Australia has always been in a really weird spot. It’s a very modernized, western nation, who has ideals and traditions more with North America and Western Europe than anywhere else, and yet there it is, stuck in the Pacific with it’s closest ally in the US an entire ocean away. Plus, their geography has never been the greatest; vast swathes… Read more »
TOKYO (REUTERS) – Japan’s government on Friday (Dec 20) approved an eighth straight annual increase in defence spending to a record high as it buys US-made stealth fighters, interceptor missiles and other equipment to counter military build-ups by North Korea and China. Japan’s defence budget will rise 1.1 per cent to a record 5.31 trillion yen (S$65.87 billion) in the year starting… Read more »
BEIJING – President Xi Jinping warned foreign countries that China would not tolerate interference in Hong Kong and Macau, as he swore in the gambling hub’s new Chief Executive and government in a ceremony on Friday (Dec 20). China’s top leader also lavished praise on what he said was Macau’s successful implementation of the “one country, two systems” governing framework, pointing… Read more »
For decades, Papua New Guinean troops say they have watched as Indonesian forces violated PNG sovereignty “up to a dozen times per year”. At times the TNI (Indonesian armed forces) crossed the border between Indonesian Papua and PNG to hunt animals. Sometimes they entered to intimidate refugees living along the border. The PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) has long viewed such… Read more »
Wellington: The death toll from New Zealand’s White Island volcano eruption rose to 18 Sunday, including two people whose bodies have not been recovered, police said. A land search early Sunday failed to find any sign of the missing pair and a sea search resumed in the afternoon amid increasing speculation both could be in the water. “The stream where… Read more »
China is acting belligerent, are as its allies. North Korea is (likely) threatening another missile launch with their “Christmas present”, China is interfering in democracies across the world, copying Russia’s playbook and threatening the establishment of US allies in Taiwan, and the US-China trade war is continuing to heat up as China applies “reciprocal restrictions” on US diplomats. Perhaps most… Read more »
North Korea will send a “Christmas gift” to the United States, but what that present contains will depend on the outcome of ongoing talks between Washington and Pyongyang, a top official has warned.The ominous comments, which some have interpreted as a sign that North Korea couldresume long-distance missile tests, comes as the clock ticks closer to the country’s self-imposed end-of-year deadline for… Read more »
A would-be Chinese defector named two Hong Kong executives as acting as a front for Chinese intelligence agencies. The authorities in Taiwan had started tracking them in 2016. TAIPEI, Taiwan — In December 2016, Xiang Xin, a businessman based in Hong Kong, and his wife asked the government in Taiwan for permission to invest in real estate, as foreigners must do. After a four-month… Read more »
BEIJING (AFP) – China said on Friday (Dec 6) it had taken “reciprocal” measures against US diplomats in the country, who will have to notify the Foreign Ministry before meeting local officials. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said China had notified the US embassy of the new measures on Wednesday (Dec 4), which she said were a “countermeasure” to Washington’s decision… Read more »
London: Former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer has called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to scrap its regional roots and embrace new security partners such as Australia, South Korea and Japan. His comments were made on the sidelines of the NATO Engages conference in Britain where leaders from the 29 member countries have gathered ahead of a meeting in… Read more »