China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan Reject U.S. Bagram Airbase Return

China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan jointly opposed any move for the U.S. military to regain a presence at Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China’s Afghanistan envoy, Yue Xiaoyong, met counterparts from ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: African Exporters Lobby U.S., While Eyeing Chinese Alternatives

Reuters reports that African exporters have embarked on a final effort to save the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a trade pact that gives the continent duty-free access to the U.S. market. The act will expire at the end of the month. Delegations from five African manufacturing ...

Thailand, China Seal Amended Submarine Deal, 2028 Delivery

China’s state shipbuilder CSOC and the Royal Thai Navy signed an amended contract in Beijing to restart Thailand’s long-delayed S26T submarine program. The deal replaces the originally specified German engine with a Chinese diesel and sets delivery for the end ...

China’s Defense Minister Lays Out Security Priorities

China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun laid out the country’s defense priorities in his opening speech at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. About 1,800 representatives from more than 100 countries attended the annual defense gathering. Dong met with defense heads from Malaysia, Cambodia, ...

Cambodia Deepens China Defense Ties at Xiangshan Forum

Cambodia deepened defense ties with China and opened talks with regional counterparts at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, China. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Seiha addressed the conference and held a meeting with China’s defense minister. Seiha ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Eye-Rolling Through the Apocalypse

November’s COP30 gathering in Belém, Brazil, marks three decades since COP1 in Berlin in 1995, and raises a sobering reminder of how deep we’ve sunk into a climate morass of our own making amid non-stop warnings. The evacuation of millions of people and the deaths of at least seventeen due to Typhoon Ragasa’s rampage through the Philippines, Taiwan, and China couldn’t have been more pointedly timed as U.S. and Chinese ...

Pakistani President Becomes First Foreign Leader to Visit Chinese Weapons Factory

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari visited China’s largest manufacturer of military aircraft on Sunday, becoming the first foreign state leader to do so. He toured the assembly line of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the maker of the J-10C fighter jet.

Why Sahel States Are Turning to Chinese Military Gear

In early September, Guinea’s port of Conakry turned into a military stage as convoys of CS/VP-14 mine-resistant vehicles, VN-22 6×6 infantry carriers, command and recovery vehicles, and even an SR-5 rocket artillery system rolled off Chinese cargo ships and headed toward Mali’s capital. ...

China Condemns U.S.–UK Taiwan Strait Transit, Tracks Warships

China’s military on Friday condemned the sailing of U.S. and British warships through the Taiwan Strait, saying it ordered naval and air forces to monitor and warn the two ships. The U.S. destroyer Higgins and the UK frigate HMS ...

China’s Gradual but Growing Security Influence in Africa

China is steadily expanding its security presence in Africa through deeper military ties, weapons sales, and multinational deployments as UN Peacekeepers. In fact, China is now the largest arms supplier to Sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace ...

China Denies Using Beijing’s Parade to Pitch J-10C to Indonesia

China denied using last week’s Beijing military parade to pitch Indonesia further to buy the J-10C fighter jet. A high-level Chinese diplomat for ASEAN, in her statement, called the event a commemoration and not a sales pitch. “It is not a ...

Indonesia’s Prabowo, in China’s Spotlight, Ignores Nation’s Tumult for Global Showmanship

On Wednesday morning in Beijing, as the People’s Liberation Army marched in lockstep through Tiananmen Square, one foreign leader stood conspicuously close to the Chinese and Russian presidents. Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, clad in a tailored gray suit, sat shoulder to shoulder with Vladimir Putin and Xi ...

China’s Military Parade Cements Superpower Optics

China displayed a vast array of advanced weapons during a large military parade to mark the 80th commemoration of World War II. The parade snaked down Chang'an Avenue in central Beijing. President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on Tiananmen Square and inspected the soldiers from a parade ...
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