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Gabriel Dominguez
For Gabriel Dominguez's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and British counterpart Grant Shapps review an honor guard ahead of a bilateral meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2023
Japan and Britain to ramp up security cooperation
Following talks held in Tokyo, the nations' ministers said in a joint statement that they aim to boost military coordination and interoperability.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 8, 2023
China and Australia agree to mend ties. But will this impact security?
As the two nations agree to put bygones behind them and boost communication, questions remain over how this will impact security tensions in the region.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa meets with the families of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas militants to the Gaza Strip, during a visit to Tel Aviv on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 6, 2023
Israel-Hamas conflict to dominate Tokyo summit of top G7 diplomats
Japan will be looking to further align the bloc’s responses to the war amid growing calls for a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida waves with Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim during his official visit to Malaysia, in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 5, 2023
Japan turns to Southeast Asia to boost security network
The leader sought to strengthen Japan's security and defense ties with Malaysia and the Philippines, amid growing concerns over Chinese assertiveness.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the first Japanese leader to address a special joint session of the Philippine Congress, waves beside Philippines' Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Philippines' House Speaker Martin Romualdez at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 4, 2023
Japan and Philippines agree to take defense ties to next level
Tokyo and Manila launched talks on a visiting forces agreement, while the Philippines became the first recipient of Japan's new military aid program.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa waits for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to arrive for a meeting in New York in September.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2023
Japan top envoy faces diplomatic test on trip to Israel and Jordan
One of the key focuses of Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa's trip will be the role Japan can play in easing the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. President Joe Biden toasts with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during an official state dinner at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 26, 2023
U.S. and Australia seek military drone cooperation with Japan
The moves comes as the nations aim to maintain an edge in the face of China's growing military might.
Two Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets (bottom) fly in formation with a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber as part of a joint exercise with the United States and South Korea in airspace near Kyushu on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2023
U.S., Japan and South Korea cooperation reaches new heights with aerial drill
While some view the move as signaling a "new era" in security ties, questions remain as to how long the current political momentum will hold
A Philippine-flagged boat is blocked by a China Coast Guard vessel during an incident that resulted in a collision between the two ships in the disputed waters of the South China Sea in this screen shot taken from video on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / EXPLAINER
Oct 23, 2023
After collisions at sea, could Sino-Philippine tensions boil over?
Tensions are rapidly surging between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea, where the two countries have overlapping claims.
A deal between Mitsubishi Electric and Australia’s Department of Defence taps the company’s know-how in electronic and optical systems.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2023
In industry first, Mitsubishi Electric secures defense deal with Australia
The deal taps the company’s know-how in electronic and optical systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping head to a group photo session during the third Belt and Road forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 18, 2023
Putin visits Xi as leaders look to leverage growing global rift
The move was a clear signal of how Moscow has increasingly turned to Beijing for trade and political support as it seeks to circumvent Western sanctions.
South Korea's Aegis-equipped destroyer Yulgok Yi I (right), the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (top), the Aegis-equipped USS Shoup destroyer (bottom center), the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Hyuga destroyer (left) and the South Korean Navy's Cheonji (center) sail in formation during a joint maritime drill in international waters southeast of South Korea's Jeju Island on Oct. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 17, 2023
Military deterrence alone will not dissuade China, experts warn
Governments must be proactive in pressing for diplomatic solutions, as a focus on military power won't make the world safer, analysts say.
South Korean soldiers stand guard at the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 12, 2023
Halting inter-Korean military deal may increase security risks for Seoul
South Korea's new defense minister is calling to suspend parts of a 2018 agreement in order to increase Seoul's surveillance capabilities.
A visitor takes pictures near models of military equipment and a giant screen displaying Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at an exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing in October last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 11, 2023
As Ukraine war fatigue seeps in, what lessons is China drawing?
Ukraine supporters argue that withholding aid would help Moscow prevail and potentially embolden China to launch an offensive against democratic Taiwan.
Artemis II moon mission crew members Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch pose for photographs after taking part in a news conference with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 18.
WORLD / Science & Health / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2023
Geopolitics in space: Why great powers are scrambling for the moon
A new space race — pitting the U.S. and its partners against China and Russia — is expected to have significant implications.
Visitors stand in front of a giant screen displaying a map of locations around Taiwan where the Chinese People's Liberation Army conducted military exercises in August 2022, at an exhibition in Beijing in October last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 3, 2023
As invasion fears rise, China hones Taiwan blockade strategy
China’s increasingly frequent exercises around Taiwan indicate that Beijing is refining a strategy to isolate the island.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen attends the launching ceremony of Hai Kun, the island's first domestically built submarine, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 28, 2023
How Taiwan's new subs could complicate a Chinese invasion
The way in which Taipei deploys what is set to be a fleet of eight new attack submarines will be crucial in its efforts to deter or counter Beijing.
U.S. President Joe Biden poses for a photograph with Pacific Islands Forum leaders on the South Portico of the White House in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 26, 2023
Biden seeks to reassure Pacific islands in push to counter China
U.S. President Joe Biden sought to reaffirm Washington’s commitment to the Pacific islands as he again hosted leaders from the region at the White House.
The U.S Navy's Ranger unmanned vessel docks at Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture. The ship is one of two U.S. Navy unmanned prototype vessels that were recently dispatched to Japan as part of a long-range deployment exercise.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 21, 2023
Unmanned U.S. Navy vessels make Japan debut
The U.S. Navy debuted the unmanned prototype vessels as it prepares to increase both the number and use of drones amid growing tensions with China.
Group of Seven leaders, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center), lay floral wreaths at the Cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on May 19.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Sep 20, 2023
Kishida eyes return to stalled fissile treaty. That may be a nonstarter.
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Kishida said Japan will work to facilitate discussions between nuclear and nonnuclear weapon states.

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