China Looks to New Fighters, Sparking Regional Arms Race: Report
China has started to develop more advanced fighter jets in a move to compete with the state-of-the-art F-22 U.S. combat aircraft, sparking a regional arms race, according to a recent report.

Research is under way to develop the Jian-13 and Jian-14 (or J-13 and J-14) by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and the Chengdu Aircraft Company, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted the Liberty Times as reporting on Jan. 31.

The J-14, which is forecast to be equipped with radar-dodging capability, is scheduled to join the Chinese air force in 2015, an unnamed Taiwanese air force officer said.

``As the J-14 would be much superior to the J-10 or the Russian-made Su-27s (now serving China’s air force) ... the arms build-up is sure to touch a new round of arms race in the region,’’ he was quoted as saying.

Taiwan plans to acquire 60 F-16 C/Ds from the United States while Japan is preparing to buy a number of F-22s, he said.

Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed reports in late January that China had put into service about 60 J-10 aircraft, whose combat capabilities are equivalent to the F-16 A/Bs in Taiwan’s air force.

``Armed with these airplanes, as well as with the Su-27s and Su-30s, China will have supremacy over Taiwan in the air,’’ air force Major General Wang Cheng-hsiao told reporters.

In the face of the perceived Chinese military threat, Taiwan planned to increase its military spending. Total military spending would account for 2.85 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007, up from 2.32 percent in 2005, Vice Admiral Tung Hsiang-lung said last week.

The AFP said China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence. It has regarded the self-governing island as part of its territory since a split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Tensions between Taiwan and China have escalated since the independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian was elected president in 2000. He was narrowly re-elected in 2004.