South East Asia

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that China’s military exercises aimed at Taiwan, including missiles fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, represent a “significant escalation” and that he has urged Beijing to back down. China launched the drills following a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to …

What we thought was posturing has now escalated to live firing exercises. Yesterday, SOFREP reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had moved forward with her plan to visit Taiwan amidst warnings from China that they would be resolute in their response. In a separate report here at SOFREP, we also …

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged her commitment to Taiwan on Wednesday as Chinese ships and aircraft ramped up their military activity in response to her visit. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen presented Pelosi the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon award, during a livestreamed ceremony that morning. “Now …

The times of India reports that India has grounded its remaining fleet of Russian-made MiG-21s after another fatal crash that claimed the lives of two pilots on a training mission. Last week in the Barmer district of Rajasthan, Wing Commander M Rana and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal were killed when …

Why Relying on Beijing Is a Bad Bet In July, a popular uprising in Sri Lanka toppled the government and sent its president scurrying into exile. The revolt had been brewing for months in the wake of the country’s economic implosion, but it still caught observers off-guard. In surreal scenes, …

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri’s death in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is raising questions about whether the country is being used as a base of operations for the terrorist group. “What unnerves me is that Al Zawahri felt comfortable enough being out in the open in the Kabul area after the …

On July 28, 2022, Security Forces (SFs) killed two Hafiz Gul Bahadur (HGB) militants in the Manzer Khel area of the North Waziristan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction is a breakaway of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. On July 23, 2022, three HGB militants were killed in …

How the Ukraine War Has Changed Beijing’s Strategy In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Beijing was on the back foot. For weeks after Russian troops crossed Ukraine’s border, China’s messaging was stilted and confused as Chinese diplomats, propagandists, and foreign ministry spokespeople themselves tried to figure out …

Shortly prior to the 95th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday, China for the first time revealed a video featuring the launch of what resembles a DF-17 missile, in a move experts said on Sunday displayed the flexibility of the “aircraft carrier killer” hypersonic weapon …

China has made great efforts to meet increasing domestic food demand over the past four decades. From 1978–2021, China’s real agricultural output grew on average 5.4 per cent a year (over five times the population growth), with increased diversification towards high protein and high-value products. Yet a substantial gap remains …