[PEN-L:8137] China buys Russian jet squadrons

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Beijing buys Russian jet squadrons

By Cary Huang - Hong Kong Standard  Monday June 21, 1999

                                      CAPTION: Sukhoi-30:
                                      Front-line fighter-bomber.

                                      STORY: THE mainland's air
                                      combat strength and military
                                      ties with Russia have been
                                      boosted with Moscow's
                                      decision to sell 72 of its
                                      front-line Sukhoi-30 jet
                                      fighter-bombers to Beijing.

                                      Following years of
                                      negotiations, Russian
           President Boris Yeltsin has given the green light to sell three

           squadrons of the state-of-art combat aircraft to the mainland,
           Russian diplomats said.

           Moscow and Beijing had agreed in principle to negotiations on
           the sale during Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Russia
           early this year, Moscow-based diplomats said.

           Until recently, both countries had only agreed on 72
           twin-finned and twin-engined jets following the US-led Nato
           air strikes against Yugoslavia, which both Beijing and Moscow
strongly opposed.

           It is understood negotiations for Moscow to grant a licence for

           the production of another 250 Sukhoi-30 fighters in China
           have also begun.

           Last week a high-ranking military delegation, led by the
           vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, Zhang
           Wannian, visited the jet manufacturer.

           The multi-billion US dollar sale will send a strong message to
           the international community that Beijing and Moscow are
           forging closer military ties in the face of the US-led western
           alliance's aggressively expanded sphere of influence.

           It is the first time that Russia has sold its most up-to-date
           fighters to a foreign nation. Even during the Cold War,
           Moscow would only sell second-best arms to its Warsaw Pact
           allies.

           The purchase is the mainland's largest single arms import in
           recent years, diplomatic and military experts said.

           In the past decade Beijing was eager to purchase
           Russian-made arms to modernise its military in the face of
           Western nations' upgrading of arms sales to Taiwan.

           After Taiwan bought 60 Mirage-2000 fighters from France and 150
F-16 combat jets from the US Moscow agreed to sell 72
           Sukhoi-27 planes to mainland China in 1995. Not long after
           Beijing also obtained a Moscow licence to produce another
           250 Sukhoi fighters on the mainland.

           The deal will apparently give Beijing the edge in air combat in

           its rivalry with Taiwan, military and diplomatic analysts said.

           Moscow-based diplomatic sources said that while Russia only
           agreed to sell export-model Sukhoi-30s to Beijing, India was
           seeking a more sophisticated home-use model.

           Moscow demonstrated the SU-30 fighter for the first time at
           the Paris air show last week.

           One of the planes crashed to the ground, bursting into flames
           just a kilometre from spectators. No one was hurt and the two
           pilots ejected safely.

           The aircraft is considered the best plane ever made by
           Russia. Research and development into the more advance
           model, the Sukhoi-37 is under way.

           Though recognising only Beijing, the US maintains an explicit
           right to arm Taiwan _ although it stops short of saying it
would defend Taiwan in face of a mainland attack.

           Washington sells its best defence equipment to Taipei,
           including Patriot anti-missile missiles and a wide range of
           other missiles.