BEIJING—A Chinese newspaper published the first state media report Wednesday about pictures circulating online that appear to show a prototype of China's first stealth fighter jet making high-speed taxi tests.
The English-language report in the Global Times didn't confirm the existence of the prototype, or the authenticity of the photographs. It quoted one Chinese defense analyst playing up its significance, and another dismissing concerns over China's military buildup.
The Wall Street Journal reported in a Page One article Wednesday that the first clear pictures of what appeared to be a Chinese stealth fighter prototype had been published on unofficial defense-related web sites. Military aviation experts said the fighter—known as the J-20—appeared to be conducting high-speed taxi tests, which are usually the final stage before a test flight.
"If the development of the J-20 is true, it will be another reflection of China's fast industrial advancement, which has already been highlighted by high-speed railways and space exploration," the Global Times quoted Song Xiaojun, a Beijing-based military expert, as saying. "Besides the global military impact, the rumored J-20 also bears political significance because it represents China's growing power."
The Global Times quoted Li Daguang, a military expert at China's National Defense University, dismissing as "speculation" reports that China was developing a stealth fighter to rival the U.S. F-22—the only fully deployed stealth fighter in the world today. "The F-22 is an offensive weapon that fits Washington's global strategy. China's defense development is self-defensive in nature and does not require a fighter jet of that caliber," Mr. Li said.
Several unofficial defense-related websites published grainy mobile-phone video footage that they said showed the J-20 speeding along a runway and deploying parachutes from its rear. The video was shot through a fence at some distance, but magnified still images appeared to show the aircraft with its nosewheel clearly off the ground and its parachutes deployed.
Separately, in Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that President Barack Obama will press Chinese President Hu Jintao on Beijing's policies on currency and human rights when the two meet at the White House in two weeks. Mr. Gibbs, appearing hours after confirming he will step down next month, said the U.S. believes China must take steps to allow its currency, the yuan, to continue to appreciate. "China plays an enormously important role in our global economy, and China has to take steps to rebalance its currency," he said.
Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Yaoping said in Beijing on Wednesday that yuan appreciation won't resolve the U.S.'s trade imbalance with China, as the exchange rate has little effect on the major cause of China's trade surplus: the import of materials used in goods that are then exported.
The comment came a day after Mr. Obama joined a high-level meeting between National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in which the U.S. officials stressed the need for the two economic powers to reduce their trade imbalances.
The Jan. 19 meeting between Messrs. Hu and Obama is seen as key to maintaining the relationship between the two countries at a time of some tension over trade and human-rights issues. Mr. Gibbs said human rights, currency, and simmering tensions on the Korean peninsula are all anticipated to be on the agenda when Mr. Hu visits the White House.
China's trade surplus is a result of globalization, not global economic imbalances, Mr. Jiang said, adding that global companies in industries such as electronics that conduct processing trade in China benefit from the trade surplus. Processing trade refers to the import of duty-free materials that are strictly for re-export in finished goods.
A Ministry of Commerce official said China's 2010 trade surplus will be slightly above $190 billion. The yuan has risen 3.2% against the dollar since June 19, when China pledged to increase exchange-rate flexibility, effectively ending a two-year-long peg to the dollar.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/05/chinese-j20-stealth-fighter-image-military-power
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