An inherent “asymmetry” of power poses a challenge to resolving South China Sea disputes via the quiet diplomacy traditionally favoured by Southeast Asian nations, a leading Malaysian security expert has said. Chinese analysts said Beijing supported the “Asean way” too, so long as sovereignty claims were resolved bilaterally. They also warned against external interference and…
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s designation of Washington-Beijing ties as “G2” carries a “deeply problematic” meaning that sidelines United States’ allies and partners in the region, a US lawmaker has stated in a letter. “This term carries deeply problematic connotations of depicting the United States and PRC [the People’s Republic of China] as coequal and…
How Republicans are coming after Pete HegsethPete Hegseth entered Donald Trump’s second administration as one of its most trusted loyalists — a Fox News star turned defence secretary who promised to bring ideological clarity, forceful military action and a Trump-first worldview to the Pentagon. Ten months later, the Republican establishment that backed him is now…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drew ridicule for a disastrous typo on his namecard during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. Hegseth’s placard labeled his role in the administration as the “SSecretary of War” at the meeting, where he doubled down on his department’s deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean and vowed to put “narcoterrorists at the bottom of…
Markwayne Mullin lost his cool as he was questioned about reports of the U.S. potentially committing war crimes in the Caribbean Sea. “Why would it be true?” the senator asked State of the Union host Dana Bash on Sunday, later complaining: “I don’t know why we’re spending so much time on this!” Dana Bash questioned…
BANGKOK — The United States and the Philippines have announced the creation of a joint task force aimed at further deterring what U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Beijing’s “coercion” in the South China Sea. It is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, where not only the Philippines but also Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia…
US has launched lethal strikes against boats in the Carribean in September, killing 76 people. The United Kingdom has stopped sharing intelligence with the United States about suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean, amid concerns that the information could be used to support US military strikes that London believes are unlawful, the CNN has reported….
The U.S. military has killed six more people in strikes on what it claims were drug-running boats, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday, bringing the total death toll in the series of attacks to 76. Hegseth said in a post on X that the U.S. carried out two strikes on Sunday in international waters in the eastern…
US President Donald Trump on Friday said he is considering granting Hungary an exemption from sanctions on Russian oil to help the landlocked European nation secure energy supplies, Fox News reported. Speaking at a joint meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump said the US is “looking at” Orban’s request for an exemption from…
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised South Korea’s plans to raise its military spending, saying Tuesday that the Asian ally will take a larger role in defending itself from North Korean aggressions as the allies must brace for regional contingencies. Modernizing the decades-long alliance between the U.S. and South Korea…