DefenceTalkFighter jets practiced landing on a highway in southern Taiwan on Wednesday as part of an annual live-fire military exercise that simulates defending the island against an invasion by China. Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory and has vowed to one day […]

DefenceTalkVice President Kamala Harris accused China on Tuesday of intimidation in disputed Asian waters, seeking to rally regional allies as the United States’ superpower status takes a hit over Afghanistan. Her comments in Singapore came as Washington seeks to reset relations in Asia after the turbulent Donald Trump era and build a bulwark against the […]

DefenceTalkChina is ready to deepen “friendly and cooperative” relations with Afghanistan, a government spokeswoman said Monday, after the Taliban seized control of the country. Beijing has sought to maintain unofficial ties with the Taliban throughout the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, which spurred an advance by the Islamist hardliners across the country that saw them capture […]

DefenceTalkThe UK government Friday denied it was provoking Beijing with the deployment of its most powerful navy task force in a generation, after Chinese state media issued a blunt warning. The strike group of Royal Navy and allied ships spearheaded by the giant new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has entered the South China Sea, […]

DefenceTalkPentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea have “no basis in international law”, taking aim at China’s growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters. “That assertion treads on the sovereignty of the states in the region,” he said at the start of a trip to Southeast Asia, […]

DefenceTalkThe leaders of China and Russia on Monday announced the extension of a 20-year-old friendship treaty, hailing increasingly close ties and the “stabilizing role” of their relationship. The Kremlin published a joint statement from Russia and China to mark two decades since the treaty was signed, as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held a televised […]

DefenceTalkBeijing on Tuesday accused NATO of exaggerating the threat from China and “creating confrontation”, after a vow from the Western allies to work together to counter the challenges posed by its policies. NATO leaders said Monday they would join forces against the “systemic challenges” posed by China’s policies, as US President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s […]

DefenceTalkChina said Tuesday radiation levels remained normal at one of its nuclear power plants and there were no safety concerns, after the station’s French operator reported a gas build-up. “There is no abnormality in the radiation levels around the nuclear power plant, and safety is guaranteed,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. CNN reported earlier […]

DefenceTalkBeijing on Wednesday accused Washington of “paranoid delusion” after the US Senate passed a sweeping industrial policy bill aimed at countering the surging economic threat from China. America’s political parties overcame partisan divisions to support pumping more than $170 billion into research and development, one of the most significant achievements in Congress since Joe Biden’s […]

DefenceTalkThe US Senate passed a sweeping industrial policy bill Tuesday aimed at countering the surging economic threat from rival China, overcoming partisan divisions to support pumping more than $170 billion into research and development. With both American political parties increasingly worried about competition from Asia’s largest power, the measure cleared the chamber on a 68-32 […]