Symbolic imageA China-backed air force training centre has opened at Ban Keun in Laos, where only small jets currently use the runway. Both governments call it a pilot school, while neighbours including Vietnam watch whether Beijing expands it for larger aircraft.
China has been expanding and modernising its armed forces for years, from missiles to space and military uses of artificial intelligence. The build-up is measured above all against the United States, whose forces have long dominated the Pacific. Beijing publicises parts of it through state media.
A China-backed air force training centre has opened at Ban Keun in Laos, where the runway is currently used only by small jets. Both governments call it a pilot school, while neighbours including Vietnam are watching to see whether Beijing expands it for larger aircraft.
China has opened a pilot training centre on the renovated Ban Keun base in Laos, the second such facility in Southeast Asia after Cambodia, Le Monde reports. The Guardian reports that satellite images show attack jets at the site, which has raised concern in the region, while China says it is 'not directed at any third party'.
The FBI arrested Wanying Zhang, also known as Heather, at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday before a planned departure to China, the agency said. According to Al Jazeera, the California woman allegedly sent photos and videos of Taiwanese President Lai's son and his family to Chinese officials.
The US has accused a California woman of spying for China and surveilling the son of Taiwan's president, Reuters and Nikkei Asia report. Taiwan's envoy pressed the Trump administration over a stalled arms sale, Bloomberg reports, while Chinese state television aired rare footage of PLA anti-drone laser and microwave equipment in live-fire drills.
An official audit has found technical shortcomings in Taiwan's counter-drone systems and the collapse of a key procurement programme after repeated failures, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday. According to the report, the island's defences are falling behind China's fast-evolving drone technology.
Taiwan slowed internet speeds in northern and central cities this week, its first drill simulating an attack on its undersea cables. US instructors are separately training Taiwanese coastguards.
The GuardianSouth China Morning PostSouth China Morning Post
Taiwan is seeking to dissolve the China Unification Promotion Party over its alleged ties to Beijing, Al Jazeera reports. China's state outlet Global Times said a joint air force exercise with Thailand had begun with J-10C fighter jets deployed abroad, and that Chinese and Belarusian airborne troops had launched the Swift Eagle drill.
The PLA says Chinese and Indonesian frigates have completed their first joint drill east of Taiwan. Beijing separately rejected a statement by 41 countries on its missile-test notifications.
China and Indonesia will hold a joint naval exercise east of Taiwan in mid-August. Taipei calls the first such drill a dangerous provocation.
Taiwan staged a 30-minute simulated disruption to test and build public resilience in the face of a potential Chinese attack, the New York Times reported on Monday. The exercise was part of the island's wider effort to prepare its population for such a scenario.
Taiwan intends to lift defence spending in 2027 by about 16 percent to a record, according to official media. The plan surfaced during the island's annual war games against a simulated Chinese assault.
Taiwanese leader William Lai rehearsed a late-night emergency evacuation during the island's largest annual military exercise, held amid growing concern about possible 'decapitation' strikes by the People's Liberation Army, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday. Taiwan also slowed its internet as part of the drill, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The US State Department has accused China of using a declared 'national nature reserve' at Scarborough Shoal to keep Filipino fishermen from their traditional fishing ground. It said on Saturday it rejects Beijing's attempts to enforce it.
China's defence ministry has promised firm countermeasures against what it calls Philippine provocations at Huangyan Dao, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal, the Global Times reported on Friday. The ministry did not specify what measures it intends to take.
Tensions between China and Japan have escalated after Tokyo labelled Beijing its greatest strategic challenge, The Hindu reported on Thursday. The report is a headline summary and gives no further detail.
Xi Jinping needs to promote a new generation of generals after removing much of the People's Liberation Army's senior leadership, Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday. The report does not specify how many officers were removed.
The People's Liberation Army released the first official footage of the nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile Jing Lei-1 mounted on an H-6N bomber in combat-ready status during an anti-ship exercise, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. State outlet Global Times defended separate Chinese warship movements as freedom of navigation and rejected Japanese criticism.
Flight testing began last week for the air-launched variant of Japan's upgraded Type 12 anti-ship missile, part of a long-range capability to strike Chinese warships, the South China Morning Post reported. North Korea's Kim Yo Jong warned of new military options in response to Tokyo's growing strike capabilities, according to The Hindu.
Washington has reopened discussions on billions of dollars in arms sales to Taiwan, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday, weeks before a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The move casts a shadow over a summit already burdened by bilateral trade frictions.
Taiwan began a ten-day military exercise on Wednesday rehearsing its war plans against a Chinese invasion, responding to growing military pressure from Beijing. For the first time the drills deliberately throttle mobile internet to test civilian communications under scarce resources.
Taiwan begins its annual Han Kuang exercises on Wednesday, the South China Morning Post reported. Over ten days the drills test for the first time how the island would counter a maritime blockade by the People's Liberation Army in the western Pacific.
North Korea said on Wednesday it will pursue unspecified "additional military options" against Japan. Tokyo had published its annual defence white paper a day earlier, naming China, North Korea and Russia as growing threats.
Official Chinese media released rare footage of several DF-17 hypersonic missiles in formation, which an expert cited by Global Times read as a sign of full combat readiness, while a state television documentary presented an AI 'intelligent strike planning' system for operations involving more than 100 units. FAZ reported that China is catching up rapidly in satellite technology, weakening American military superiority.