DefenceTalkChina voiced opposition on Thursday to Taiwan joining a major trans-Pacific trade deal as it flew 24 planes including two nuclear-capable bombers into the self-ruled island’s air defence zone, the biggest incursion in weeks, Taiwanese officials said. Last week Beijing submitted its own application to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for […]

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkChinese investment in Australia almost halved in 2019, new data released Monday showed, as relations between the two countries deteriorated. Researchers from the Australian National University said Chinese investment Down Under plunged from Aus$4.8 billion (US$3.5 billion) to just Aus$2.5 billion last year. Professor Peter Drysdale, who led the data research, said the Aus$1.43 billion […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinese-investment-in-australia-plunges-as-tensions-mount-76321/

DefenceTalkWorld stock markets were a mixed bag on Wednesday as some investors fished for bargains and others gave in to anxiety over simmering trade tensions between China and the United States. London and Frankfurt edged higher, mirroring earlier gains in Asia, while Paris was down at the European close. Wall Street stocks were also mixed, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/global-stocks-mixed-amid-lingering-trade-war-fears-71753/

DefenceTalkCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened Wednesday to cancel a major arms buy from the US over a tariffs row, as talks on a North American free trade deal got off to a rocky start. Ottawa was set to purchase 18 new Super Hornets fighter jets from Boeing until the American aerospace firm successfully petitioned […]https://www.defencetalk.com/canada-threatens-to-scrap-arms-buy-as-trade-talks-get-off-to-rough-start-70666/

DefenceTalkRussia and Turkey have agreed to lift nearly all remaining trade restrictions imposed in the aftermath of Ankara’s downing of a Russian warplane in 2015, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. “You asked when we can speak about the lifting of the restrictions that emerged some time ago. We can speak of that today,” Putin said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-turkey-agree-to-lift-nearly-all-trade-restrictions-69892/

DefenceTalkMoscow: Russia accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of involvement in illegal oil trading with Islamic State jihadists, ratcheting up the heat in a dispute over Ankara’s downing of one of Moscow’s warplanes. The Turkish strongman accused Moscow of “slander” over claims his country had bought oil from IS, while Russian Foreign […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-accuses-turkeys-erdogan-over-is-oil-trade-65962/

DefenceTalkRenewing their expansive defense framework for another 10 years, India and the US on Sunday decided to kick off joint manufacturing of four relatively modest military products and explore the development of two more high-end technologies. The two nations agreed to step up joint combat exercises, maritime security endeavors, intelligence-sharing mechanisms, military exchanges and the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/india-us-to-kick-off-joint-production-on-4-defense-projects-62210/

DefenceTalkDefence budgets in the Asia Pacific region will overtake the United States and Canada by 2021, according to a study by respected analysts IHS Jane’s published on Tuesday. Weapons spending in China and other Asia Pacific countries is expected to rise 35 percent above its 2013 level to $501 billion (383 billion euros) by 2021, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/asia-pacific-defence-budgets-to-outstrip-north-america-by-2021-48269/

DefenceTalkIf majority ruled in the United Nations, the global arms trade would be regulated. But in the real world, the big guns hold the key to an agreement. Negotiations have resumed at the UN on what has been declared a “final” attempt to reach the consensus necessary for a treaty to regulate the $70 billion […]https://www.defencetalk.com/big-guns-hold-key-to-arms-trade-treaty-talks-47198/