US Ships, Planes Challenge 22 Countries’ Claims — Not Just China’s

US Ships, Planes Challenge 22 Countries’ Claims — Not Just China’s
US Ships, Planes Challenge 22 Countries’ Claims — Not Just China’s

WASHINGTON: In 2016, the Defense Department flew aircraft or steamed ships through territories claimed by Albania, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Malta, and, well, China, according to the Pentagon’s annual report released today. So should Beijing be relieved it was not the sole focus of American Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) or should it feel slighted that it…

Chinese Threaten Japan, Australia Over South China Sea; Time For US FON Ops?

Chinese Threaten Japan, Australia Over South China Sea; Time For US FON Ops?
Chinese Threaten Japan, Australia Over South China Sea; Time For US FON Ops?

UPDATED: Adds Excellent CSIS Study On International Support For Chinese Claims WASHINGTON: What are China’s intentions in the South China Sea? It’s a question intelligence analysts, diplomats and the senior leadership of the United States and its Pacific allies are all asking in the wake of a range of increasingly belligerent and threatening comments and…

Beijing Summit: Xi Changes Tactics, Not Strategy

Beijing Summit: Xi Changes Tactics, Not Strategy
Beijing Summit: Xi Changes Tactics, Not Strategy

WASHINGTON: New agreements between the US and China will reduce the risks of accidental war in the western Pacific. That’s good news — but don’t imagine for a minute that it changes the fundamentals of the competition. Chinese president Xi Jinping’s summit deals with President Obama and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe represent Xi’s tactical…

Russia Digests Eastern Ukraine, Probes NATO Airspace: Breedlove, Greenert

Russia Digests Eastern Ukraine, Probes NATO Airspace: Breedlove, Greenert
Russia Digests Eastern Ukraine, Probes NATO Airspace: Breedlove, Greenert

[UPDATED Nov. 4 with Adm. Greenert’s comments] WASHINGTON: While Russian combat aircraft grab the headlines by buzzing NATO airspace as far west as Portugal, Russian supply trucks are quietly redrawing the map back in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin swallowed the Crimea whole in a single gulp, but it looks like he’s digesting eastern Ukraine by a kind…

PACAF Gen. Carlisle Warns China On New Air Defense Zones; Russians Pushing in Pacific Too

PACAF Gen. Carlisle Warns China On New Air Defense Zones; Russians Pushing in Pacific Too
PACAF Gen. Carlisle Warns China On New Air Defense Zones; Russians Pushing in Pacific Too

WASHINGTON: Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Hawk Carlisle, who has come to serve as a key Pentagon spokesman on Chinese issues, told several hundred insiders that China may be considering creation of two new Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) and warned the rising power against any such move. “You also have potential for either a…

US Foreign Policy: Spin, or Spinning Out of Control?

US Foreign Policy: Spin, or Spinning Out of Control?
US Foreign Policy: Spin, or Spinning Out of Control?

Occasionally journalists find a gem, buried in the Potomac muck. They’re hard to find and often even harder to convince they should be seen by the public. Harald Malmgren spends most of his time buried deep in the darkest muck of Washington — that almost impenetrable stuff surrounding economics. But he sometimes rises forth and…

Rep. Randy Forbes: Don’t Break Ranks With Allies In Face Of China’s ADIZ

Rep. Randy Forbes: Don’t Break Ranks With Allies In Face Of China’s ADIZ
Rep. Randy Forbes: Don’t Break Ranks With Allies In Face Of China’s ADIZ

WASHINGTON: As the crisis over China’s self-declared “air defense identification zone” hits its tenth day with no signs of de-escalation, leading Republican lawmaker Rep. Randy Forbes questioned an apparent concession by the administration over commercial flights. Meanwhile, South Korea is contemplating expanding its own long-standing ADIZ to challenge China’s — but it might do so in a…

presented by
US, Japan Korea Defy New China Air Defense Zone, Biden To Rebuke Beijing; PRC Move Drives Korea, Japan Together

US, Japan Korea Defy New China Air Defense Zone, Biden To Rebuke Beijing; PRC Move Drives Korea, Japan Together
US, Japan Korea Defy New China Air Defense Zone, Biden To Rebuke Beijing; PRC Move Drives Korea, Japan Together

UPDATED: US Flies B-52 Bombers Through Chinese Zone; Japanese & South Koreans Follow; VP Biden To Ask Beijing For “Clarity” On Their Intentions China escalated tensions with Japan literally sky-high last weekend. After years of shadowboxing at sea around the Senkaku Islands, China’s Ministry of Defense announced a new “Air Defense Identification Zone” with authority…