South East Asia

Pakistan’s acquisition of Chinese J-10C fighter jets significant for both sides: analysts

After alleged images of the J-10C fighter jet with the marking of the Pakistan Air Force recently emerged on social media and were widely circulated by media outlets, Chinese analysts on Sunday lauded the latest defense cooperation between China and Pakistan, saying that the move yields great significance to both …

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Why Is China Fanning the Flames of Ethnic Politics in the Balkans?

The fragile geopolitical nature of the Balkans has allowed Russia to consistently undermine Western integration attempts in the region. While foreign interference is nothing new in Europe’s underbelly, it has historically been limited to regional powers and the U.S. But China’s recent collaboration with Russia in supporting ethnic separatism in …

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The Enemy Within: The Impact of Corruption on Security Force Assistance

With corruption playing a significant role in the outcome of recent security force assistance missions, a different approach to tackling the problem is needed. An issue that haunts more or less all security force assistance missions to various degrees is widespread and large-scale corruption in host institutions. Such corruption can …

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The Beijing–Moscow Partnership: Natural or by Necessity?

Despite the optics of a Sino-Russian presidential summit at a time of heightened tensions with the West, the trust upon which their bilateral relationship is built remains shaky. President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin held a much-vaunted meeting in Beijing on 4 February, on the cusp of the Winter …

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The Western Allied Nations Bully the World While Warning of Threats From China and Russia

On January 21, 2022, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach attended a talk in New Delhi, India, organized by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. Schönbach was speaking as the chief of Germany’s navy during his visit to the institute. “What he really wants is respect,” Schönbach said, referring …

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Beyond piracy: making waves in the Western Indian Ocean

A broader maritime security approach is welcome but can the interests of the shipping industry and coastal states align? For almost two decades, maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean was associated with fighting pirates off the coast of Somalia. These initiatives now need to be reformed as piracy has …

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China Developing ‘Brain Control Weapons’ For Future Wars

It sounds like something that came out of a sci-fi movie, but Brain control weapons are slowly coming to life through Chinese research and the development of biotechnology that can disorient enemies and make them easier to subdue. These types of weapons can potentially change the way we traditionally think …

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Will Xi Jinping’s ‘End of Days’ Plunge China and the World into War?

Xi Jinping, China’s mighty-looking leader, has an “enormous array of domestic enemies.” — Gregory Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association and editor-in-chief of Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, to Gatestone Institute, February 2022. Xi created that opposition. After becoming China’s ruler at the end of 2012, he …

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The EU’s WTO Case Against China Is More Than Just Symbolic

The European Union has launched a case at the World Trade Organization against China over what Brussels describes as Beijing’s “discriminatory trade practices” toward Lithuania. By doing so, the bloc joins a growing list of countries, including Australia and the United States, seeking to hold China accountable via the multilateral …

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India tilts towards Russia in Ukraine fight at the UN

New Delhi will continue to resist falling in line with Washington, potentially thwarting American strategies of neo-primacy. As the Ukraine crisis rages on, where is India’s voice? Until recently, it was mostly missing in action. But a vote on Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on whether to …

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