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SINGAPORE (AFP) — China and Southeast Asian states will hold their first joint maritime exercises next week, officials said Friday, in a move aimed at easing tensions but which may spark US alarm. Beijing’s expansive claims to the South China Sea have long been a source of friction with rival claimants in Southeast Asia, as well as the US which has traditionally been the dominant naval power in the area. Despite disagreements over Beijing’s territorial […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s military said Sunday one of its members was killed in a car crash in the Philippines during joint exercises with US and Filipino troops. Suguru Maehara, a 38-year-old sergeant of the Ground Self-Defense Forces, was involved in the accident on Tuesday last week, according to a GSDF spokesman who confirmed his death. “It is the first time a GSDF member has died during an overseas drill,” the spokesman told […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s defense chief on Monday warned the country faces a tough security environment, with China and Russia stepping up military activity and North Korea posing “imminent threats”. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said China had been “unilaterally escalating” its military activities in the past year, including carrying out new airborne operations around Japan and running a nuclear submarine near disputed East Coast isles. “China has been rapidly improving its military strength and […]
(Eagle News) — Japan’s largest warship will be heading to the Philippines for a five-day visit. In an advisory, the Philippine Navy said Japan Maritime Self Defense Force’s Escort Flotilla Four — JS Kaga (DDH 184) will arrive on Saturday, Aug. 31, in Subic Bay. The Akizuki-class destroyer JS Suzutsuki (DD-117) and Murasame-class destroyer JS Inazuma (DD-105) will escort the warship. Apart from the Philippines, the warship will visit Indonesia, Singapore, India and Sri Lanka.
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — North Korea still poses a “serious and imminent threat”, Japan said Tuesday in its first annual defence review since an outbreak of diplomacy on the Korean peninsula. Japan’s 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China’s rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking “strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan”. Last year’s defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North […]
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, Aug. 23, said three members of the US Cabinet have written him to offer the country military equipment. Duterte said US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Defense Secretary James Mattis all signed the letter, the contents of which President Duterte shared with the audience during celebrations of the 12th Anniversary of the Eastern Mindanao Command. The letter was also reportedly […]
(Eagle News)–Filipino and Russian officials met in Moscow, Russia early August to discuss ways on how to share information to fight terrorism. In a Facebook post, Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Carlos Sorreta said the Filipino delegation was led by Restituto Santos, the head of the directorate for counter terrorism of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. “Details were worked out on intensifying intelligence cooperation and exchanges,” Sorreta said. He said in another post that Defense Secretary Delfin […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Senate easily passed a $716.3 billion defense authorization bill Wednesday that ramps up military spending and bolsters America’s posture against Russia, while avoiding policy changes that would have antagonized President Donald Trump. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed 87 to 10 in the Senate a week after clearing the House of Representatives, and now heads to the White House for Trump’s signature. The bill provides […]
by Sylvie Lanteaume © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)–From housing undocumented migrants to scrapping joint exercises with South Korea or setting up a new Space Force — US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, one-time favorite of Donald Trump, now finds himself reduced to carrying out presidential orders despite his disapproval. US media say that the retired Marine general has been demoted in Washington’s power circles by the arrival of former CIA chief Mike Pompeo as […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, United States (AFP)–US Secretary of Defense James Mattis will make his first visit to China this week amid rising tensions between the two countries but also a deep need for Beijing’s support in nuclear talks with North Korea. Mattis told reporters Sunday he wants to “take measure” of China’s strategic ambitions after it positioned weaponry on disputed islets in the South China Sea and is seeking […]
Singapore (AFP) — The US will stop holding joint military exercises on the Korean peninsula, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, making a major concession to North Korea after his summit with Kim Jong Un. Washington and Seoul are security allies, with 28,500 US troops stationed in the South to defend it from its neighbor which invaded in 1950. They hold joint military exercises every year that infuriate Pyongyang, which has long demanded an end […]
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, June 3, again defended Solicitor General Jose Calida over the allegations of conflict of interest against him. Speaking to Filipinos in South Korea, Duterte said Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. was a business “inherited” by Calida from his father long before he was appointed as SolGen. “Why should I fire him?…Basta may bidding lahat, anything in government basta may bidding ka, walang problema, okay ‘yan. Kung siya […]
