YOKOTA AIR FORCE BASE, Japan — Against the backdrop of Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimean region, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday that a key message he will deliver to leaders in Tokyo this weekend is that the U.S. is strongly committed to protecting Japan’s security. Hagel said it is understandable for nations to be […]
While much of the world was busy watching Russia swallow Crimea, few realised that an also dangerous territorial tit-for-tat had begun to unfold earlier this month more in the South China Sea. At Second Thomas Shoal, a handful of Philippine marines have long been stationed and re-provisioned on the rusting deck of the BRP Sierra Madre, […]
TOKYO – Vietnam’s president on Tuesday warned against the use of force in territorial disputes as his nation and its neighbours lock horns with an increasingly assertive China over competing claims in the South China Sea. President Truong Tan Sang made the comments in Japan’s parliament during a four-day visit. A joint press briefing with […]
Jakarta. In a move that could have serious repercussions for the security situation in the South China Sea, Indonesian officials on Wednesday acknowledged that China was claiming part of Indonesia’s Riau Islands province as its own territory. The Indonesian Military’s (TNI) Air Commodore Fahru Zaini, who is a member of the defense strategy unit at […]
(Reuters) – As Japan and the United States start talks on how to respond to armed incidents that fall short of a full-scale attack on Japan, officials in Tokyo worry that their ally is reluctant to send China a strong message of deterrence. Military officials meet this week in Hawaii to review bilateral defence guidelines […]
MANILA: The Philippines also has the right to defend every inch of its territory, President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman said on Sunday, after China made a similar warning. Spokesman Herminio Coloma’s remarks came after China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said on Saturday said his country would vigorously defend its sovereignty against “unreasonable demands from smaller countries.” […]
Amid escalating tensions between Japan and China, a 12.2 percent budget increase in China’s defense spending, and fears that budget cuts for the U.S. military could have a negative impact on the United States’ ability to “pivot” to Asia, U.S. and Japanese officials have announced plans to co-develop a new high-speed vessel capable of carrying […]
The Japanese defense ministry has recently published photos of Chinese aircraft in its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea on its official website, according to China’s Global Times. Quoting an official from the Japanese defense ministry, the Tokyo-based Kyodo News said Chinese aircraft were deployed to the ADIZ close to the […]
The following is a translation from Chinese media: China has completed military deployment for its war with Japan. All its deployments of troops for the war have been carried out in the name of military drills to fool the enemy. China is now waiting for the opportune timing for the war. It begun to register its […]
So the Naval Diplomat found a seam in the teaching schedule and promptly winged off to Tokyo, there to lend supersecret counsel to the Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Self-Defense Forces. Be afraid, China; be very, very afraid. While here I have consorted with greatness. A journey down Tokyo Bay to visit the U.S.-Japanese […]