Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times has learned.

At first glance, this aircraft carrier looks quite real. However, upon examining the photos at the bottom of the page the viewer soon realizes that this ship, in fact, is landlocked.

So this is obviously not a real carrier. But what could it be? A non-functional prototype, the first step towards the PLN's first aircraft carrier? A stationary 'practice' carrier to train pilots? A life-sized simulation or 'proof of concept' platform?

Nope. Actually, it is just a really, really cool looking building.

Have you ever seen a Chinese aircraft carrier? I had not seen one until today, and I was very surprised when I saw one today while driving to Dianshanhu. When we left the highway on our way to the lake, we suddenly saw the huge boat on our right. My first thought was that the Chinese navy has a ship wharf here, and that there might be a connection to the Yangtze river. But it turned out that the boat is fake: it is made out of concrete and a small lake has been dug around it.

"American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board.

By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier.

According to senior Nato officials the incident caused consternation in the U.S. Navy."

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force unsuccessfully tracked an unidentified submarine that intruded on Japanese waters on September 15. The last submarine to illegally enter Japanese waters was a Chinese submarine in 2004.

A report of a PSB hunt in Xinjiang for a group of foreign missionaries and their Chinese cohorts. Predictably, God ends up intervening on the side of the missionaries. (Doesn't the PSB deserve to catch a break, too?)

This AP article, via The NY Times shows that companies, after years of fighting an uphill battle, are getting smart in the battle to stop product piracy in the Middle Kingdom.

BEIJING - Corruption costs China more every year than it spends on education and is one of the most serious threats to the country's political stability, according to a new report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The report said graft would continue because the ruling Communist Party is unlikely to carry out the political reforms needed to fight corruption, as a result of fears of losing its grip on power.

A former analyst for the Pentagon's intelligence service provided China with highly classified information prior to the loss of a major electronic spying operation against Beijing, The Washington Times has learned.