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East China Sea

East China Sea
Like the South China Sea, the East China Sea has been an area of much contention. China's long-standing feud with Japan has continued with friction over the Diaoyu Islands, which both countries lay claim to, and arguments over who owns a swathe of sea territory. China is also at loggerheads with South Korea over Socotra Rock, a submerged reef that hosts a Korean scientific research station, and which Beijing says intrudes on its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
A fighter jet takes off from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier during a mission in the South China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean that concluded on June 22. Photo: CCTV
US-China relations

The US mounts pressure across 3 maritime flashpoints. How should China respond?

Washington’s strategy for Taiwan Strait and East and South China seas aims to force Beijing to overextend, analysts warn.

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China-EU relations

EU accuses China of seeking to reshape global order in stark new strategy paper

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China's military weapons

What does China’s submarine missile test mean for its nuclear triad expansion?

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US-China relations

Nato can’t be ‘naive’ about China as it ramps up military might, Rutte claims

Nato’s secretary general contacts Japan’s defence minister after Chinese nuclear submarine fires test missile into Pacific.

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Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte attends a pre-summit press conference on Monday ahead of this week’s Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey. Photo: dpa
Science

Why is no one chartering China’s first privately owned research vessel?

A month after launch, the fishermen who sank 150 million yuan into the project have yet to secure their first client.

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Taiwan

Beijing details rare marine survey east of Taiwan after Tokyo-Manila talks

Move marks mainland China’s latest bid to assert jurisdictional claims in the contested waters following the maritime boundary negotiations.

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Taiwan

What’s behind Beijing’s seabed mapping east of Taiwan?

Expert says knowledge of the waters and seabed could allow ‘more effective submarine and anti-submarine operations’.

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Beijing’s Haixun 08 vessel – China’s largest and most advanced survey ship – conducted survey operations covering 1,025 nautical miles during the five-day operation. Photo: Handout
Taiwan

Are Japan-Philippines talks a maritime red line for China’s blue-water ambitions?

Analysts warn the Tokyo-Manila boundary negotiations will be seen in Beijing as an attempt to challenge its position on Taiwan.

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Taiwan

How Japan, Philippines are building a maritime security front against China

Tokyo-Manila defence cooperation is linking Pacific flashpoints, with broad implications for Beijing, analysts say.

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US-China relations

Editorial | Shangri-La Dialogue has outlived its usefulness for China

While Washington and Beijing softened their rhetoric this year, the US-dominated forum is exhausting its function as a space for engagement.

Major General Meng Xiangqing (left) of the PLA National Defence University, and head of the Chinese delegation, gestures as he attends the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue forum in Singapore on May 31. Photo: AFP
Japan

Russia’s military activity has Japan fearing a dual-front war

Japan scrambled its fighter jets 448 times in nine months last year. Most of the intercepts involved Russian or Chinese aircraft.

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F-15J Eagle fighter aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force prepare for take-off at Chitose Air Base, Hokkaido prefecture, in 2017. Photo: AFP
South China Sea

As allies boost Taiwan Strait transits, why is the US going a different route?

Chinese think tank notes the changing risks: ‘China will inevitably respond, and that makes the overall situation appear more tense’.

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US-China relations

Quad foreign ministers fight for relevance as leaders’ summit remains elusive

Critical minerals and Indo-Pacific security took centre stage amid doubts over US commitment and a delayed leaders’ summit.

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2026 Xi-Trump summits

What does Pete Hegseth’s presence in China say about Trump’s military agenda?

US arms sales to Taiwan, nuclear weapons and military-to-military communication will be among topics discussed, experts say.

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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth (third from top) descends the steps of Air Force One as President Donald Trump walks with Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng during a welcome ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: AP
China-Japan relations

Are China and Russia flexing their maritime muscle near Japan?

Tokyo’s recent tracking of three PLA Navy warships transiting Tsushima Strait comes amid heightened regional tensions.

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China’s Type 055 guided-missile destroyer, designated “Renhai-class” by Nato, is a cruiser-sized vessel with robust air-defence, anti-submarine and surface-warfare capabilities. Photo: Handout
Asean

Opinion | Why China’s warning over military blocs is finding listeners in Asia

For regional governments, strategy is about preserving options. China has read this instinct carefully and given it a diplomatic vocabulary.

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Japan

Opinion | The domestic dynamics driving Japan’s remilitarisation

Sanctions, diplomatic warnings and aggressive rhetoric create a perilous loop, reinforcing the very domestic tendencies China seeks to deter.

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China's military weapons

Why Beijing’s weaponised cargo ship could be crucial in the Taiwan Strait

Beijing’s ‘containerised destroyer’ can carry missile launchers and hide within commercial shipping lanes, military magazine says.

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The Zhong Da 79 is a medium-sized civilian cargo ship capable of carrying containerised vertical missile launchers, radar sensors and self-defence systems. Photo: Handout
Diplomacy

Opinion | Without diplomacy, deterrence in Asia is a path to escalation

The danger is that every state insists it is acting defensively while collectively building the habits and infrastructure of confrontation.

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China-New Zealand relations

China complains of ‘harassment’ from New Zealand aerial patrols near coastline

Beijing said the plane had been operating over the Yellow and East China Seas and urged Wellington not to put civilian aircraft in danger.

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China-Japan relations

The next frontier: China maps seabed resources as Japan races to tap rare earths

Atlas charts location, concentration and distribution patterns of dozens of elements in seabed sediments.

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China surveyed more than 20,000 observation points, culminating in a geochemical data set of eastern waters, according to state media. Photo: CCTV
China-Japan relations

Chinese navy arrives in Sea of Japan just as Tokyo deploys long-range missiles

Five ships transit Tsushima Strait and are tracked heading northeast after China warned of strong response to ‘neo-militarism’.

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The Type 25 Hypervelocity Gliding Projectile (HGP) is the Japanese forces’ first hypersonic missile. Photo: Japan Ground Self-Defence Force
The Philippines

Why Japan’s troops are returning to Philippine soil for first time since WWII

The return marks an upgrade from the region’s previous ‘hub and spoke’ strategy to one of overlapping minilaterals, experts say.

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China-Japan relations

Why Beijing is blaming Japanese PM as Tokyo moves to downgrade China ties status

Tokyo’s annual diplomatic blue book set to describe China ties as ‘strategic’ and ‘mutually beneficial’, a step down from ‘most important’.

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China’s military drills

New Type 055 destroyers for PLA East China Fleet tested in first live-fire drill

Exercise will ‘rapidly integrate’ the advanced vessels into the joint combat system covering Taiwan and the seas near Japan.

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Intensive targeted live-fire exercises in mid-March for the Dongguan and Anqing Type 055 super destroyers simulated a range of combat operations, official media reported. Photo: Handout
China-Japan relations

China slams Japan’s ‘kill network’ as long-range missile deployment looms

PLA Daily describes upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles as offensive weapons capable of targeting neighbouring countries.

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A Japanese Type-12 surface-to-ship missile is launched by the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force at Beecroft Weapons Range near Jervis Bay, Australia, on July 22, 2025. Photo: Australian Department of Defence via AP
China-Japan relations

Why Japan’s Type-12 missile deployment may complicate China’s regional strategy

Analysts say it could be interpreted as crossing a ‘strategic threshold’ and reinforce Beijing’s suspicions about Tokyo’s Taiwan intentions.

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Asia travel

The quiet Japanese islands where Christians once hid their religion

Those searching for solitude in these tranquil Japanese isles follow in the footsteps of persecuted Christians forced to practise their faith in secret.

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