Beijing said Sunday it is “ready to work” with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct in the flashpoint South China Sea, where it is accused of bullying fellow claimants and building up military installations. China claims most of the resource-rich waterway, a major global shipping route and long a source of tension among […]

DefenceTalkRoyal Navy warship HMS Argyll joined the US Navy for a two-day combined workout in the South China Sea. The Plymouth-based frigate linked up with American destroyer McCampbell, underlining the Royal Navy’s return to the Pacific Rim as Britain looks to broader horizons after Brexit. After spending Christmas just outside Tokyo in the US Navy’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/royal-navy-frigate-joins-us-destroyer-in-south-china-sea-72056/

DefenceTalkCompanies and trade groups in the US and China have expressed concern over how the escalating trade spat between the world’s two biggest economies could affect operations. Beijing retaliated immediately to tariffs on tens of billions in Chinese imports imposed by US President Donald Trump on Friday (Jun 15), igniting a trade war that threatens […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-china-firms-brace-for-escalating-trade-war-71719/

DefenceTalkA comprehensive probe into last year’s deadly attack on US and local forces in Niger uncovered a series of avoidable blunders leading up to the assault, the Pentagon said Thursday. Four American soldiers and four members of Nigerien partner forces were killed in the October 4 ambush, when scores of jihadists overran their convoy in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-probe-finds-training-command-issues-in-niger-ambush-71670/

DefenceTalkGermany has approved more major weapons deals with the UAE, including deliveries of high-caliber ammunition. The UAE is involved in a conflict in Yemen that has caused famine and humanitarian disaster. Germany is supplying more weapons to belligerents in the Yemen conflict, even though the ongoing war in the Middle East’s poorest country has triggered […]https://www.defencetalk.com/germany-sells-arms-to-uae-despite-yemen-conflict-69763/

DefenceTalkRecent satellite imagery appears to show China is completing structures intended to house surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) on a series of artificial islands in the South China Sea, a Washington think-tank said Thursday. According to images published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, the structures are being installed on Fiery Cross Reef, Mischief Reef and Subi […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-continues-steady-pattern-of-south-china-sea-militarization-experts-69262/

DefenceTalkBeijing has played down the prospects of conflict with the United States over the South China Sea in the wake of aggressive rhetoric by Donald Trump’s administration, saying both sides would lose. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich region despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-says-both-sides-will-lose-from-conflict-with-us-69088/

DefenceTalkJapan’s defense ministry requested a record budget on Wednesday, with funds for an anti-ship missile system to defend islands at the center of a territorial dispute with China. Tokyo is determined to defend the uninhabited islets in the East China Sea — administered by Japan as the Senkakus but claimed by China as the Diaoyus […]https://www.defencetalk.com/japan-eyes-record-defense-budget-to-develop-anti-ship-missiles-68077/

DefenceTalkChinese and Russian navies conducted the third round of consultation in Zhanjiang City from August 16 to 21 for the Joint Sea-2016 joint maritime exercise and the theme of the joint exercise will be “joint maritime defense operation”. Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People’s Republic of China […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-russia-to-hold-joint-training-operations-in-south-china-sea-68070/

DefenceTalkBeijing must prepare for “military confrontation” in the South China Sea, state-run media said Tuesday, as it began naval drills in the area ahead of an international tribunal ruling over the maritime dispute. China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich strategic waterway despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbors — raising tensions with […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-must-ready-for-military-conflict-in-south-china-sea-67790/