Japan will join France, and the United States in a series of land and sea drills for the first time in May next year, offering a counterweight to increased Chinese military activity in the Indo-Pacific region, the Sankei newspaper said on Sunday.
China’s state-run media made numerous demands of President-Elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, demanding changes to U.S. policy on the South China Sea, the Indo-Pacific region, and Taiwan.
China’s state-run Global Times on Sunday celebrated the return of “old friend” Joe Biden to power, reminiscing fondly about Biden’s “noodle diplomacy,” named after his visit to a modest Beijing eatery when he was vice president in 2011.
The annual Malabar naval exercise began on Tuesday, launching from the Indian port of Visakhapatnam on the Bay of Bengal. The Malabar wargame began in 1992 as a joint exercise between the U.S. and Indian navies. Japan joined in 2015, and this year marks the return of Australia after 13 years of absence, putting all four members of the “Quad” alliance against Chinese expansionism on the roster.
The United States offered advanced F-18 naval fighter jets to India during Tuesday’s “2+2” meeting in Hyderabad between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and their Indian counterparts.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday lectured U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about “sowing discord” between China and its neighbors.
Thousands of American troops currently stationed in Germany are expected to redeploy to the Indo-Pacific theater as the U.S. shifts its geopolitical focus to China, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Sunday.
Australia announced a major military investment program Wednesday, beefing up its long-range missile strike capabilities and airbase expanions amid escalating regional tensions with China, reinforcing Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s commitment to an “open, sovereign Indo-Pacific, free from coercion and hegemony.”
Cotton on Wednesday announced a bill to surge investment for military infrastructure, weapons, and other assets in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Navy recently sent an aircraft carrier strike group and an amphibious ready group into the South China Sea, apparently for the first time.
The United States Studies Center at the University of Sydney in Australia released a report on Monday that warned America has lost its military superiority in the Indo-Pacific region and Chinese missiles could wipe out its bases with “precision strikes in the opening hours of a conflict.”
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday the Atlantic alliance must counter China’s growing influence in the Pacific, working closely with allies such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry railed against the United States in its Monday press conference, accusing the U.S. of “conniving with violent criminals” in Hong Kong in an “arrogant” bid to undermine China’s national unity.
Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan met with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Friday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major Asian security summit held in Singapore.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded his visit to China and returned to Tokyo for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, continuing what Reuters characterized as a “charm offensive” to solidify Japan’s physical security and economic leadership.
Contents: China mocks America’s ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy at ASEAN meeting; Concerns grow over China’s debt strategy for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
China’s state-run Global Times did not enjoy Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech to the Indo-Pacific Business Forum on Monday. A Tuesday editorial by the communist paper responded by accusing the United States of playing “power games” in the Indo-Pacific region.
SINGAPORE — Although Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to discuss North Korea during his talks with allies and partners at an annual defense conference in Singapore, he is also expected to address the other 800-lb. gorilla in the room — China.
