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PLA

Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 2, 2025
Philippines vague on U.S. missile deployments, but clear on one thing
Manila has already secured the funds to buy its own midrange missiles, according to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Singapore's Minister of Defense Chan Chun Sing and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas attend a ministerial lunch on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 2, 2025
Asia defense summit reveals gaps between U.S. and European perspectives
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear he wanted Europeans to concentrate on European security while the U.S. focuses on the Indo-Pacific.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives for a trilateral meeting between Japan, the U.S. and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2025
Hegseth to prioritize China and more allied spending in Asia — but questions remain
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a clear statement of the United States' commitment to the region, but getting allies to spend more on their defense will be an uphill battle.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2025
Hegseth warns of Chinese threat to Taiwan, urging allies to upgrade defenses
In a speech to regional defense officials, U.S. defense chief Pete Hegseth also sought to ease concerns among those skeptical of America’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani delivers an address at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 31, 2025
Nakatani urges closer defense tie-ups amid erosion of rules-based order
Without directly naming China, the Japanese defense chief had strong words for Beijing and its moves in the South China Sea and near Taiwan.
A KJ-500 early warning plane, along with Y-20 transport aircraft, are parked on the tarmac of an airfield on Woody Island, in the disputed Paracel archipelago in the South China Sea, on May 19.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 29, 2025
China's most advanced bombers seen on disputed South China Sea island
Some analysts described the move as Beijing's latest signalling of its growing military capabilities to rivals.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers remarks at the National Memorial Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 28, 2025
Hegseth to face questions on U.S. commitment at top Asian defense conference
The event comes amid growing anxiety over Washington's tariff program and uncertainties about U.S. defense policy.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sails through the Miyako Strait in Okinawa Prefecture on its way to the Pacific in April 2021.
JAPAN
May 26, 2025
Chinese aircraft carrier conducts fighter jet operations in East China Sea
This was the first time Japan announced that the Liaoning aircraft carrier was conducting training in the area home to the disputed Senkaku Islands.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba walks past members of the Philippine Coast Guard at the coast guard's headquarters in Manila on April 30.
JAPAN / Politics
May 22, 2025
Ishiba doubles down on weapons cooperation, saying no country can go it alone
Japan has sealed a spate of defense equipment and technology transfer deals in recent years while also looking to build up its homegrown defense industry.
Soldiers inspect the debris of a missile at a field on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on May 8 after New Delhi said Pakistan launched an overnight air attack using "drones and missiles," before Indian forces retaliated to destroy an air defense system in Lahore.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 19, 2025
China gave Pakistan satellite support, Indian defense group says
The research by a group under India’s Ministry of Defense suggests that Beijing was more directly involved in the conflict than was previously disclosed.
Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel in Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a military parade in October 2019.
WORLD
May 14, 2025
U.S. warns of China missile threat ahead of 'Golden Dome' announcement
China may within a decade possess scores of orbiting missiles with nuclear payloads capable of quickly reaching the U.S., the Defense Intelligence Agency has said.
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 14, 2025
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
The recent conflict is challenging long-held perceptions of Chinese weapons' inferiority to Western arms and sparking concern in places wary of Beijing.
Yi Liu (right), one of 10 directors involved in Taiwanese television series "Zero Day," works on post-production with colorist Liang Yu Fang in Taipei on March 5.
CULTURE / Film
May 13, 2025
Taiwanese war drama 'wake-up call' to Chinese invasion threat
The on-screen chaos of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is the basis of a new Taiwanese television series called "Zero Day."
The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Taiwan's Pingtung County on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 13, 2025
Taiwan conducts first live-fire HIMARS test in signal to China
Supplying Taiwan with a system that proved devastatingly effective in Ukraine’s efforts to defend against the Russian invasion was once politically sensitive in Washington.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of the Uotsuri islet, one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. Concerns are growing in Tokyo after a Chinese government helicopter violated Japan's airspace around the uninhabited islets.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 12, 2025
Escalation fears rise in Japan following Chinese moves near Senkakus
Beijing sent a government helicopter to the area for the first time, while Chinese government ships have been spotted in the area for more than 170 straight days.
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025
Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills
A top Philippine general has said he expects the Self-Defense Forces’ involvement in both bilateral and multilateral activities to grow substantially.
Chinese H-6 bombers fly at the eastern edge of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on March 24.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 30, 2025
Chinese navy patrols South China Sea, saying Philippines creating 'disturbances'
China, which claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, has been involved in an increasingly tense stand-off with the Philippines.
Chinese H-6 bombers (top right) are seen flying near the eastern edge of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on March 24.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 21, 2025
Chinese Navy says Philippine warship 'illegally entered' Scarborough Shoal waters
Sunday's incident was a rare instance involving the militaries of both countries, and came amid fears that a clash or accident could erupt into a full-blown conflict.
This satellite image taken on March 25 shows three Chinese barges connected via extendable bridges in waters off Zhanjiang, in southern China's Guangdong province. Experts say the new barges could be used to land heavy equipment and thousands of personnel in a possible invasion of Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 15, 2025
China’s new bridge-forming barges offer new options for Taiwan invasion
The ships can be linked up one behind the other to form a long, relocatable pier that extends from deeper waters nearly a kilometer out at sea onto a beach.
The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Minnesota off the coast of Western Australia in March
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2025
AUKUS nuclear submarine sale under scrutiny as U.S. tariffs shake Australia
Disappointment that defense ties didn't win Australia exemptions from the U.S. tariffs has put the program under unprecedented public scrutiny.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic