HANOI’S NEW DEFENSE WHITE PAPER REFLECTS FEARS OF CHINESE ENCROACHMENT. Defense is serious business in Vietnam, a country that has a history of fighting off foreign aggressors. Today, in the context of more contested strategic environment and increasing pressure from a more aggressive China, Vietnam needs an update to its defense policy. The 2019 defense […]
SOUTH CHINA SEA tensions have resulted in territorial tussling between the US and China as both superpowers try to assert their dominance over the region, but Washington was not helped by a huge French blunder which exposed their weaknesses to Beijing. In 2015, the French Ministry of Defence published a report had and then quickly […]
MANILA, Philippines – Former Philippine foreign secretary Albert del Rosario and former ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales were undeterred following the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to junk their case against China, vowing to continue pursuing their complaint against Chinese President Xi Jinping for violations in the West Philippine Sea. The two former Philippine officials […]
BEIJING, China – China’s neighbors feel threatened by the country’s overseas investments and military might, even though people in many countries around the world view the Asian power’s economic growth positively, a poll showed Thursday, December 5. While just over half of people in Japan agreed that China’s economic growth was a good thing, […]
Hand-held lasers are increasingly being used against Australian Defence Force assets, with military insiders blaming small Chinese maritime militia vessels for the dangerous tactic. Earlier this year, the Defence Department confirmed military helicopters were targeted on a night-time flight in the hotly contested South China Sea. The pilots were temporarily forced to return to […]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 5) — The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor says it has no jurisdiction over a complaint filed by former Philippine officials against Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials who are accused of crimes against humanity for their “atrocious actions” in the South China Sea. The ICC prosecutor […]
Over the last four months, Vietnam has faced a serious challenge to its sovereignty in the South China Sea. Strategic circles in Hanoi are stirred by China’s repeated intrusions into Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off its central and southern coastlines. Between 4 July and 24 October 2019, China sent survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 […]
CHINESE fishing vessels have been accused of directing hand-held lasers at overhead Australian aircrafts as they fly across the contested waters of the South China Sea. Australian Defence Forces have been increasingly targeted by hand-held lasers and military insiders blame the attacks on small Chinese fishing vessels sailing in the seas below. Earlier this […]
MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday that the presence of China’s aerostat radar in one of their artificially built islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) is “not a big concern” to the Philippines. He said the deployable radar, which was spotted through a satellite image on Panganiban Reef […]
WATFORD, England (Reuters) – Seventy years since its Cold War-era founding as a transatlantic alliance focused on Moscow, NATO is expanding its gaze toward the increasingly muscular challenge posed by China. But it is unclear, even to diplomats within the 29-member military alliance, whether NATO is up to the task – especially at a […]