SINGAPORE: Five people told Reuters that senior officials from about 20 of the nation’s top intelligence agencies met in secret this weekend on the periphery of a Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore. They claimed that for many years, these gatherings have been covertly held at a different location nextContinue Reading
SINGAPORE: United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed his deep concern over China’s refusal to participate in defense crisis management on Saturday( June 3 ) and cautioned that conversations are essential to preventing conflict. As they continue to be bitterly divided over everything from Taiwan’s independence to spying andContinue Reading
SINGAPORE: The Australian prime minister urged both nations to reopen” reliable and open channels of communication” as the US and Chinese defense leaders spoke briefly on Friday( June 2 ). Following Beijing’s rejection of an invitation to a conventional meeting, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Taiwanese equivalent LiContinue Reading
A senior US defence official said there has been an “alarming increase in the number of risky aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea” by Chinese aircraft and ships – actions that “have the potential to create an unsafe incident or miscalculation”. “We don’t believe it’s done by pilots operating independently,”Continue Reading
SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol begins the country’s first summit with leaders of Pacific islands on Monday (May 29), as Seoul seeks to increase its influence in a region that has become the focus of intense geopolitical rivalry. Yoon launched his administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy last year, pledging toContinue Reading
KATHMANDU: A renowned US mountain guide has achieved the rare Everest region “triple crown”, climbing three peaks – Mount Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse – in one season, a hiking company official said on Friday (May 26). Garrett Madison, 44, climbed Lhotse, the world’s fourth tallest peak at 8,516m on Thursday,Continue Reading
HONG KONG: Hong Kong authorities on Friday (May 26) condemned a British government call for the removal of a China-imposed national security law that Britain said had been used to persecute, “silence and discredit” pro-democracy opposition figures. Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote in his government’s latest six-monthly report onContinue Reading
SEOUL: South Korean and United States forces began their largest-ever joint live-fire exercises on Thursday (May 25), simulating a “full-scale attack” from North Korea, South Korea’s defence ministry said. About 2,500 troops from South Korea and the US took part as the five-day exercise began in Pocheon near the borderContinue Reading
Microsoft analysts said they had “moderate confidence” this Chinese group, which it dubbed as “Volt Typhoon”, was developing capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises. “It means they are preparing for that possibility,” added said John Hultquist, who heads threatContinue Reading
Myanmar’s junta has given a death toll of 148 people, mostly from the persecuted Rohingya minority in western Rakhine state. “For decades, the authorities in Myanmar have deprived the Rohingya of their rights and freedoms and relentlessly attacked other ethnic groups, eroding their capacity to survive,” Turk said. Rakhine isContinue Reading