CCTV aired images of this crash at the Shaanxi air show earlier today. The plane is a F-7 Flying Leopard fighter jet that suffered a malfunction during the performance. There are no casualties reported, and you can see the pilot eject and a parachute open (hopefully there was only one pilot, as it is a two-seat plane.) Emergency vehicles responded immediately to the crash, which took place 2 kilometers west of the show grounds, and the air show is now ongoing. more ›

From Reuters: "The United States has refused Taiwan's request for 66 new Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighter jets which China had warned Washington would risk inflaming tensions between the two big powers, Defense News reported, citing a Taiwan defense official." The US is obviously concerned with avoiding elevated confrontation with Beijing as Vice President Biden tours the country, as tensions are already running high after some recent air space infringements over Taiwan. Instead of the newest F-16C/D, the US has instead offered to retrofit Taiwan's older F-16A/B model. more ›

In an attempt to drive away a hovering US spy aircraft, two Chinese fighter jets last month crossed a line in the center of the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial air boundary between the two countries territories, much to the dismay of Taiwanese officials. more ›

Only a few weeks after CCTV was caught trying to pass off Top Gun scenes as military footage, Russia has been caught in a blunder of their own. In preparation for Defenders of the Fatherland Day, hundreds of posters like the one above were printed and distributed throughout St. Petersburg sporting images of Russian military might. But instead of displaying Russian fighter jets alongside their tanks and ships, the plane pictured is the Chinese Chengdu J-10. Whoops! more ›

• China says Obama should not meet the Dalai Lama [Associated Press] “China said Thursday that President Barack Obama should not meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, when he visits the United States in October. Although a meeting has not been confirmed, every president since George H.W. Bush has met the Dalai Lama, raising the ire of China, which says the Nobel Peace laureate is bent on splitting Tibet from China. "We firmly oppose the Dalai's engagement in separatist activities in any country under whatever capacity and under whatever name," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said when asked to comment on a possible meeting.”