Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ £8.06 billion Earth fund for climate and biodiversity has halted funding for the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), an international body that assesses whether companies are decarbonising in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. This development came as US President Donald Trump exited the Paris Agreement, sharply contradicting Bezos’ earlier climate…
Text size The Philippine defence secretary rejected Chinese criticism of Manila’s plans to acquire a US-built mid-range missile system, telling Beijing on Tuesday to stop its “saber rattling” and “interference” in internal affairs. The Philippine Army announced plans on Monday to acquire the US Typhon missile system as part of a push to protect Manila’s…
Text size China’s defence ministry said Friday that any drills it may hold around Taiwan “are decided by us alone”, as Taipei announced the apparent end of massive military exercises not formally declared by Beijing. Taiwanese authorities said this week that Beijing was holding its biggest maritime drills in years, deploying dozens of warships and…
Text size China on Wednesday blamed “external” forces and “separatists” for stoking instability in the Taiwan Strait, without confirming it is carrying out military drills around the self-ruled island. Taipei has accused Beijing of conducting its biggest maritime drills in years. Dozens of Chinese ships have simulated attacking foreign vessels and disrupting sea routes around…
Text size Taiwan said Wednesday that China’s increasing military activity around the island, including air and maritime drills, was evidence that Beijing was a “troublemaker”. “These actions inject uncertainty and risk into the region, creating disruptions for neighbouring countries, and it confirms China’s a troublemaker that undermines peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” Taiwan’s…
Text size US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday slammed “coercive behaviour” by China, after Taiwan said Beijing was carrying out its biggest maritime mobilisation around the self-ruled island in years. “Now we’re clear-eyed about the challenges to peace and stability in this region and worldwide,” the Pentagon chief said as he met his Japanese…
Text size Taiwan said Monday its military units were on “high” alert after Beijing’s military restricted the airspace off China’s east coast. “The Ministry of National Defense stated today that in response to the PLA’s announcement of seven airspace restriction zones in the areas east of Zhejiang and Fujian from today until the 11th, the…
Chinese defence companies saw their lowest annual revenue growth in four years amid a domestic economic slowdown while global arms sales continued to grow, fuelled by demand from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, a Swedish think tank report said. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) annual report on the…
The Philippines has approved the purchase of 40 fast patrol craft worth 25.8 billion pesos (US$450 million), seeking to bolster maritime security as tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea linger. The National Economic and Development Authority Board, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, gave the greenlight for the purchase, which will be funded…
Text size Pictures by I-Hwa Cheng. Video by Katie Tam At a drone testing field in southwestern Taiwan, university students watch anxiously as unmanned aerial vehicles they designed take off, land and, occasionally, crash in a simulated battlefield scenario. They are taking part in a competition that is helping Taiwan’s efforts to boost domestic drone…