bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Minnie Chan

Reuters

US bombers flew over the disputed South China Sea a day ahead of joint drills with Japanese fighter jets over the East China Sea, the US military said on Friday as Washington stepped up pressure on Beijing over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.
In another deployment, the US 7th Fleet along with the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz began an 11-day joint exercise with Indian and Japanese forces in the Bay of Bengal on Friday.
The military activity came amid heightened tensions in the region after North Korea test-fired a missile it claimed had the ability to hit the continental US.
China and US said far apart on assessing the urgency of the North Korean threat
US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s new president Moon Jae-in reached an agreement on Thursday to step up pressure on North Korea to curb its weapons development in the wake of the test.


China and Russia meanwhile have called for an end to military exercises and missile tests on both sides and the resumption of dialogue.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday that China opposed the use of freedom of overflight as an excuse to harm its security, in remarks on the flight of the two US bombers over the South China Sea.
Meeting in the German city of Hamburg ahead of the G20 summit, the three leaders also affirmed they would coordinate on adopting a new UN Security Council sanctions resolution on North Korea, as well as on pushing China to help halt Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons programme.


US ready to use military force against North Korea if diplomacy fails, Trump’s UN ambassador says
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said at a briefing on Thursday that the US believed China could do much more to increase pressure on North Korea. She added that Washington saw no equivalence between North Korea’s weapons programmes and US-South Korean military exercises, and so did not support a Russian-Chinese plan calling for both sides to freeze their activities.
The US Air Force said in a statement on Friday that two bombers had flown over the disputed South China Sea, asserting the right to treat the region as international territory, despite China’s territorial claims in the busy waterway.

Separately, two B-1B bombers trained with Japanese jet fighters in the neighbouring East China Sea, the first time the two forces have ever conducted nighttime drills. China and Japan have a long-standing dispute over a tiny, uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea called the Diaoyu Islands by China and the Senkaku Islands by Japan, which controls them.

Meanwhile, ships, aircraft and personnel from India, Japan and the United States took part in the Malabar 2017 exercise in waters off India on Friday, according to the website of the 7th Fleet.
The exercise would feature both onshore and sea training, with the Nimitz aircraft carrier and its battle group joining the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton, the guided-missile destroyer USS Howard and Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines, the website said.
The exercise would focus on carrier strike group operations, maritime patrols and reconnaissance, surface and anti-submarine warfare, as well as search and rescue operations, it said.


Trump-Xi diplomacy put to test thanks to tit-for-tat Covid lawsuits

Chip sales to China part of US plan to build its own digital silk road: official

Trump’s comment that Taiwan issue is ‘up to Xi’ stirs defence concern in Taipei

With US focused on Venezuela, China has window to pressure Japan: analysts

US-China relations

US bombers fly over East, South China seas, inciting Chinese anger as tensions mount over North Korea crisis

Drills in the South and East China seas and in waters off India seek to pressure China to take firmer action against Pyongyang

SCMP

epa03695611 The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) docks in Busan, South Korea, 11 May 2013. The Nimitz arrived in South Korea on 11 May to participate in the joint South Korea-US maritime exercises taking place in the Southern and East Sea from 13 until 14 May. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

The intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 is seen during its test in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, July 5 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber flies over Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, September 13, 2016. Photo: Reuters

The big chasm between China and US over the North Korean threat

Pedestrians walk past a huge screen in Tokyo on July 4, broadcasting file news footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after an intercontinental ballistic missile was launched by North Korea earlier in the day. Photo: AFP

‘Any time, any place’: South Korea’s Moon still keen on talks with Kim Jong-un despite missile test

South Korean President Moon Jae-in gives a speech at the Korber Foundation in Berlin. Photo: EPA

(170706) -- BERLIN, July 6, 2017 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in Berlin, Germany, July 6, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) (lfj)

TOPSHOT - This picture taken on July 4, 2017 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 5, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) celebrating the successful test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location. South Korea and the United States fired off missiles on July 5 simulating a precision strike against North Korea's leadership, in response to a landmark ICBM test described by Kim Jong-Un as a gift to "American bastards". / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / STR / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. /

Trump wants China to get ‘heavy’ with North Korea after test-fire of ballistic missile toward Japan

Missile launch comes just days ahead of G20 summit

epa06064496 A pedestrian looks at a TV screen on a street broadcasting news of North Korea's missile launch, in Tokyo, Japan, 04 July 2017. According to media reports, North Korea launched a ballistic missile on 04 July that flew around 930 km towards the Sea of Japan. The missile fell into Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan, according to Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd R) speaks to the media at his official residence in Tokyo on July 4, 2017, after a ballistic missile was launched by North Korea. North Korea launched a ballistic missile on July 4, South Korea's military said, just days after Seoul's new leader Moon Jae-In and US President Donald Trump focused on the threat from Pyongyang in their first summit. / AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI

A undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on May 30 shows the launch of a ballistic missile at an undisclosed location. Another ballistic missile was reportedly launched from a North Korean site on Tuesday morning, landing in waters near Japan. Photo: AFP

News

China

Diplomacy

Drills in the South and East China seas and in waters off India seek to pressure China to take firmer action against Pyongyang


North Korea

South China Sea

US bombers fly over East, South China seas, inciting Chinese anger as tensions mount over North Korea crisis

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Drills in the South and East China seas and in waters off India seek to pressure China to take firmer action against Pyongyang

Drills in the South and East China seas and in waters off India seek to pressure China to take firmer action against Pyongyang