North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast Sunday, South Korea's military said, a day after Seoul and Washington completed their first joint drills involving a United States (US) aircraft carrier in more than four years.Pyongyang has doubled down on upgrading its weapons programme this year, despite facing crippling economic sanctions."Our military detected eight short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Sunan area in Pyongyang, North Korea i

Leaders of Japan, India, Australia and the United States (US) warned Tuesday against attempts to "change the status quo by force" as concerns grow about whether China could invade self-ruled Taiwan.A joint statement by the so-called Quad bloc avoided any direct mention of China's growing military power in the region, but left little doubt about where its concerns lie.The carefully worded document also made reference to the conflict in Ukraine, but without offering any joint pos

President Joe Biden vowed Monday that United States (US) forces would defend Taiwan militarily if China attempted to take control of the island by force, prompting Beijing to warn that America was "playing with fire."Speaking in Tokyo, Biden compared China's threat to self-ruled Taiwan to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, delivering his strongest remarks to date on the issue amid rising tensions over Beijing's growing economic and military power.Asked if Washington was will

China sent 18 warplanes, including fighters and bombers, into Taiwan’s air defence zone, prompting the island’s air force to scramble jets in response to the second-largest incursion so far this year.Taipei’s defence ministry said the Chinese aircraft crossed into the island’s air defence zone on Friday, forcing the scrambling of Taiwanese aircraft and the deployment of air defence missile systems to track the Chinese planes. Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its own territory, ha

When the Quad was first conceived as a strategic coalition of the Indo-Pacific’s four leading democracies, many doubted that it would amount to much.

Last month, South Korean voters elected Yoon Seok-youl as their next president. It was a hotly contested race, which Yoon won by a razor-thin margin of just 0.7 percent.

Not for the first time, China once again dominated the news this week.The release of new economic data provided a temperature check of the world’s second-largest economy, while dubious COVID-19 death rates focused attention on Beijing’s reputation for secrecy and narrative control at all costs.

Japan’s sovereign credit rating could fall one to three notches in the coming decade if the government does not implement a credible fiscal consolidation plan.

United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts declared their unity on confronting security threats in the Asia-Pacific Saturday, even as Washington was intensely occupied by the possibility of war in Eastern Europe.Blinken, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa met in Honolulu for a day of talks focused on North Korea's nuclear threat as well as the China challenge.Washington org

It's all very different from August 2017 when Japan awoke to the sound of air raid sirens. Without warning North Korea had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) over the top of Japan into the Pacific Ocean. It was an audacious act.This time North Korea's missiles have all been short range, and have landed in the sea, well away from the Japanese coast. Kim Jong-un appears to be holding back, for now.