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OPINION China’s recent outcry over the alleged breach of ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ with the Philippines reveals a profound irony, given the history of its coercion and deceit There is a huge amount of insincerity and gall involved in the Chinese complaint that the Philippines had torn up the bilateral ‘Gentleman’s Agreement,’ between Beijing and Manila. While the term ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ has an implicit assumption of ‘trust’ as a fundamental tenet besting a relationship, which may otherwise not be legally binding -- to even imagine that there has been any element of ‘trust’ between these two sparing countries, is to put oneself...

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A Russian propagandist has called for the reinstatement of the Russian Empire, saying that's the country's ultimate goal. As Russia continues its military offensive against Ukraine, Russian propagandist Sergey Mardan alluded to a misconception that Russia wishes to restore the USSR, which collapsed in 1991, and instead suggested the country could rewind the clock back beyond the days of the Russian Empire. His comments come as President Vladimir Putin announced a new Russian holiday, the "Day of Unification," on September 30, to mark the illegal annexation of the Dontesk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. Putin declared them to...

The U.S. is shipping four additional HIMARS launchers to Ukraine as part of its latest package of military assistance to counter Russia. It will include artillery ammunition and rockets and be the 16th drawdown of firepower from the Pentagon’s own inventory since last August. Ukraine will have 16 HIMARS from the U.S. and four more rocket launchers from other allied countries...Proxy officials working on Moscow’s behalf will arrange sham referendums on joining Russia, officials said. “Russia is attempting to set the conditions on the ground by seeking to establish branches of Russian banks, to establish the ruble as the default...

While we often discuss expansion into the Solar System as a step leading to interstellar flight, the movement into space has its dark side, as author Daniel Deudney argues in a new book. As Kenneth Roy points out in the review that follows, it behooves everyone involved in space studies to understand what the counter-arguments are. Ken is a newly retired professional engineer who is currently living amidst, as he puts it, “the relics of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.” His professional career involved working for various Department of Energy (DOE) contractors in the fields of fire protection...

In 2011, Tajikistan ceded 1,000 square kilometers of territory to China in return for some debt forgiveness. In July this year, an article in Chinese news outlets claimed that Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains historically belonged to China and should be returned. That article unsettled the Tajik government. How much territory is involved? An easy way to find out is to look up China’s borders on Google Earth and Google Maps. Google is infested with Chinese employees whose greatest loyalty is to their motherland. So on Google Earth, normally a border is marked with a yellow line. Where China wants some...

In the post-World War II, Cold War era, prosperity and stability in Asia was fuelled by the American vision of a rules-based global order and heavy investments in the region. Economies that were the first to take off like Japan, South Korea. were predominantly American allies. But things changed after an isolated China started reforming up and opening its economy in the late 70s. In the course of time, China grew into a 14 trillion dollar economy and became an Asian giant exerting tremendous influence in the region. In the past decade, China has been misusing its position to carve...

If an armed conflict broke out between Beijing and Washington, China’s hi-tech ballistic missiles would likely cripple the United States’ military bases and naval fleet across the Western Pacific region within hours, a new report by Australia-based researchers has said. With China making rapid technological advancements and sharpening its hard power, the report urged the US and regional allies such as Australia and Japan to overhaul military investment and deployment plans, or face the prospect of American “military primacy” being undermined by the Asian power.

In a stunning sequence of events, the Russian military opened fire then seized three Ukrainian navy vessels in an unprovoked attack on the Black Sea last Sunday. In the melee, several Ukrainian sailors were wounded and 24 captured. Moscow followed up this flagrant act of war by parading the sailors on Russian television to give clearly coerced confessions of guilt. This attack is but the latest escalation in the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine that has been churning since 2014. It’s also the first great test for the Trump administration regarding Russia and one that will have lasting consequences on...

A top Russian official has declared that the country is preparing for war, following President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would be withdrawing from a Cold War-era disarmament treaty. According to the U.K.’s Sunday Express, the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly voted Friday against Russia’s proposal to save the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) between its country and the U.S., following President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would be unilaterally withdrawing from the 1987 agreement. In response, Deputy head of the Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control at the Russian Foreign Minister, Andrei Belousov, told the U.N.,...

North Korea said on Friday it was still open to talks with the US despite Donald Trump's threat of military action after cancelling their June 12 summit in Singapore. Pyongyang described the US president's decision to pull the plug on the much anticipated meeting as "extremely regrettable". "The abrupt announcement of the cancellation of the meeting is unexpected for us and we cannot but find it extremely regrettable," Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister, said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency. "We again state to the US our willingness to sit face-to-face at...

While Stalin is a widely reviled figure in the West, he has a more complicated legacy in Russia, where many remember him as being a strong figure in the country, especially during World War II. In recent years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed for a revised view of Stalin’s legacy that downplays his role in mass purges as simply mistakes made by a great leader. A total of 46 percent of Russians expressed some kind of positive view of Stalin in Levada’s poll, the highest percentage of positive answers since Levada began asking the question in 2001. Thirty-two percent...

Why China’s ammunition factories are being turned over to robots ‘Smart machines’ could treble bomb and shell production capacity in less than a decade PUBLISHED : Monday, 01 January, 2018, 8:21pm UPDATED : Monday, 01 January, 2018, 11:28pm Robots could treble China’s bomb and shell production capacity in less than a decade according to a senior scientist involved in a programme that is using artificial intelligence to boost the productivity of ammunition factories. Xu Zhigang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shenyang Institute of Automation and a lead scientist with China’s “high-level weapon system intelligent manufacturing programme”, told...

Washington (CNN)Ben Carson laid out his plan for handling war-torn Syria on Sunday, with a heavy focus on Russian President Vladimir Putin. "My much bigger plan involves, you know, Putin and Iran also," Carson said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. "Those are the forces that are propping up the Assad regime. And even though Putin came in there and said he was going to fight ISIS, he's really fighting the anti-Assad forces. What we need to be thinking about is how do we oppose him?" It's a tricky situation for whoever will take the White House next year: finding a...

Japan, India agree on tighter ties amid China risk TOKYO, Oct 25 – Japan and India pledged closer strategic ties between Asia’s second and third biggest economies in talks today, as Tokyo struggles to offset the risk of its growing dependence on giant rival China. Trade and investment flows with India have been unspectacular as Japanese firms focus on business with China and Southeast Asia, but recent Sino-Japanese tensions have underscored the risk of over-reliance on China’s dynamism to help Japan’s stalled economy. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan endorsed a bilateral economic partnership deal...

China’s High Risk India Gamble September 10, 2010 By Sujit Dutta China is exerting pressure on India on a range of fronts. It’s time for India to push back—and to reach out to Taiwan. China loves to keep the pot boiling with countries it perceives as potential rivals, a fact no more evident than it is with its dealings with India in recent years. China’s recent decision to deny a visa to Indian Lt. General B. S. Jaswal, head of the Northern Command, is therefore just another example of its determination to find new issues to further complicate the already...

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has threatened to halt oil exports to the US if his country is attacked by Colombia - a close US ally. The threat comes amid an escalating dispute over allegations that Venezuela is harbouring Colombian rebels.vChavez broke diplomatic ties with Colombia last week and put his army on high alert. Venezuela is America's fifth biggest source of imported oil, supplying about a million barrels a day... "If there was any attack on Venezuela from Colombian territory or from anywhere else, promoted by the Yankee empire, we would suspend oil shipments to the US, even if...

Intransigent face of the Chinese superpower By Victor Mallet Published: January 23 2008 19:42 | Last updated: January 23 2008 19:42 It is remarkable how China the selfish superpower is fading from public view. In its place comes China the peacemaker and potential saviour of the faltering world economy. Western governments look to China as an engine of economic growth. Western banks see it as a source of capital. European leaders, eager for commercial advantage, pay homage to Beijing. In the US, the rise of China – notorious only months ago for purportedly stealing American jobs, destroying the environment and...

A Battle Rages in London Over a Mega-Mosque Plan By JANE PERLEZ Published: November 4, 2007 LONDON — Disputes over mosques have broken out across Europe. Residents from Belgium to France to Germany have expressed unease at minarets competing in the urban landscape with the spires and stones of centuries-old cathedrals.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates launched a charm offensive in Moscow Monday aimed at overcoming Russia's fierce opposition to Washington's plans to extend its missile defences into central Europe. Gates, who arrived early Monday, was to meet President Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. The Pentagon plans to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a targeting radar in the Czech Republic, countries that lie close to Russian territory and during the Cold War were under Moscow's control. Russia, increasingly emboldened by new oil wealth, has strongly opposed the plans. It regards them as...