DefenceTalkNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally greeted a top Chinese official in Pyongyang and called for stronger ties with Beijing, state media from both countries said Sunday, as the traditional allies seek to heal battered relations. Kim met Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s international department, who was leading an […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-koreas-kim-greets-chinese-official-calls-for-stronger-ties-71639/

DefenceTalkChina warned the United States on Wednesday that it will announce retaliatory measures “in the coming days” after Washington published a list of $50 billion in Chinese products that will face US tariffs. The commerce ministry said in a statement that tariff proposals are “completely unfounded, a typical unilateralist and protectionist practice that China strongly […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-warns-us-it-will-unveil-retaliatory-tariffs-soon-71616/

DefenceTalkThe United States and South Korea kicked off a low-key joint military drill Sunday as a diplomatic thaw over North Korea gathered pace. Tension on the flashpoint peninsula have showed signs of easing in recent months after the isolated, nuclear-armed North proposed summits with the South and their “imperialist enemy” the US. The annual Foal […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-south-korea-begin-low-key-army-drills-amid-diplomatic-thaw-71614/

DefenceTalkThe United States gave the Philippine air force on Tuesday its first surveillance drone system, as the two nations step up co-operation in the battle against militants. Washington has been boosting its backing for Philippine counter-terror efforts since Daesh supporters seized parts of the southern city of Marawi last year, sparking a deadly five-month battle. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-gives-philippines-air-force-first-drone-system-71572/

DefenceTalkWeapons imports to the Middle East and Asia have boomed over the past five years, fuelled by war and tensions in those regions, a new study showed on Monday (Mar 12). In the period between 2013 and 2017, arms imports to the conflict-ridden Middle East more than doubled, jumping by 103 per cent compared with […]https://www.defencetalk.com/sipri-conflicts-fuel-weapon-deliveries-to-middle-east-asia-71561/

DefenceTalkChina launched its first ground-based midcourse missile defense interception test in four years on Monday, a move experts said would further improve China’s long-range missile defense capability during wartime. The test met expectations and was conducted in Chinese territory, the Defense Ministry said in an online statement on Tuesday. The test was defensive in nature […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-tests-ground-missile-defense-system-71435/

DefenceTalkChina is likely to use an electromagnetic catapult for fighter jets on its third aircraft carrier, experts said on Thursday. The world’s leading electromagnetic catapult technology was developed by a team led by Ma Weiming, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a Beijing-based expert, who asked for anonymity, told the Global Times on […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-readying-new-catapult-for-3rd-aircraft-carrier-71100/

DefenceTalkThe US military is conducting “very serious” training for a possible conflict with North Korea, a top Republican lawmaker said Tuesday, though he said he hoped such preparations would never be put to use. Congressman Mac Thornberry, who chairs the powerful House Armed Services Committee that provides civilian oversight to the Pentagon, said the administration […]https://www.defencetalk.com/serious-us-training-for-eventual-north-korea-conflict-congressman-71082/

DefenceTalkJapan said Thursday (Jan 11) it was tracking a Chinese frigate in waters surrounding islands in the East China Sea, the first such incursion in more than a year near the flashpoint isles claimed by both countries. Japanese navy ships spotted the 4,000-tonne Jiangkai II class frigate around 11am (0200 GMT) in waters surrounding the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/japan-tracks-chinese-frigate-near-disputed-isles-71046/

DefenceTalkAn Indian drone has “invaded” China’s airspace and crashed, Chinese state media said on Thursday, months after the neighbors ended one of their worst border standoffs in decades. “The Indian move violated China’s territorial sovereignty. We strongly express our dissatisfaction and opposition,” Xinhua news agency cited the deputy director of the army’s western theater combat […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-says-indian-drone-invaded-its-airspace-crashed-70948/