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China Using U.S. Planes for Military Charles R. Smith Satellite photographs published on the Internet Web site Google have revealed a secret kept from the U.S. public and hidden by both the Bush and Clinton administrations. The Chinese military is equipping itself with American built aircraft. Close inspection of the Chinese naval air station at Shanghai shows that the Chinese military is using an American-built Boeing 707. The Boeing airliner is located near a line of Chinese Naval FH-7 supersonic strike fighters. The Boeing airliner is painted in the standard white/gray Chinese air force paint scheme. The Shanghai base is not a commercial airport. The base is entirely a military facility. The Boeing jet, its paint scheme, and its location at the base show that the Chinese air force is using it for military purposes. The use of American built airliners for military purposes is strictly forbidden by U.S. export regulations. The export regulations provide that violations will result in the banning of further sales until the matter is resolved. The Bush administration and the Clinton administration have both ignored the export restrictions by refusing to recognize overwhelming evidence that China is using civilian airliners for military purposes. Story Continues Below
In 2004, Bill Gertz of the Washington Times reported that U.S. made Boeing 737 airliners were being modified by the Chinese for military purposes. "The Boeing 737 was modified by the PLA (People's Liberation Army) for, what I was told, to monitor cruise missiles tests," stated Richard Fisher, a specialist on the Chinese military with the International Assessment and Strategy Center. "Even though this was reported by Bill Gertz at the time, to my knowledge, there has been no formal U.S. government response to this PLA act to use a U.S. aircraft for military purposes," noted Fisher. In addition to the news reports, close up photographs of converted jet liners have appeared. One U.S. airliner, identified as a Boeing 737, tail number B-4052, was sold to China United Airlines in 1990 by Indonesia. Xian Aircraft Corporation modified the jet airliner into a flying command post for the Chinese army. One prominent feature of the new airborne command post is a satellite antenna fairing on top of the forward fuselage. Two more data link and communication fairings are located underneath the mid-section of the fuselage. At least two Boeing 737-300s have been modified by the PLAAF to carry special communications equipment for airborne command and control role. The aircraft now serve the Chinese army and are intended to fly PLA commanders during war. The 737s are intended to allow a PLA crew of Generals and staff to fly close to a battlefield, issuing commands to their army, navy and air force from the airborne head quarters. According to Aviation Week and Space Technology, the Chinese army air force obtained the U.S. jet transports in 2000 through a purchase approved by the Clinton administration. In addition, the Chinese also acquired an advanced version of the Boeing 737 from the Bush administration. The Boeing 737-76D, B-4026 delivered to the Shanghai Airlines in June 2003, was transferred to the PLAAF in September 2003. The Chinese purchases were previously made through a PLAAF owned front company, China United Airlines. According to a 1994 U.S. military report, the Clinton administration was aware that China United Airlines was owned by the PLAAF. Documentation obtained using the Freedom of Information act shows that China United Airlines was actually one of several businesses wholly owned and operated by the People's Liberation Army Air Force or PLAAF. "China United Airlines (CUA) is a commercial entity of the PLA Air Force," states a 1994 report on the Chinese military issued by Lt. Col. Dennis Blasko, former U.S. defense attaché to Beijing. Images obtained from official Chinese TV outlets show the so-called civilian airliners are actually manned and operated by military crews. U.S. defense intelligence officials confirmed that the Chinese air force is currently operating the ten Boeing China United airliners as military troop transports and VIP transports. The Boeing 737s are marked with the PRC national flag on the vertical tail and four-digit civil aircraft register numbers (B-4XXX). The PLAAF 34TH Air Division flies the aircraft from Xijiao Airport in Beijing. Additional evidence of the illegal Chinese military conversions are photographs of a U.S. made C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, now painted in Chinese military colors, transporting military equipment. Several C-130 heavy lift transport aircraft were purchased during the 1980s by Air China, an airline 100 percent owned by the communist government. The aircraft were purchased strictly for civilian cargo operations. The C-130 Hercules is current used by the U.S. Air Force as a heavy transport plane and has recently been used in Afghanistan and Iraq as an aerial gunship. The Chinese Air Force has previously acquired aircraft from a variety of nations, including Russia, Europe, and the U.S., so they can be taken apart and copied. The Chinese Air Force operates a number of Russia copies and often sells them for export with little or no payment to Moscow. The Chinese copycat operations are now centered on U.S. and European aircraft makers. "A few weeks ago one of Aviation Week's columnists cited European speculation that the Chinese took one of their Airbus A320 airliners and tore it down, as that aircraft had not been seen or noticed by the company. It is likely they have done the same with other Boeings too, but I don't think we will ever get them to speak to this matter," stated Fisher. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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