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4 days ago | 
scmp.com | Amber Wang |Hayley Wong
The risks of a cross-strait military accident are on the rise as Beijing steps up pressure on Taiwan, a former Taiwanese defence official has warned, citing the lack of direct communication channels between the two sides. Andrew Yang Nien-dzu, who served as Taiwan’s deputy defence minister for four years and briefly held the role of minister, spoke to the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security conference.
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6 days ago | 
scmp.com | Hayley Wong |Amber Wang
Asean defence chiefs emphasised individual agency at the Shangri-La Dialogue, after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Indo-Pacific allies to boost military spending and cooperation to counter what he called the “real” threat posed by China. Among them was Philippine Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro Jnr, who asserted that his country, a US treaty ally, was not a mere pawn with “no strategic agency”.
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6 days ago | 
scmp.com | Amber Wang |Hayley Wong
It is customary for Chinese military delegations to push back against American messaging at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest security summit. But this year’s response was different: the rebuttal was not led by China’s defence minister, but the country’s military academic institutions.
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1 week ago | 
scmp.com | Amber Wang |Hayley Wong
A PLA major general leading the Chinese delegation at this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue has accused the United States of “destabilising the Asia-Pacific” – after US defence chief Pete Hegseth called for collective deterrence against what he characterised as Chinese aggression in the region.
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1 week ago | 
scmp.com | Hayley Wong |Amber Wang
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Indo-Pacific defence chiefs that China wanted to “fundamentally alter the region’s status quo”, and that American allies must step up defence investments. Speaking on Saturday in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier defence conference, Hegseth said that the threat posed by China was “real and could be imminent”. He said this included its efforts to build the capacity to take over Taiwan by force by 2027.
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1 month ago | 
scmp.com | Liu Zhen |Hayley Wong
Last week’s sea trial of Japan’s upgraded electromagnetic rail gun is a milestone in the intensifying regional arms race aimed at countering hypersonic missiles from China, North Korea and Russia. Observers said that Japan could well become one of the first navies to operate the advanced weapon as part of its air defence capabilities, after the Japanese defence ministry released images of the gun this week, without elaborating.
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2 months ago | 
scmp.com | Liu Zhen |Hayley Wong
China is ramping up performance testing of its most advanced aircraft carrier the Fujian, as it accelerates towards commissioning, according to commercial satellite images that were posted on social media. In the images – said to have been taken on Friday and Saturday from above the Bohai Sea, northeastern China – the Fujian’s steering and turning capabilities appear to be the focus of testing.
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2 months ago | 
scmp.com | Amber Wang |Hayley Wong
The US looks set to maintain rather than reduce its military presence in the Asia-Pacific under Donald Trump, given the persistent tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea, according to analysts at a leading security forum in Beijing. As part of a panel discussion at Tsinghua University’s International Security and Strategy Forum on Friday, Sun Yun, director of the Stimson Centre’s China programme, said she did not see that the US would “cede its presence” in the Asia-Pacific.
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2 months ago | 
scmp.com | Hayley Wong |Amber Wang
Mainland China’s No 3 official has called for “further improving” the legal system against Taiwan independence during a symposium in Beijing marking the 20th anniversary of the country’s anti-secession law. Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), said on Friday that China should “resolutely crack down on Taiwanese secession and intervention of foreign forces”.
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2 months ago | 
flipboard.com | Hayley Wong |Amber Wang
4 days agoChina Issues Ominous Warning to US-Backed RivalBeijing has warned Taiwan that arms purchases will not stop eventual unification with China, saying "independence forces" on the island are only …5 days agoChina's military says it will tighten 'noose' around Taiwan if independence movement escalatesChina's military on Sunday warned that it would tighten a "noose" around Taiwan if the self-governing island pursued a path of independence, which Beijing views as separatism.
