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david lague
For david lague's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jul 22, 2023
Inspired by Ukraine war, Taiwan launches drone blitz to counter China
Taipei's aim, according to a government planning document, is to build more than 3,200 military drones by mid-2024.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2022
Lawyers exit Hong Kong as they face campaign of intimidation
Since a national security law was imposed in June 2020, Hong Kong lawyers have endured severe harassment, pushing many to leave the city.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2021
Taiwan chip industry emerges as battlefront in U.S.-China showdown
The foundries are so valuable to the global economy that some refer to Taiwan's chip sector as a 'silicon shield' that deters a Chinese attack and ensures American support.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 20, 2021
Case documents reveal extent of China's spying in Taiwan's military
Taiwan's spy catchers are battling a campaign that has compromised senior officers at the heart of the island's armed forces and government agencies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 30, 2021
As China menaces Taiwan, the island's friends aid its secretive submarine project
Taipei has stealthily sourced technology, components and talent from at least seven nations to help it build a fleet with the potential to exact a heavy toll on any Chinese attack.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 11, 2020
How China is trying to subdue Taiwan with 'gray-zone' warfare
Beijing is conducting waves of threatening forays from the air while ratcheting up pressure tactics to erode Taiwan's will to resist, say current and former Taiwan military officers.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 3, 2020
Pentagon's latest salvo against China's growing might: Cold War bombers
The U.S. has been intensifying its challenge to China and its sweeping territorial claims over one of the world's most important strategic waterways.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2020
China expands amphibious forces in challenge to U.S. beyond Asia
New ships and specially trained marines will boost Beijing's firepower and political influence far from its shores, according to military analysts.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 26, 2020
High-stakes power play: Xi moves to subdue Hong Kong
In the aftermath of last year's protests, Beijing appears determined to stamp out any renewed rebellion against the Communist Party's authority.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
May 9, 2020
U.S. rearms to nullify China's missile supremacy in the western Pacific
A long-term struggle between the Beijing and Washington is at a turning point, with the United States rolling out new weapons and strategy in a bid to close a wide missile gap with China.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 24, 2019
Hobbling Huawei: Inside the U.S. war on China's tech giant
In early 2018, in a complex of low-rise buildings in the Australian capital, a team of government hackers was engaging in a destructive digital war game.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 7, 2019
China's furtive fleet of nuclear missile-laden submarines tests the Pentagon
Recent visitors to the bay surrounding a submarine base on the southern coast of China's Hainan Island describe a curious nocturnal phenomenon. Powerful spotlights are sometimes trained directly on the ocean frontages of neighboring hotels at night, making visibility out to sea virtually impossible. Some of the lights are mounted on land and others on passing naval patrol boats.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
May 1, 2019
China's vast fleet seen tipping the balance of power in the Pacific
A generation ago, from mid-1995 into early 1996, China lobbed missiles in the waters around Taiwan as the self-governing island prepared to hold its first fully democratic presidential election. Washington forcefully intervened to support its ally, sending two aircraft carrier battle groups to patrol nearby. The carriers, then as now the spearhead of American power, intimidated Beijing. The vote went ahead. The missiles stopped.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2019
New missile gap leaves U.S. scrambling to counter China, in shift that leaves Japan at risk
China's powerful military is considered to be a master at concealing its intentions. But there is no secret about how it plans to destroy American aircraft carriers if rivalry becomes war.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Apr 26, 2019
How China is replacing America as Asia's military titan
In 1938, in the midst of a long campaign to bring China under Communist Party rule, revolutionary leader Mao Zedong wrote: "Whoever has an army has power."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 11, 2015
Fear and retribution rule amid Xi's crackdown on corruption in China
Chen Zhenggao, a member of the Communist Party's elite Central Committee, clearly has enemies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 15, 2014
How China spies on Hong Kong's democrats
James To was growing uneasy. When the veteran Hong Kong Democratic Party lawmaker looked in his rearview mirror, two silver Mercedes Benz saloons kept appearing behind his gray Volvo sedan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 15, 2014
China charms Hong Kong's law enforcers
Hong Kong's top law enforcers, schooled in British-style judicial independence and separation of powers, are being cycled through Communist Party schools in China, where judges are appointed by the party and police are charged with crushing dissent.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 21, 2014
With crash probe, China turns up heat on ex-security chief Zhou
Little is known about the exact circumstances in which Wang Shuhua was killed. What has been reported, in the Chinese media, is that she died in a road accident sometime in 2000, shortly after she was divorced from her husband. And that at least one vehicle with a military license plate may have been involved in the crash.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 30, 2014
Massive graft, rivalry behind purge of China's oil mandarins
Oil executive Jiang Jiemin rose to power in communist China in time-honored fashion: by hitching his star to a mighty mentor.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on