Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: November 6, 2016 Edition

In line with previous reports, the United States’ Lockheed Martin and Sweden’s Saab are interested in offering their F-16 and Gripen fighters respectively. Lockheed may be looking into setting up an assembly line in India to offer jets for export to third countries as well. Boeing, another U.S. firm, may look to offer its F/A-18 Hornets as well, as I discussed earlier this year.

With Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s trip to Beijing this week coming on the heels of Duterte’s visit last month and a string of deliverables coming out from the visit, some have portrayed Malaysia as the latest country to snub the United States and embrace China (See: “Is the Philippines Triggering a ‘Duterte Effect’ in ASEAN?”). Furthermore, some have suggested that this dramatic shift is occurring due to a rather odd mix of reasons, from the permissive conditions Duterte has allegedly created for bandwagoning with Beijing to the opening of a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into a high-profile corruption scandal implicating Najib known as the 1MDB scandal (See: “After the Scandal: What’s Next for Malaysia”).

What does China have planned for the Type 055 cruiser (or cruiser-size destroyer)?

Over the past month, numerous reports have emerged about the progress of the class of large ships. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has reportedly ordered four ships, in two groups. The first ship, building at Dalian, will likely hit the water next year, and potentially commission in 2018 or 2019.

Guesses regarding size have ranged from 12,000 to 20,000 tons, with most estimates concentrating on the lower end. Expectations about employment of the ships vary quite a bit, but there is general agreement that the PLAN has determined that it needs a large ship able to operate at great distance from home bases, and that will presumably include anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface capabilities. Like many modern surface combatants, the Type 055 will apparently have features designed to reduce its radar cross section and thus enhance survivability.

Earlier this week, the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) reported that it opened fire on a Chinese fishing vessel fishing illegally in Korean waters near Incheon. The incident marked the first time the KCG fired its deck-mounted machine guns to compel non-compliant Chinese fishing vessels to stop and occurred after Korean officials vowed more forceful measures against illegal Chinese fishing in Korean waters.

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) kicked off their first-ever joint aerial combat drill, dubbed Guardian North 16, on 23 October, according to the UK Ministry of Defense. It is the first time that the JASDF is conducting an exercise with a foreign power other than the United States.

The UK-Japan first-ever joint air combat drill involves four RAF Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets and a number of Boeing F-15J all-weather air superiority fighters (built under license by Japanese defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) and Mitsubishi F-2s, a 4.5 generation multirole fighter jet based on Lockheed Martin’s F-16.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has reportedly launched its 40th Type56/056A Jiangdao-class corvette on October 28 at the Huangpu shipyard in the southern port city of Guangzhou, IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reports.

The PLAN is in the middle of a massive modernization push and is rapidly expanding its naval forces. Only a month ago, the PLAN launched its 39th Jiangdao-class corvette at the Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan. This was preceded by the launch of two other vessels of the class in September at the Liaonan shipyard in Lushun.

India and Russia signed an inter-governmental agreement for the procurement of four (some sources say five) regiments of Russian-made S-400 Triumf advanced Air Defense Systems (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) on October 15 in Goa, India at the sidelines of the eight BRICS summit. The deal, along with 17 other cooperation agreements, was signed in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Afghanistan is the world’s top producer of opium, producing 90 percent of global supply. The opium trade results in the generation of approximately $68 billion in annual revenue. In 2016, opium production increased by 43 percent mainly due to an increase in insurgency. In addition to this, more than 2.9 million Afghans are involved in opium production one way or another, which is more than 12 percent of the total population.

It’s settled: Kyrgyzstan will have a referendum to amend the constitution on December 11. This week the bill to hold the referendum passed in its third reading,with 89 parliamentarians voting “for” and, according to 24.kg, only 16 voting “against” (leaving 18 MPs unaccounted for).

Amusingly, Omurbek Tekebayev, the leader of the Ata-Meken faction and a staunch opponent of the referendum,accidentally voted “for” and asked for the record to corrected. “I beg you, put on a revote, [be]cause it will remain in the history.”

History is repeating itself in cross-strait relations. Once again, faced with a democratically-elected government that Beijing finds distasteful, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has cut ties with Taipei – only to offer repeated olive branches to administration’s political rivals. That dynamic was on full display this week, when Kuomintang (KMT) party chief Hung Hsiu-chu met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, even while China has refused all official communications with President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Hung made sure to highlight the dichotomy. “Amid the suspension of official cross-strait communication channels, it is the KMT’s unshakeable responsibility to assist private organizations and help address relevant problems through the KMT-CPC communication mechanisms,” she said from Beijing.