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PLA

New Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (right) waves alongside outgoing leader Tsai Ing-wen during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 20, 2024
‘Cease the intimidation,’ Taiwan’s new president tells China in inaugural speech
New leader Lai Ching-te used his inauguration speech to deliver a clear message to Beijing: Taiwan will not be subordinate to China.
China Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons toward a Philippine resupply vessel as it made its way to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea in March.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 19, 2024
Philippines replaces its military commander for disputed waters
Rear Adm. Alfonso Torres Jr. will replace Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos as chief of the Western Command on Palawan island.
Taiwan's Albatross II unmanned aerial vehicle is displayed as the island's Defense Ministry showcases its domestically developed drones to the media in Taichung, Taiwan, in March last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 19, 2024
Taiwan's Lai to bolster 'porcupine' defense against China threat
Lessons learned from the war in Ukraine about how rapidly developing drones can outfox traditional weaponry hint at new Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's defense policy.
Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te arrives at the CyberSec 2024 Exhibition in Taipei on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2024
New Taiwan president to set tone for ties with China at inauguration
President-elect Lai Ching-te will have the world's attention when he delivers his inaugural address on Monday.
Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat navigate near a Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat, during part of a demonstration for the media to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Jan. 31.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 14, 2024
U.S. and Taiwan navies quietly held Pacific drills in April
The exercises, which were not publicized and involved "multiple military assets," took place last month in the Western Pacific, according to sources.
Philippine and U.S. Marines watch as a projectile hits a target at sea during a live-fire exercise against an imaginary "invasion" force as part of the annual joint military drills, on a strip of sand dunes in Laoag on Luzon island's northwest coast, on May 6.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 11, 2024
U.S. builds web of arms, ships and bases in the Pacific to deter China
With missiles, submarines and alliances, the Biden administration has built a presence in the region to rein in Beijing’s expansionist goals.
Soldiers load boxes of relief goods into a U.S. CH53 Sea Stallion aircraft at Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan province, northern Philippines, last August. The Lal-lo Airport is one of the additional sites for the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 11, 2024
China woos Philippine elites near base U.S. needs to defend Taiwan
The moves come as Washington and Beijing remain locked in a struggle for influence that is still playing out.
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 3, 2024
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
Although “China” was not uttered by the officials during their news conference in Hawaii, Beijing’s growing assertiveness was clearly on their minds.
Visitors walk past an image of Chinese leader Xi Jinping inspecting the Shandong aircraft carrier, at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Naval Museum on the 75th founding anniversary of the PLA Navy, in Qingdao, China, on April 23.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 1, 2024
China's newest aircraft carrier begins first sea trials
Experts say the Fujian aircraft carrier — Beijing's most advanced yet — will take it closer to its goal of projecting its military far beyond its shores.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a news conference at the end of a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting on Capri Island, Italy, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 23, 2024
Top U.S. diplomat returns to China, but breakthroughs unlikely
From Ukraine and Taiwan to the South China Sea and the Middle East, the list of bilateral and global issues on the agenda will be long.
Lt. Gen. William Jurney, U.S. director for the Balikatan joint military exercise, talks during an opening ceremony in Quezon City, suburban Manila, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 22, 2024
U.S. and Philippine troops kick off drills as China tensions mount
The U.S. and Philippine militaries will exercise outside of Philippine territorial waters in the South China Sea for the first time since 1991.
An employee handles 155 mm-caliber shells after the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 16.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2024
Conflicts push military spending to all-time high, report says
Nations around the world are spending more than ever on their militaries as conflicts continue across various regions.
Taiwanese flags are seen at the island's Defense Ministry in Taipei in December 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 21, 2024
Taiwan says it will discuss with U.S. how to use new funding
The funds were part of a $95 billion legislative package mostly providing security aid to Ukraine and Israel passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
A giant screen shows Chinese leader Xi Jinping next to a flag of the Communist Party of China, at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing in October 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 21, 2024
Xi orders China’s biggest military reorganization since 2015
China will terminate the Strategic Support Force, which was created to enhance capabilities in space, cyber, political and electronic warfare.
Richard Marles
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
Australia unveils new defense strategy, with eye on 'coercive' China
The 80-page document offers a gloomy assessment of Pacific security and sets out a massive increase in defense spending to retool Australia's military.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington in May last year. Austin held talks with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a year and a half.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
U.S. and China defense chiefs hold first talks in nearly 18 months
While the talks signaled improving military-to-military ties, the two superpowers remain at odds over a number of issues.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. salutes during a welcome ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 13, 2024
U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral deal to change dynamic in South China Sea, Marcos says
Still, the Philippine president sought to assure China it was not a target, saying the summit was "not against any country."
U.S. President Joe Biden escorts Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to their trilateral summit at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 12, 2024
Biden vows 'ironclad' defense of Philippines and Japan as China tensions rise
Biden reiterated Washington’s commitment to defending the Philippines from any attack in the South China Sea.
Tung Chih-hsing, joint combat planning department chief of Taiwan's Defense Ministry, attends a press briefing on the annual Han Kuang military drills, in Taipei, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2024
Taiwan war games to simulate repelling a Chinese drill that turns into attack
Taiwan's annual war games this year will practice "kill" zones at sea to break a blockade and simulate such a scenario.
Philippine, Australian, Japanese and U.S. warships take part in the four nations' first-ever joint military drills in the South China Sea on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2024
Philippines, U.S., Australia and Japan hold joint military drills in disputed South China Sea
The exercises came as the Chinese military held a “joint maritime and aerial combat patrol” in an unspecified area of the waterway.

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