Chinese Military News

The U.S. military will not be involved in development of a port in the Philippines' remote northernmost islands near Taiwan, the local governor said, removing a potential source of friction with China over the U.S. presence in the region.The governor of the Batanes islands, less than 200 km (125 miles) from Taiwan, said in August she had sought U.S. funding for a new port there. The U.S. embassy had at the time confirmed its diplomats and U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) experts had…

Chinese state media warned on Friday that a report by a prominent U.S. think tank on the military uses of Chinese scientific research across the Indian Ocean gave "ammunition" to countries bent on concocting threats from China.The report this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) "comes at a time when some countries need to manufacture a 'China threat' narrative in the Indian Ocean region and provides them with ammunition", the state-controlled tabloid Global Times said in an editorial."The timing of this report is delicate…

Chinese state media unveiled new images of China's most advanced aircraft carrier yet, including next generation launch tracks that can catapult a wider range of aircraft from its deck.First shown to the public in June 2022, the Fujian was entirely designed and built domestically.Yet to conduct its first sea trials, the aircraft carrier is larger and technologically more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically.On state television late on Tuesday…

Every day, nearly 60 fully loaded very large crude-oil carriers sail between the Persian Gulf and Chinese ports, carrying about half of the oil that powers the world's second-largest economy.As the vessels enter the South China Sea, they ply waters increasingly controlled by China's growing military, from the missile batteries and airfields at its bases on disputed islands to its stealthy Type 055 destroyers.But when crossing the Indian Ocean, joined by others headed to China from Africa and Brazil…

As tankers, car-carriers and other merchant vessels pass through the Malacca Strait, unlit fishing boats criss-cross the shipping lanes at night, making it one of the most challenging sea areas of the world to transit, even during peacetime.Should a major war ever come to Asia, those challenges could be magnified spectacularly, with hundreds of vessels abruptly leaving the international waters in the middle of the Strait for what they hope might be the relative safety of the national territorial waters of nearby neutral nations.The Strait – between Thailand…

An attempted hijacking of a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday appears to have been carried out by armed Somali pirates and not Yemeni Houthis, despite the firing of missiles from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen afterwards, the Pentagon said on Monday."We're continuing to assess, but initial indications are that these five individuals are Somali," said Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder."Clearly a piracy related incident," Ryder added.A U.S. Navy warship responded to a distress call on Sunday from the chemical tanker Central Park.

The United States opened international aid offices in the Pacific Islands this week, bolstering support for the strategic region and pitting it more forcefully against China, which has been providing infrastructure loans to the area for years.The vast ocean region, pivotal in World War Two, is in the spotlight again amid tensions over Taiwan. Taiwanese officials this week said China, which claims the island as its territory, could launch military drills soon to intimidate voters ahead of an election next year.On Wednesday…

When China sailed one of its two active aircraft carriers, the Shandong, east of Taiwan last month as part of military drills surrounding the island, it was showcasing a capability that it has yet to master and could take years to perfect.As Beijing modernizes its military, its formidable missile forces and other naval vessels, such as cutting-edge cruisers, are posing a concern for the U.S. and its allies. But it could be more than a decade before China can mount a credible carrier threat far from its shores…

As part of a joint military exercise with the Philippines, the U.S. Navy is slated to sink a mock warship on April 26, 2023, in the South China Sea.The live-fire drill is not a response to increased tensions with China over Taiwan, both the U.S. and the Philippines have stressed. But, either way, Beijing isn’t happy – responding by holding its own staged military event involving actual warships and fighter jets deployed around Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own.The tit-for-tat war games underscore a reality that U.S.

China will ban vessels from an area near Taiwan on Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris, its maritime safety agency said on Thursday, as Japan sought details from Beijing on a reported no-fly zone in the same location. China has not commented on the no-fly zone, but South Korea, which was also briefed on the plans, said it was due to a falling object related to a launch vehicle. The disruption comes during tension in the region over Chinese military exercises around Taiwan…

Chinese warplanes and navy ships were still in the waters around Taiwan, the island's defense ministry said on Tuesday after the end of three days of war games, as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen criticized Beijing for its "irresponsible" behavior.China began the exercises on Saturday after Tsai returned to Taipei following a meeting in Los Angeles with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.China, which warned the U.S. not to allow Tsai to visit or meet McCarthy, has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratically governed island under Beijing's control.

A U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Thursday, part of what the U.S. military calls routine activity but which has riled China.In recent years, U.S. warships, and on occasion those from allied nations such as Britain and Canada, have sailed through the strait, drawing the ire of China, which claims Taiwan against the objections of its democratically elected government.In a statement, the U.S. military said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer…

Taiwan's navy took delivery on Friday of a new, domestically made amphibious warfare ship that can be used to land troops and bolster supply lines to vulnerable islands, part of President Tsai Ing-wen's defense self-sufficiency push. The 10,600-tonne Yu Shan, named after Taiwan's tallest mountain, is the latest development in Tsai's ambitious program to modernize the armed forces amid increased pressure from China, which claims the island as its own.Speaking at the delivery ceremony in the southern port city of Kaohsiung…

A United States Coast Guard vessel was unable to enter Solomon Islands for a routine port call because the Solomon Islands government did not respond to a request for it to refuel and provision, a U.S. official said.The islands' government did not immediately answer a Reuters request for comment. The Solomon Islands has had a tense relationship with the United States and its allies since striking a security pact with China in May.The USCGC Oliver Henry was on patrol for illegal fishing in the South Pacific for a regional fisheries agency when it failed to obtain entry to refuel at Honiara…

Two U.S. Navy warships sailed through international waters in the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the first such operation since a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged China which regards the island as its territory.The U.S. Navy, confirming a Reuters report, said cruisers Chancellorsville and Antietam were carrying out the ongoing operation. Such operations usually take eight to 12 hours to complete and are closely monitored by China's military.In recent years, U.S.

A Chinese military survey ship that docked at Sri Lanka's Chinese-built port of Hambantota despite opposition from neighboring India left on Monday after a week-long stay, the port company told Reuters.Analysts say the Yuan Wang 5 is among a group of Chinese ships that monitor satellite, rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile launches. India, Sri Lanka's northern neighbor, fears China could use the port as a military base.Sri Lanka, facing its worst economic crisis in decades and in need of financial support from both China and India, had delayed the ship's arrival after India raised its concerns but gave in to Chinese demands later.The ship has now left the southern Sri Lankan port…

China’s saber-rattling around Taiwan underlines the need for Australia to be prepared for conflict in the South China Sea.With its growing navy and air force, and the bases it has built throughout the area, China is increasingly capable of disrupting shipping lanes crucial to Australia’s exports and imports.Chinese military bases across the South China Sea (© OpenStreetMap contributors)Of particular concern is our reliance on liquid fuels imported via South China Sea shipping routes. This reliance has become more pronounced over the past few decades as all but two local refineries have closed.

The Chinese survey vessel Yuan Wang 5 docked on Tuesday at Sri Lanka's Chinese-built port of Hambantota, a port official said, a move likely to stoke concern in neighboring India about the growing influence of its bigger and more powerful rival.The movements of the ship have fuelled contention between India and China, two of Sri Lanka's biggest allies in its current economic crisis, as India fears China could use the port, near the main Asia-Europe shipping route, as a military base."The vessel will be berthed for three days," the official, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters from the southern port."The purpose of staying at the port is to stock up on fuel…

Contracts between China's top state-owned shipbuilding firm and Taiwan's leading shipping company are likely lowering the costs of upgrading China's navy, posing security concerns for the island claimed by Beijing, a U.S. think tank said on Thursday.China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) is a key producer of vessels for China's rapidly expanding People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and is thought to be building its third aircraft carrier.Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp has purchased 44 vessels from China since 2018…

China's threat of force is undiminished, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday, even though Beijing's largest ever military drills around the island seemed to be scaling down.Furious about a visit to Chinese-claimed Taiwan last week by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China launched ballistic missiles and deployed multiple aircraft and warships in recent days to simulate sea and air attacks.China said on Wednesday it would keep up patrols but had "completed various tasks" around Taiwan, signaling a possible end to the war games even while keeping up pressure.

China strongly condemned Britain on Monday for sailing a warship through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, saying it was behavior that “harbored evil intentions” and that the Chinese military followed the vessel and warned it away.A post on the ship’s Twitter account said HMS Richmond passed through the strait en route to Vietnam. It had been deployed in the East China Sea while taking part in United Nations sanctions enforcement operations against North Korea.China claims Taiwan as…

China's military exercises in the waters around Taiwan have prompted some ships to navigate around the Taiwan Strait and give the island a wide berth, disrupting key trading routes for cargo and commodities sailing around the world, analysts said.Angered by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, China on Thursday began four days of military drills around the disputed island, including firing live missiles and deploying fighter jets.Although Taiwan's ports are operating as normal…

The Chinese military on Sunday condemned the United States and Canada for each sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying they were threatening peace and stability in the region.China claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, and has mounted repeated air force missions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the past year, provoking anger in Taipei.China sent around 150 aircraft into the zone over a four-day period beginning on Oct.