(Image source: Global Defence Media)

BY YIQIAN ZHANG

You're watching multisource world news analysis from Newsy

Three weeks after China unveiled its first stealth fighter jet- one question remains -- where did the technology come from?

ANCHOR: “American technology may have helped China build its new stealth fighter jet. Military leaders say parts from an American stealth fighter plane shot down over in Serbia in 1999 were found by local farmers and sold to Chinese agents. The parts were apparently taken over to China and studied by engineers building the Chengdu J-20 jet.” (NBC)

Here’s the American stealth fighter jet in question -- the F-117 Nighthawk. It’s a stealth ground attack aircraft that first took flight in 1981- operated by the U.S. Air Force.

China says -- that’s just not true. Xu Yongling, one of China’s top test pilots, tells the Global Times the plane is the product of a technological breakthrough - a CHINESE technological breakthrough.

And Yin Zhuo, China’s Major General - tells Phoenix TV - it would be ridiculous to copy the F-117, which is a 20-year-old design.

“The F117 is neither supersonic nor augmented. Therefore its design is totally different from the stealth jet aerodynamically. It’s a terrible design. ... F117 has little value to the development of the J20 jet.”

Another aerospace expert tells The Global Times- it’s hard to believe China stole the technology from the U.S., because there are design differences between the two planes.

"...the F-117 functioned as a bomber because of its low speed and limited air attacking abilities, while the J-20 ... is designed to have a powerful air attacking capability with a fast flying speed...”

Still - PCMagazine’s Leslie Horn casts doubt on China’s denial.

“...multiple breaches into the program used to develop the F-35, the next-generation U.S. stealth plane, might suggest otherwise. Officials have said that the 2009 cyber attacks came from China, but China has repeatedly denied the allegations.”

Finally- an official from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, says this isn’t the first time the Western world has accused China of stealing military technology.

“The Western media nowadays has the power to lead public opinion, and the people must have a clear understanding of this matter.”

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