fifth manned space mission Shenzhou-10 sometime between June and August. Its mission is the second and final docking with the Tiangong-1 the country's first space platform used to perfect rendezvous procedures and serve as a test bed for the later Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 space station. Shenzhou-10 will have a three person crew reportedly including the first female Taikonaut. Recently, the Chinese Space Agency has reached out to the European Space Agency to cooperate on the future station. 

China Planned To Use Drone To Bomb Drug Lord In Myanmar

Chinese newspaper Global Times announced that in April China planed to use a drone to assassinate a drug lord named Nam Kham suspected to have been responsible for the killing of 13 Chinese sailors. Later, the drug lord was captured in Laos by Laotian and Chinese authorities. Reports did not indicate if the Chinese planned informing Myanmar of the strike set to be made in the northern part of the country which has long been a troubled area for the central government. The drone would have been guided by Chinese the 16 satellite global positioning system called Beidou. Increasingly, powerful countries with the capabilities are violating the sovereignty of other countries with little or no warning for national security concerns. 

China Takes Over Naval Base in Pakistan

Today China took control of a naval installation in Gwadar, Pakistan to help secure oil shipments from the Persian Gulf to China as a part of its so-called "String of Pearls" basing strategy. China mainly funded the Gwadar port as a commercial concern by paying over $250 million in 2007 but Pakistani authorities did not connect the port to the local rail and road system making it a commercial failure for the Singapore-based company that transferred control of the port to a Chinese state-owned company today as announced by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari today. The base would give the Chinese Navy better access to the Arabian Sea and is much closer to their oil exporters. Indian Defense Minister AK Antony took note of the transfer publicly and expressed concern of an encirclement of India if all of the "String of Pearls" ports come under Chinese control.