South East Asia

In October, Boeing and Mitsubishi signed an agreement to modernise Japan’s F-15 aircraft so they could carry long-range cruise missiles. The reason why Tokyo decided to upgrade the aircraft was China’s intensifying air patrols over the disputed Senkaku Islands, which have been a big issue for the two nations.

The People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) of China was forecast to have become the world’s navy in late 2019, although it still lacks the global power projection capabilities of its US counterparts. The Pentagon has responded with plans for a dramatic increase in the size of the US Navy using smaller …

GT: The Obama administration did not embrace the notion “new model of major power relationship” proposed by China. Do you think there is any chance Biden will reconsider it and why?

The UK’s new MI5 director, Ken McCallum, said that countries such as China and Russia were no longer focused just on traditional espionage activities, such as stealing government secrets, but also on targeting Britain’s economy, infrastructure, and academic research, while seeking to undermine its democracy.

Given the emergency, Washington should immediately close down all of China’s bases of operation in the U.S., including its four remaining consulates — Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco — and substantially reducing the staff of the embassy. The embassy, in reality, needs only the ambassador, immediate family, …

No claim of responsibility for blast but incident comes as Houthis rebels step up cross-border attacks Saudi Arabia confirmed on Monday that a fuel-transport ship off the port city of Jeddah was attacked by an explosive-laden boat, according to state news agency SPA.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asked his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi to visit China next year when they met in Tokyo last month, diplomatic sources said.

China also seems to have a military agenda in the Caribbean region… Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe already is on record expressing China’s willingness to deepen military cooperation with Caribbean countries.

From drug revenue to extortion to charitable donations, the Taliban has plenty of avenues to fill their coffers. The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has died of natural causes in Afghanistan, according Afghanistan and Pakistan media on Friday.