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PLA

Philippines Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner speaks to the media during a press briefing in Puerto Princesa, Philippines, last August.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 15, 2024
Philippines to develop islands in South China Sea, military chief says
Manila will develop islands in the waterway that it considers part of its territory to make them more habitable for troops, military chief Romeo Brawner said.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen greets former U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley (center) and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg during a visit to the Presidential Office in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 15, 2024
In Taipei visit, ex-U.S. official says commitment to Taiwan 'rock solid'
An unofficial U.S. delegation said Washington looks forward to continuity in the Taiwan-U.S. relationship under the new Taiwanese administration.
Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te and his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, attend a rally outside the headquarters of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei on Saturday night after winning the presidential election.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 14, 2024
Taiwan chooses continuity in pivotal presidential election
Lai's Democratic Progressive Party party won more than 40% of the roughly 14 million votes cast, but lost its majority in Taiwan’s parliament.
Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te, of Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP), and his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, wave as they hold a news conference, following their victory in  presidential elections, in Taipei, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 13, 2024
Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te elected president in ‘victory for democracies’
The victory — described by Lai as a “victory for the community of democracies” — was historic third-straight win for the DPP, much to China's chagrin.
People take part in a first aid and emergency training course by the Taiwanese civil defense group the Forward Alliance.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2024
Taiwan civil defense groups push for more resilience as China threat grows
The organizations offer training courses in first aid, media literacy, disaster response as well as in understanding the different layers of modern warfare.
U.S. President Joe Biden gives a thumbs-up as he walks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15. Their meeting attempted to calm the waters and tried to convey a sense that the U.S. and China could effectively manage their differences.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 11, 2024
In 2024, U.S.-China ties likely to get worse before they get better
The trajectory of Washington and Beijing's relationship this year will have profound effects on Japan's own policies going forward.
In Washington on Monday and Tuesday, Pentagon and Chinese military officials held their first in-person defense policy talks since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 10, 2024
China's military vows no compromise on Taiwan after rare talks with U.S.
The meeting came as China warned Tokyo over remarks by former Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso that Japan would join the fight in a war over the democratic island.
A "presidential alert" message issued by the authorities to all phones across Taiwan is seen Tuesday after the government issued a national emergency alert following China's launch of a satellite.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 9, 2024
China satellite launch triggers Taiwan emergency phone alert
Chinese state media said that Beijing had successfully launched the "Einstein Probe satellite using the Long March-2C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center."
(From left) The Democratic Progressive Party's Lai Ching-te, who is also Taiwan's vice president, faces off against the main opposition Kuomintang's Hou Yu-ih and the Taiwan People's Party's Ko Wen-je on Saturday's presidential election.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 9, 2024
Close race emerges as Taiwan election enters final stretch
Expectations that front-runner Lai Ching-te would simply stroll to victory on Saturday have been dashed, with his polling lead having narrowed significantly.
Taiwanese flags at the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei in December 2022
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 8, 2024
U.S. policy unlikely to shift after Taiwan poll, ex-de facto envoy says
Any differences in Washington's reaction would be "nuanced," and rather involve "adjustments in degree than in type,” said former AIT chief Douglas H. Paal.
Taiwan flags adorn the streets of Taipei on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 8, 2024
China's balloons inflate Taiwan poll fears
Since December, Taipei has said that mysterious balloons were crossing the Taiwan Strait, with their purpose being "gray-zone" harassment that stops short of open warfare.
The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February when the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 6, 2024
Taiwan slams Chinese balloons as safety threat
Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese military and political activity ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during a military parade in October 2019
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2023
Sweeping Chinese military purge exposes weakness and could widen
China's top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported.
A Chinese coast guard ship and a vessel of the Japan Coast Guard sail in close proximity to each other, near the Senkaku Islands in 2013.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2023
China plans to keep ships near Senkakus every day in 2024
The move comes despite Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reiterating "serious concerns" regarding the situation at a summit with the Chinese leader in mid-November.
New recruits for the People's Liberation Army attend a ceremony at a railway station in Ganzhou, in China's Jiangxi province, in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2023
China’s legislature ousts nine military cadres as turmoil widens
The removals are a sign Chinese President Xi Jinping’s nearly decadelong drive to clean up the People’s Liberation Army is still incomplete.
A woman holding an umbrella walks near a fluttering Taiwanese flag outside the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei in November.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 25, 2023
What’s at stake in Taiwan’s January presidential election?
Depending on the outcome, the closely watched vote could have markedly different security and economic implications for the entire region.
Some analysts say China seeks ambiguity in defense relations to constrain what Beijing sees as U.S. military provocations in the region.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 22, 2023
U.S. and China top brass speak for first time in over a year
U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown and Gen. Liu Zhenli of China's People's Liberation Army touched on "a number of global and regional security issues."
A group of 79 soldiers at the U.S. Army’s jungle training school prepare to enter a river on the Hawaiian island of Oahu on Nov. 29. Far from the deserts of the Middle East, the Army is instructing troops in Hawaii on the skills needed for a potential clash with China.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2023
U.S. military returns to the jungle, training for future threats
Far from the deserts of the Middle East, the Army is instructing troops in Hawaii on the skills needed for a potential clash with China.
Taiwan officials have repeatedly warned that China is trying to sway voters toward candidates seeking closer ties with Beijing, whose government has framed the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections as a choice between "peace and war."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 13, 2023
Chinese forces neared Taiwan to 'intimidate' voters before elections
Taiwan's military drove away four attempts by Chinese forces to approach the island's sensitive contiguous zone last month, Taiwan security officials said, in what they see as a ramped-up Chinese campaign to "intimidate" voters before key elections.
A China Coast Guard vessel uses a water cannon against a Philippine supply boat as it carries out a mission to deliver provisions to the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 11, 2023
Manila summons Chinese envoy after tense weekend in South China Sea
The moves came after the Philippines said one of its vessels was rammed and others "directly targeted” by a China Coast Guard ship with a water cannon.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals