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发帖数: 555 | 1 How China’s defence industry can learn from its rival Japan: PLA veteran
It is one of the biggest multibillion yuan questions in the Chinese military
. Why after what some estimates has been an investment of 150 billion yuan (
HK$180 billion) since 2010 has China been unable to come up with its own
engine for fighter aircraft such as its carrier-based J-15?
China continues to rely on Russian engines to drive its military air fleet,
a dependence one retired senior colonel calls the failure of “China’s
aircraft heart disease”.
PLA brass ‘defied Beijing’ over plan to buy China’s first aircraft
carrier Liaoning
Members of the Japan Self-Defence Force take part in an exercise. China’s
government should study Japan’s defence industry to become a real force in
military manufacturing, says PLA veteran Xu Zengpin. Photo: AP
But another PLA veteran says the failure to develop such a core technology
is a symptom of a much bigger problem in China’s military and one that can
best be overcome by learning from its regional rival – Japan.China’s
existing defence industrial chain, which is self-contained and self-enclosed
, is nowhere near enough to meet President Xi Jinping’s dream of a strong
military because of red tape and outdated separation of research from the
production systemXU ZENGPING, PLA VETERAN
Xu Zengping, the People’s Liberation Army basketball star-turned-
businessman, who did the deal to buy the country’s first aircraft carrier,
said bureaucracy and an antiquated silo approach to military research and
production was holding back the defence industry.
To progress, China must take note of post-war Japan, which rose from defeat
in the second world war to develop a nimbler production system that brought
commercial operations and the military together, Xu said.
“China’s existing defence industrial chain, which is self-contained and
self-enclosed, is nowhere near enough to meet President Xi Jinping’s dream
of a strong military because of red tape and outdated separation of research
from the production system,” he said earlier this month in Beijing.
“Why has China so far still failed to produce an adequate aircraft engine,
even though 150 billion yuan has been poured into the research project? It
is because most of the leaders don’t have a long-term vision and don’t
understand how to lay the foundations for the defence industry.”
Xu, who is a member of China’s political advisory body, the Chinese People
’s Political Consultative Conference, said he submitted a report to the
National People’s Congress during the annual two sessions this month,
urging the central government to study Japan’s approach to become a real
force in defence manufacturing.
China’s private enterprises should be allowed to play a role in the nation
’s military research and development and use the technologies gained from
such work to produce profitable hi-tech products for public use, he said.
Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning cruises back to a port after its first
navy sea trial in Dalian in 2012. Photo: AP
‘Unlucky guy’ tasked with buying China’s aircraft carrier: Xu Zengping
“Japan’s military industrial complex was split into smaller enterprises
after the second world war, but it never lost its capacity to mass produce
weapons,” Xu said, citing Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Fuji as examples of
companies that have patented technology to develop military supplies for
Japan’s self-defence forces.
Japan’s military industrial complex was split into smaller enterprises
after the second world war, but it never lost its capacity to mass produce
weaponsXU ZENGPING, PLA VETERAN
Xu’s proposal has the backing of some senior military officials, including
the army’s former deputy logistics head general Zhang Xinsheng, Lieutenant
General Lu Dingwen, former deputy head of the Guangzhou Military Command,
and Rear Admiral Su Shiliang, former deputy commander of the PLA navy.
Xu said the Chinese leadership lacked a sense of urgency about the issue,
reacting with little more than words to the Pentagon’s decision to send
warships and aircraft near the waters of China’s artificial islands in the
contested South China Sea.
China claims most of the sea, which is believed to have huge deposits of oil
and gas and through which about US$5 trillion in trade is shipped every
year.
“I’m not telling a fairy tale and saying a wolf is coming,” Xu said. “
The wolf has already come to China’s doorstep to challenge it.
I’m not telling a fairy tale and saying a wolf is coming. The wolf has
already come to China’s doorstep to challenge it.XU ZENGPING, PLA VETERAN
“China is the world’s second-largest economic power, but when dealing with
territorial disputes, its foreign minister has just words to react with.
“Why? It’s because China is not ready for war. It doesn’t have a wartime
arms production system.”
Xu said support for private enterprise would advance Xi’s long-term plans
for military reform and shake up a Soviet-style defence industry monopolised
by state-owned enterprises with their privileged access to funds.
“Many private companies have many good ideas and plans for projects, but
many of them are unable to develop their businesses due to a lack of funding
,” he said, with many Chinese banks unwilling to extend loans to the sector.
In the meantime, Xu said he was pursuing two military-civilian projects in
Shandong and Heilongjiang.
China is the world’s second-largest economic power, but when dealing with
territorial disputes, its foreign minister has just words to react with. Why
? It’s because China is not ready for warXU ZENGPING, PLA VETERAN
One was to develop a home-grown unmanned helicopter that could transport
150kg to an altitude of 500km with a laser gun. The other was to create a
Russian amphibious aircraft that could take off on water with anywhere
between six and 60 people on board, which would be realised in association
with Russia’s major aircraft producer, the Sukhoi Company.
“The unmanned helicopter can drop supplies into disaster zones but can also
be a bomber in wartime,” Xu said. “The amphibious aircraft can be turned
into a conveyor to deploy marines.”
A Beijing-based retired senior colonel said the model for the Chinese
defence industry was copied from the former Soviet Union of putting all core
technologies in the hands of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
“Xu’s proposal is very good,” he said. “But so far it’s almost
impossible for SOEs to share technology and orders for key military supplies
with private companies.”
“It means Chinese private companies don’t have the fundamental technology,
such as shipbuilding and aircraft design, to compete with SOEs.” | f******t
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