Tag: defence

New Zealand says no quick membership of AUKUS tech pact

WELLINGTON, May 1, 2024 (AFP) – New Zealand’s foreign minister on Wednesday ruled out quickly joining a landmark defence technology pact with Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, but attacked AUKUS critics as outdated. Arguing the underpinnings of New Zealand’s independent-minded foreign policy have “seismically shifted”, Winston Peters said it would be “irresponsible” of the government not to explore deeper defence cooperation with allies. New Zealand’s possible participation in AUKUS efforts to develop […]

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Maldives signs China defense deal as India prepares exit

MALÉ, Maldives, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – The Maldives has signed a “military assistance” deal with China after ordering Indian troops deployed in the small but strategically-placed archipelago to leave, officials said Tuesday. Some 89 Indian military personnel in the country will be gone by May 10 after having been previously ordered out by pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu, who came to power last year on an anti-Indian platform. The Maldivian defence ministry said they signed […]

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Pacific power play: Australia plans largest navy since WWII

SYDNEY, Feb 20, 2024 (AFP) – Australia on Tuesday outlined a decade-long plan to double its fleet of major warships and boost defence spending by an additional US$7 billion, in the face of a quickening Asia-Pacific arms race. Under the plan, Australia will get a navy of 26 major surface combatant ships, up from 11 today. “It is the largest fleet that we will have since the end of the Second World War,” said Defence […]

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US, Japan conduct joint naval drills

ON BOARD THE USS CARL VINSON, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – The US and Japanese navies held joint exercises in the Philippine Sea this week, in a show of force as tensions with China and North Korea rise. Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads over a raft of issues, from chips to tariffs, but both have been alarmed by the growing assertiveness of China’s military in the Pacific. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own […]

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N. Korea fires several cruise missiles towards Yellow Sea: Seoul military

SEOUL, Jan 24, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea fired several cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, the latest in a series of tension-raising moves by the nuclear-armed state. Pyongyang has accelerated weapons testing in the new year, including tests of what it called an “underwater nuclear weapon system” and a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile. “Our military detected several cruise missiles launched by North Korea towards the Yellow Sea at around […]

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China tensions rising, US revives WWII-era Pacific airfield

WASHINGTON, Dec 30, 2023 (AFP) – In the middle of the Pacific ocean, an abandoned US airfield once key to dropping the nuclear bomb on Japan — and nearly lost to history amid encroaching forest — is being revived. But as the Americans hack away at the jungle overgrowth at Tinian island airfield and other old, World War II-era bases across the region, it won’t be with Japan on their mind. Rather, it’s Beijing’s growing […]

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Japan approves record $56 billion defense budget amid regional tensions

TOKYO, Dec 23, 2023 (AFP) – Japan approved Friday a record defence budget worth $56 billion for the next fiscal year, as tensions rise with China and North Korea. The 7.95 trillion yen ($56 billion) draft budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year was approved by the cabinet, in line with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s pledge to raise defence spending over the next few years. Japan has a pacifist post-war constitution, which limits its military capacity […]

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Philippines, France to pursue key defence pact

MANILA, Dec 3, 2023 (AFP) – Defence ministers for the Philippines and France vowed Saturday to pursue an agreement that would allow them to deploy troops to each other’s territories, the latest such deal sought by the archipelagic nation located in the strategic South China Sea. Speaking following a meeting in Manila, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu said they agreed to seek authorisation from their respective presidents and relevant […]

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ASEAN defence chiefs call for end to Myanmar crisis, Israel-Hamas war

JAKARTA, Nov 15, 2023 (AFP) – Southeast Asian defence ministers called for an end to the Myanmar crisis and to the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday as they gathered for talks that will include meetings with regional counterparts and the Pentagon chief. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Jakarta were dominated by issues ranging from the Myanmar crisis to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the […]

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South Korea stages first military parade in a decade

SEOUL, Sept 26, 2023 (AFP) – South Korea staged its first military parade in a decade on Tuesday, showcasing its advanced arsenal in the face of plummeting ties with nuclear-armed North Korea. Pyongyang regularly puts on huge military parades but such events in Seoul are traditionally arranged every five years to mark South Korea’s Armed Forces Day. The last parade was in 2013. Five years later, then-president Moon Jae-in chose to hold a celebratory ceremony […]

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Indonesia hosts first-ever ASEAN military drills

BATAM, Indonesia, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – Militaries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began their first-ever joint exercises on Tuesday in Indonesia, with a Myanmar representative present despite the bloc’s ban on its junta leaders. ASEAN countries have participated in multinational defence drills before, but these are the first featuring just the bloc, which is battling perceptions of irrelevance on major regional issues such as the turmoil in Myanmar and disputes in the […]

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Kim inspects key weapons with Russian defence chief

MOSCOW, Sept 16, 2023 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Saturday with the Russian defence minister in Vladivostok, where he inspected state-of-the-art weapons including a hypersonic missile system on the latest leg of a rare visit outside his country. Upon arriving in Vladivostok, a Pacific port city near the Chinese and North Korean borders, Kim was greeted by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and an honour guard. Shoigu and Kim were seen smiling […]

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