China’s increased military and maritime surveillance activities in the South China Sea have been well-documented, both by foreign and Chinese media outlets. But China’s push to assert its claims over islands within the South China Sea is not simply unfolding in the military realm — the increased naval activities are backed by a renewed focus […]
Chuck Hagel’s new proposed budget would cut the U.S. Army to pre-World War II levels. A few defense and security links to start off the week: The biggest news from the Pentagon this week is Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s new budget plan, which is designed to refit U.S. armed forces in a manner suitable for emerging […]
Narendra Modi, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate for prime minister in India’s upcoming general elections, has normally been quite reserved on matters of foreign policy. That changed last week when Modi publicly called for China to abandon its “expansionist attitude,” referring to India’s ongoing territorial disputes with China in Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir. At […]
China has urged the Japanese government to make clear its stance on right-wing activists’ latest pro-nuclear weapons statements, as the country continues to hold large amounts of weapons-grade nuclear materials. “In recent years, voices in favor of nuclear weapons have kept emerging in Japan without any clarification from the government,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying […]
Not long ago, China was a soft-power juggernaut. Media accounts highlighted Chinese leaders’ thoughtful forays abroad, depicting policymakers that were respectful of others’ opinions, willing to listen, humble to a fault, and reluctant to dispense unsolicited advice. Here was a country that was content to allow its own example of success to speak for itself. […]
A Tu-154 electronic warfare aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and a Y-12 utility aircraft of China’s State Oceanic Administration entered the Japanese air defense identification zone (ADIZ) simultaneously on Feb. 21, according to the state-run China News Service. The Japanese defense ministry first reported on Friday that a Chinese Tu-154 was detected […]
MANILA (UPDATED) – The Philippines’ military chief on Monday accused China’s coast guard of firing water cannon at Filipino fishermen for the first time to drive them away from a disputed sea shoal. General Emmanuel Bautista said Chinese vessels fired cannon on January 27 near Scarborough Shoal — the subject of a bitter territorial row […]
“At what point do you say: ‘Enough is enough’?” Philippine President Benigno Aquino exclaimed in an exclusive interview with the New York Times. It was a forceful call for international support amid intensifying territorial disputes with China. Quite shockingly, he even compared China to Nazi Germany, cautioning the Western powers against appeasing Beijing over disputed […]
The United States’ top envoy to the Philippines on Monday warned against changing the status quo in the disputed South China Sea and other contested areas in the region and called on all rival nations to adhere to international law. Defying China’s position against Washington’s involvement in the disputes, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg maintained that […]
China wants to make World War Two a key part of a trip by President Xi Jinping to Germany next month, much to Berlin’s discomfort, diplomatic sources said, as Beijing tries to use German atonement for its wartime past to embarrass Japan. China has increasingly contrasted Germany and its public contrition for the Nazi regime […]