A bit more news leaking out of the region now, but the Chinese are stepping up their efforts to keep things quiet. Here are some updates:

The Weekly Standard - The Real China

Gateway Pundit: Chinese Parade Handcuffed Tibetan Activists Down Lhasa Streets

Michelle Malkin » Circumventing the Great Firewall of China

Sierra Faith » China Bleeds Tibet

The Weekly Standard - Pelosi to wade into Tibetan Struggle

Tibet Protests Spread to Other Provinces - AP

Or, if you’re interested in more Chinese Military news, check out this:

China’s H-8 stealth bomber may be more advanced than the American B-2A and capable of delivering a 350-kiloton nuclear warhead to the continental United States, or it could be a mock-up of the A-12 “Flying Dorito.”

Those are just two of the rumors accompanying a video trumpeting some recent triumphs of Chinese aviation.

Although it’s “top secret,” Chinese quasi-official Web sites brag that the Xian H-8 is a stealth carbon fiber, “special nanotechnology”-coated strategic heavy bomber.

What we know for sure is that it has a range of 11,000 kilometers, without refueling, but it could refuel if it wanted to–possibly. In any case, it has extralarge fuel tanks. It has a crew of two and travels at Mach 1.2, or maybe 1.4. It carries an 18-ton bomb payload and/or 12 new stealth cruise missiles with a range of 3,000 kilometers. And three nuclear missiles, at least.

I don’t like that news any more than I did that the Chinese were expanding their quiet diesel submarine fleet. Who else wants to start playing Cold War with our defense budget again? Raise your hand.

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