The United States, China and several other countries on Saturday agreed in principle to guidelines on preventing unplanned warplane encounters, the latest effort to avoid military confrontations in Asia. Risks of chance encounters between military aircraft spiralling out of control have risen in recent years as Beijing becomes ever more assertive in the South China […]
SINGAPORE – The South China Sea should not be a theater for the United States and China to show off their military capabilities as they vie for influence in the region, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu said Saturday. “Warships, B-52s, anything, we don’t want them to show force in this area. They understand our […]
South-east Asian defence chiefs were worried enough about tensions between China and the US in the South China Sea to seek an explanation from the two powers at a just-concluded key security summit, and received some reassurance in return. Speaking to reporters at the end of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and its expanded […]
SINGAPORE – China and Southeast Asian states will hold their first joint maritime exercises next week, officials said Friday, in a move aimed at easing tensions but which may spark US alarm. Beijing’s expansive claims to the South China Sea have long been a source of friction with rival claimants in Southeast Asia, as well […]
SINGAPORE: ASEAN defence ministers inked the world’s first multilateral air guidelines on Friday (Oct 19), in a move aimed at managing unexpected encounters between military aircraft especially over contested areas like the South China Sea. The ministers also strengthened regional counter-terrorism cooperation and established a network against chemical, biological and radiological threats. The defence chiefs […]
Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers fly over the Pacific Ocean during a routine training mission Pacific Air Forces Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and his Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe, the Chinese defense minister, met Thursday to discuss a number of issues, particularly their disputes in the South China Sea. Two days prior, […]
China and Southeast Asian states will hold their first joint maritime exercises next week, officials said Friday, in a move aimed at easing tensions but which may spark U.S. alarm. Beijing’s expansive claims to the South China Sea have long been a source of friction with rival claimants in Southeast Asia, as well as Washington […]
Defence ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed a set of guidelines for warplanes flying over the disputed South China Sea, and will invite China and the US to sign up to the same code of conduct. Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen announced the agreement at the annual Asean defence ministers’ […]
With Washington taking a new, profoundly aggressive tack in its dealings with Beijing, analysts speak of ‘active competition with occasional confrontation’ as the new normal Despite a glimmer of optimism sparked by the possibility of a meeting next month between Trump and Xi to resolve increasing tensions between the planet’s two largest economies, Sino-US relations […]
SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis plans to meet on Thursday in Singapore with his Chinese counterpart amid escalating tensions over China’s purchase of Russian fighter planes and missiles as well as ongoing friction in the South China Sea. Shortly after Mattis arrived in Singapore on Wednesday after a visit to Vietnam, a […]