Tag: Tension

China’s ‘salami-slicing strategy’ against Philippines in disputed sea

By Matthew WALSH BEIJING, June 19, 2024 (AFP) – Ramming boats, building militarised islands and threatening perceived trespassers — China is escalating confrontations with the Philippines in a bid to push it out of the South China Sea, analysts say. One of the most perilous flashpoints between the two nations is a submerged reef called the Second Thomas Shoal, where in 1999 the Philippine navy intentionally marooned a decrepit World War II ship to assert […]

China holds military exercises near Taiwan as US diplomat visits

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said Friday it was conducting military exercises near the Taiwan Strait, as a top US diplomat visits the self-ruled island in a move that has angered Beijing. Relations between the United States and China are at their lowest point in decades, with the two sides clashing over a range of trade, military and security issues as well as the coronavirus pandemic. Keith Krach, US undersecretary of state for economic […]

Huawei will not bow to US pressure: founder

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is ready to deal with Washington’s crackdown and will reduce its reliance on US components, its founder told Japanese media. President Donald Trump effectively barred Huawei from the US market on Wednesday and added it to a list which would restrict US sales to the firm amid an escalating trade war with Beijing. “We have already been preparing for this,” Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei told a group of Japanese […]

Amid rising tension between India, Pakistan, DFA issues advisory to Filipinos

(Eagle News)—The Department of Foreign Affairs warned Filipinos in India and Pakistan to take the necessary precautions amid the rising tension between the two countries. In a statement, the DFA also urged Filipinos to avoid any travel to Kashmir region, where a confrontation between Indian and Pakistani jets ensued. There are no Filipinos living in Kashmir but there are seven Filipino military observers serving with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, […]

North Korea at UN warns US carriers are fueling tensions

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — North Korea warned at the United Nations Monday that the deployment of three US aircraft carriers in joint navy drills with South Korea was fueling tensions that could lead to nuclear war. North Korea’s Ambassador Ja Song Nam said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that this was “the worst ever situation prevailing in and around the Korean peninsula.” The first such deployment of three US carriers […]

Guam leader backs ‘punch on the nose’ for Pyongyang

HAGATNA, United States (AFP)–Guam’s leader said Monday that “sometimes a bully can only be stopped with a punch in the nose,” in a spirited defense of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against North Korea which has the island in its crosshairs. While Trump’s critics accuse him of inflaming tensions with Pyongyang, Guam governor Eddie Calvo said he was grateful the US leader was taking a strong stance against North Korean threats against his Pacific homeland. “Everyone who grew […]

Xi urges Trump to avoid exacerbating North Korea tensions

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping urged US President Donald Trump in a phone call Saturday to avoid “words and deeds” that would “exacerbate” the already-tense situation on the Korean Peninsula, state television reported. Xi also called on “relevant parties to maintain restraint” and to “persist in the general direction of dialogue, negotiations and a political settlement”, CCTV said. Xi stressed that “China and the US have a common interest in realising the […]

Tillerson, Mattis to meet with Japanese counterparts

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Pentagon chief Jim Mattis will meet their Japanese counterparts to discuss regional threats, officials said Monday, amid soaring tensions over North Korea’s missile program. The August 17 meeting in Washington comes as alarm grows over North Korea’s rapidly developing missile capabilities, and weeks after Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that splashed into the seas off Japan’s Hokkaido island. Japanese Foreign minister […]

China says stay out of South China Sea issue after UK comments

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said it was on high alert to statements from countries “playing up” tension in the South China Sea after Britain said it planned to send a warship to the disputed waterway next year to conduct freedom of navigation exercises. Britain would increase its presence in the waters after it sent four British fighter planes for joint exercises with Japan in the region last year, Defense Minister Michael Fallon said on […]

China vows friendship despite N. Korean media attack

by Julien Girault, with Hwang Sunghee Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China vowed to remain a good neighbor to North Korea on Thursday, despite a rare and stinging critique in Pyongyang’s state media of its main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor. Beijing offered a measured response to a signed commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which lashed out at China and said it should be grateful to Pyongyang for its […]

US Vice President arrives in Japan

AYSE, Japan (Reuters) — United States Vice President Mike Pence landed in Tokyo on Tuesday (April 18), where he is expected to reassure Washington’s ally amid tensions over North Korea while also holding talks the White House hopes will open doors for US goods and attract infrastructure investment. An aircraft carrying Pence and his wife Karen landed at a US base in Ayase, on the outskirts of Tokyo, at 12:15 local time (0315 GMT). Pence will […]

Xi urges peaceful resolution of N. Korea tensions in Trump call

by Becky Davis Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged Donald Trump to peacefully resolve surging tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program, as the United States president touts the power of a naval “armada” sent to counter fresh provocations by Pyongyang. Trump said Tuesday that the US was ready to solve the North Korean “problem” without China if necessary, as he and Pyongyang engage in tit-for-tat saber-rattling that has […]