The US defence chief touted a message of peace, communication and “flexible realism” with China in a speech over the weekend, foreshadowing an American national defence strategy that is expected to be released soon. In his keynote address at the annual Reagan National Defence Forum on Saturday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was…
Beijing has blasted Japan’s missile deployment on an island only 110km (68 miles) away from Taiwan as “extremely dangerous”, saying it stokes regional tensions and military confrontation amid deteriorating ties between the two Asian powers. But Shinjiro Koizumi, Tokyo’s defence minister, believed the deployment on Yonaguni Island would “reduce the likelihood of any armed attack…
In a break from past practice, the United States did not send an aircraft carrier to its military drill with treaty allies Japan and South Korea last week. Some analysts said this suggested that the US was playing down the exercise to boost its dealings with China and North Korea. Others highlighted the Trump administration’s…