Posted on

Chinese new military weapons

Chinese military researchers have demonstrated a powerful coilgun prototype small enough to be carried by soldiers. The weapon uses electromagnetic force to fire rounds.
The futuristic firearm is being developed by the Army Logistics University of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and is called the Small Synchronous Induction Coilgun
Pew, pew! China develops AK-47-sized low lethality ‘laser rifle’
Chinese Armed Police units may soon have a new weapon, a portable laser beam that can reach targets from a kilometer away and is powerful enough to set flammable things on fire.
The device is called ZKZM-500 and has been prototyped by the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shaanxi province. It weighs about 3kg, has an effective range of 800 meters and is powered by a lithium battery pack. It fires in bursts of no more than two seconds and lasts for over 1,000 ‘shots’ before requiring recharge.
Posted on

Australia-China relations doomed to fail because of our ignorance

Australia is doomed to continue its tit-for-tat with China because our political class don’t understand our biggest trading partner, new research argues.

The Sino-Australian relationship has become increasingly rocky in recent months. Most recently, China denied it was behind the huge cyber attack against Australian systems.

But new research from The Australia Institute argues the cause of tension is largely due to our ignorance.

In Australia, there are only 20 academics and think tanks with expertise in China, and no specialist schools for training policymakers.

Although no one knows how many people are employed in the federal government to provide advice on China, our ‘‘stupid’’ approach reveals how little we understand it, said Allan Behm, head of the International and Security Affairs Program at The Australia Institute.

“If you’ve got about 20 people who know about China, you’re a hell of a long way beyond the queue line,” Mr Behm told The New Daily.