As the Year of the Wood Snake promised subtlety and adaptation, the U.S., China and Japan instead delivered strategic blundering, authoritarian overreach and geopolitical instability. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/12/26/world/good-riddance-year-of-the-serpent/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #china #chinesezodiac #2025 #2026 #yearofthewoodsnake #yearofthefirehorse #indopacific #us #donaldtrump #xijinping #ishibashigeru #sanaetakaichi #usjapanrelations #chinajapanrelations #uschinarelations
Chinese leader Xi Jinping installed new military leadership for its central and eastern regions amid an unprecedented purge of the top defense echelons. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/23/asia-pacific/china-replaces-military-commanders/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #china #pla #corruption #taiwan #indopacific #xijinping
China's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Taipei said, its first transit of the sensitive waterway since formally entering service last month. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/17/asia-pacific/chinese-aircraft-carrier-taiwan-strait/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #china #pla #taiwan #indopacific #aircraftcarriers
It is necessary for Japan, the United States, Australia and the Philippines to conclude a "collective defense pact" to contain China and ensure regional peace and stability, Ely Ratner says. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/14/japan/politics/ratner-collective-defense-pact-indo-pacific/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #elyratner #defense #constitution #indopacific #us #china
Trump's National Security Strategy 2025 emphasizes tactical priorities over grand strategy, shifting focus to the Western Hemisphere and Asia, while keeping the overall limits of U.S. policy largely unchanged. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/12/12/world/reading-trumps-national-security-strategy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #donaldtrump #joebiden #defense #eu #indopacific #usjapanrelations #russiaukrainewar #europe #china #africa #asia #middleeast
Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasized the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC summit Saturday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/01/asia-pacific/politics/apec-summit-trade-wrapup/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #apec #indopacific #southkorea #trade #tariffs #donaldtrump #us #china #leejaemyung #xijinping #globaleconomy
America fostered the island’s rise. It’s unclear what happens when the superpower goes missing. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/10/14/world/singapore-and-a-us-led-world/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #singapore #singaporeaneconomy #us #indopacific #globaleconomy #ussingaporeanrelations
U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be the Pentagon's top Asia official has urged Japan to ramp up its defense budget, saying Tokyo “has long underemphasized spending for its own defense.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/08/japan/japan-us-defense-spending-pentagon/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #usjapanrelations #donaldtrump #defense #budgets #shigeruishiba #defenseministry #indopacific #johnnoh #sanaetakaichi
An expert panel has called for Japan’s next-gen subs to be able to operate longer and strike targets from father away. Easier said than done, analysts say, amid an array of technical and political challenges. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/08/japan/japan-nuclear-submarines-analysis/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #sdf #defense #submarines #nuclearenergy #missiles #china #us #indopacific #pla
Australia and Papua New Guinea have signed a major mutual defense treaty mainly intended to offset China’s expanding military clout in the South Pacific and prevent it from projecting power in the area. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/06/asia-pacific/politics/australia-papua-new-guinea-defense-treaty-signed/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #papuanewguinea #australia #defense #china #indopacific
India's challenge is to maintain strategic autonomy and to promote its vision of a more inclusive, rules-based and connected South and Southeast Asia. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/10/05/world/indias-dangerous-neighborhood/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #india #nepal #thailand #indopacific #southeastasia #malaysia #cambodia #defense #china #pakistan #bangladesh #democracy
China is transforming parts of its east coast into a platform for potential missile strikes against Taiwan and the nearby seas — a move crucial to bringing Taipei under Beijing’s control and fending off U.S. forces. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/05/asia-pacific/china-missiles-threatening-taiwan/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #taiwan #china #pla #missiles #usmilitary #asia #indopacific #defense
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth advocate a more militaristic approach to military preparedness with an inward-looking defense strategy focused on domestic issues while sidelining global threats and alliances. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/editorials/2025/10/03/trump-and-hegseth-address-to-military-officers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #editorials #us #usmilitary #defense #donaldtrump #china #petehegseth #indopacific
With remarks about making U.S. cities “training grounds” for the military, it would be easy to overlook another signal in Trump’s speech to U.S. commanders — his foreign policy is about to turn even more inward-looking. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/01/world/politics/trump-national-defense-strategy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #us #usmilitary #defense #donaldtrump #china #immigration #petehegseth #indopacific
Japan is recalibrating its core foreign policy principles to navigate an assertive China, a transactional U.S. and a shifting regional order. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/09/23/world/japan-foreign-policy-in-uncharted-waters/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #us #china #chinajapanrelations #usjapanrelations #aukus #thequad #asean #indopacific
Japan and India can secure sustained U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific by building energy, technology and defense partnerships so commercially and strategically compelling that Washington cannot afford to walk away. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/09/17/world/japan-india-us-indo-pacific/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #usjapanrelations #indiajapanrelations #india #us #aukus #thequad #indopacific
Australia and Papua New Guinea have postponed signing a major mutual defense treaty, Canberra’s latest stumble as it seeks to counterbalance Beijing’s expanding presence and clout in the Pacific region. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/17/asia-pacific/politics/australia-papua-new-guinea-defense-treaty/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #australia #indopacific #papuanewguinea #defense #china #anthonyalbanese #jamesmarape
Australia has said it will deploy a $1.1 billion fleet of "Ghost Shark" underwater attack drones to bolster its maritime firepower. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/10/asia-pacific/australia-ghost-shark-drones/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #australia #drones #china #indopacific
The Philippines is working on a new set of internal rules and protocols to better coordinate the actions of agencies in contentious areas of the South China Sea, as Manila responds to Beijing's gray-zone activities. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/10/asia-pacific/philippines-south-china-sea-rules-of-engagement/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #philippines #china #pla #southchinasea #disputedislands #indopacific
The second Trump administration is reshaping global alliances by pushing allies to spend more on defense and pursuing peace through strategic diplomacy, military, economic and informational strategies. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/09/09/world/trump-doctrines-challenge-to-allied-unity/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #us #donaldtrump #nato #ukraine #russia #china #indopacific #defense