https://www.scmp.com/rss/324575/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Liu Zhen Liu Zhen China’s small arms – less conspicuous than its cutting-edge fighter jets but just as significant – are undergoing a major transformation. The QBZ-191 assault rifle, designed to eventually replace the People’s Liberation Army’s long-serving QBZ-95 family, reflects China’s commitment to boosting combat effectiveness to meet the demands of future conflicts. Designated among the Type 20 rifle family, the firearm made its public debut during the 2019 National Day parade in Beijing. The full family –... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3328706/qbz-191-assault-rifle-gives-chinese-small-arms-tactical-and-export-edge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3328706/qbz-191-assault-rifle-gives-chinese-small-arms-tactical-and-export-edge?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 06:00:11 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan As next-generation tanks and fighter jets roll past the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, many in China will be swept up in a sense of national pride. The Chinese leadership has set a target for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to emulate the American military – often described as the greatest fighting force in history – by 2049. The futuristic hardware on show by the PLA will prompt optimism at home that China is on track to meet that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3323606/chinas-military-closes-gap-us-economic-front-opens-race-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3323606/chinas-military-closes-gap-us-economic-front-opens-race-security?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:09 +0000 Liu Zhen Liu Zhen Mainland Chinese forces held an amphibious landing drill in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, as Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te celebrated his first year in office. The People’s Liberation Army 73rd Group Army exercised tactics and skills of near-shore driving and landing operations with armoured amphibious vehicles on a beach on the southeast coast of Fujian province, according to state broadcaster CCTV. “We are prepared for war at any second,” a soldier named Qian Bo was quoted as... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3311146/pla-conducts-amphibious-landing-drill-strait-taiwanese-leader-marks-first-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3311146/pla-conducts-amphibious-landing-drill-strait-taiwanese-leader-marks-first-year?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 06:00:11 +0000 China is mastering directed energy, radio frequency and other advanced weapon systems that threaten US activities in space, the head of operations for the US Space Force warned on Thursday. General B. Chance Saltzman, the force’s chief of space operations, told the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission that China has used its resources more effectively than the US because Beijing is more narrowly focused on one region on the planet, while Washington must manage a larger... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3305155/pentagon-officials-urge-faster-militarisation-space-citing-chinas-advances?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3305155/pentagon-officials-urge-faster-militarisation-space-citing-chinas-advances?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Apr 2025 21:36:24 +0000 China views its “no-limits” partnership with Russia as integral to advancing the PRC’s emergence as a great power, the US government said on Thursday, in an assessment that also warned the Asian giant is ahead of American projections on nuclear warhead deployment and could be developing missile systems capable of hitting US targets. The US Defence Department called out China for “providing material support” for Russia’s war, intensifying military pressure against Taiwan and ignoring repeated... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3238547/china-sees-russia-partnership-crucial-its-great-power-ambitions-pentagon-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3238547/china-sees-russia-partnership-crucial-its-great-power-ambitions-pentagon-report?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Oct 2023 16:13:33 +0000 Taiwan reported on Wednesday it had detected People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drones circling the island. It was the second time in a week Beijing was spotted carrying out such a manoeuvre in what is believed to be a new tactic to collect intelligence and test the PLA’s capabilities for possible military action against the island. According to military analysts, Beijing’s long-range reconnaissance drones – especially one capable of carrying heavy weapons – could play a crucial role in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3219561/what-pla-spy-drone-flights-around-taiwan-could-mean-cross-strait-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3219561/what-pla-spy-drone-flights-around-taiwan-could-mean-cross-strait-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 May 2023 11:11:07 +0000 The Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China – the top decision-making body overseeing the People’s Liberation Army – is about to undergo a leadership reshuffle. The Central Military Commission (CMC) is chaired by President Xi Jinping, who is expected to stay on. During the 20th party congress unfolding in Beijing this week, all eyes will be on who Xi picks to join the top brass – moves that could shed light on the direction of the PLA and its ambitious modernisation... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3196360/what-chinas-central-military-commission-and-why-it-so-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3196360/what-chinas-central-military-commission-and-why-it-so-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Oct 2022 08:22:40 +0000 China announced eight measures on Friday in retaliation for United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, with the top three involving the cancellation of important dialogues between the People’s Liberation Army and the US military. The next day, it was reported that several calls from the Pentagon to Chinese counterparts were ignored, a development criticised by US officials as “shortsighted and reckless” and leading to concerns it may cause dangerous misjudgment or conflict... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3188281/what-defence-dialogues-did-beijing-cancel-after-pelosis-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3188281/what-defence-dialogues-did-beijing-cancel-after-pelosis-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Aug 2022 10:00:18 +0000 An Indonesian military tribunal on Tuesday sentenced an army colonel to life imprisonment for throwing the bodies of two teenagers into a river after his car hit them in a traffic accident late last year. An autopsy found that one of the victims – who were aged 18 and 24 – was still alive when Colonel Priyanto and two of his subordinates tossed their bodies into the river in Central Java province. Judges at the Jakarta military tribunal considered the action premeditated murder and ordered that... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3180777/indonesian-colonel-sentenced-life-prison-killing-teenagers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3180777/indonesian-colonel-sentenced-life-prison-killing-teenagers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jun 2022 13:10:13 +0000 For Ridge Alkonis, a US Navy lieutenant living in Japan, a springtime trip with his wife and three children to Mount Fuji was intended as fun and leisurely family time before an expected deployment. What happened next, and why, is a matter of dispute. But it resulted in a three-year prison sentence. Alkonis’ family and supporters said the naval officer abruptly lost consciousness in the car, causing him to slump over behind the wheel after suffering acute mountain sickness. Japanese prosecutors... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3180514/accident-or-negligence-us-naval-officer-japan-faces-prison-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3180514/accident-or-negligence-us-naval-officer-japan-faces-prison-over?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jun 2022 16:08:22 +0000 An unexplained incident struck a major Iranian military and weapons development base east of Tehran, the country’s state television reported on Thursday, killing an engineer and injuring another employee. Iran’s Defence Ministry said the “accident” occurred on Wednesday afternoon at a research centre at the Parchin military complex. It did not elaborate on the cause of the accident or provide any further details, but said that an investigation was under way. It identified the engineer who died... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3179331/mystery-accident-suspected-iran-missile-site-kills-engineer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3179331/mystery-accident-suspected-iran-missile-site-kills-engineer?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 May 2022 13:14:26 +0000 Japan is keeping a close eye on Russia’s ramp-up in military activities in its Far East region, with Tokyo increasing the number of reconnaissance patrols by its Self-Defence Forces. A fleet of 10 Russian warships transited the Tsugaru Strait on Friday and the Russian army conducted exercises over the weekend using surface-to-air missiles deployed to Etorofu, one of four disputed islands controlled by Russia and known as the Kurils, but claimed by Japan as part of its Northern Territories. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3170413/russia-ramps-military-activities-around-japan-sabre-rattling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3170413/russia-ramps-military-activities-around-japan-sabre-rattling?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Mar 2022 10:20:12 +0000 Russian forces have been accused of using the widely banned and dangerous weapons known as vacuum bombs that “obliterate” their victims. Amnesty International accused Russia of using vacuum bombs, or thermobaric weapons, to attack a preschool in northeastern Ukraine while civilians took shelter inside. CNN reported that one of its teams had spotted a Russian thermobaric multiple rocket launcher near the Ukrainian border early on Saturday afternoon. Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3168873/russia-has-been-accused-using-vacuum-bombs-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3168873/russia-has-been-accused-using-vacuum-bombs-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Mar 2022 20:00:48 +0000 The first two days of Russia’s operation in Ukraine exposed the extreme disparity between the two countries’ armed forces. Military aid and diplomatic support from Nato and the United States for Ukraine pales against one of the largest and strongest armies in the world. Ukraine’s central bank opened a special fundraising account on Thursday for donations from people around the world to support its embattled army. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country is being “left alone” in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3168391/how-big-gap-between-forces-ukraine-and-russia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3168391/how-big-gap-between-forces-ukraine-and-russia?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Feb 2022 11:00:15 +0000 A member of Ukraine’s National Guard on Thursday opened fire on his fellow soldiers, killing five people and wounding five more, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said. The serviceman was detained by police but his motives remain unclear. The incident occurred in the city of Dnipro, 500 kilometres (310 miles) southeast of Kyiv on Thursday morning. The soldier, identified by the authorities as Artemiy Ryabchuk, 20, was on guard duty at a military factory and opened fire on his colleagues, fleeing the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3164984/ukrainian-soldier-kills-4-fellow-servicemen-1?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3164984/ukrainian-soldier-kills-4-fellow-servicemen-1?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jan 2022 12:35:15 +0000 When China’s DF-17 ballistic missile featured in a military parade in 2019, it became the first country in the world to publicly reveal a hypersonic weapon. China also recently announced it had made breakthroughs in heat-seeking technology for such weapons, which the United States – having significantly increased funding for hypersonic research – has said it may not have until 2025. Security experts have warned that an escalating arms race between China, the US and Russia to develop hypersonic... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3164444/what-are-hypersonic-weapons-and-why-there-race-between-china-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3164444/what-are-hypersonic-weapons-and-why-there-race-between-china-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Jan 2022 22:00:22 +0000 The Chinese army has carried out a “naval and air force combat readiness patrol” near the Taiwan Strait following a contentious visit to the island by a group of American lawmakers, a spokesperson said. Tensions between Beijing and Washington have soared over the fate of self-ruled Taiwan, which China has vowed to one day retake, by force if necessary. Taiwan to set up veterans office in US, Tsai tells Congress group A group of American lawmakers arrived on the island on Thursday offering... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3157630/china-conducts-naval-air-force-drills-near-taiwan-strait-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3157630/china-conducts-naval-air-force-drills-near-taiwan-strait-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Nov 2021 14:59:39 +0000 In mid-September, the United States, Britain and Australia announced a “historic” security pact to strengthen military capabilities in the Pacific, allowing them to share advanced defence technologies and equipping Australian forces with the know-how to build nuclear-powered submarines. The “Aukus” partnership – an amalgamation of the three member countries’ names – is seen as targeting China but has also angered several other countries. The US has scrambled to patch up relations with its oldest... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3151700/aukus-alliance-what-it-what-does-it-have-do-china-and-why?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3151700/aukus-alliance-what-it-what-does-it-have-do-china-and-why?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Oct 2021 02:30:18 +0000 China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has gone through many evolutions since it helped put the Communist Party in power in 1949. In the latest structural overhaul meant to help it become a modern fighting force, the PLA’s seven military regions were streamlined into five theatres of command reporting to the Central Military Commission (CMC). Today, the PLA’s actions are of global significance as tensions grow over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and China’s border with India. Here’s how the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3144921/chinas-military-structure-what-are-theatre-commands-and-service?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3144921/chinas-military-structure-what-are-theatre-commands-and-service?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Aug 2021 06:00:21 +0000 The United States and its allies have accused China of hacking a Microsoft email server as part of a state-backed campaign, adding to growing claims of Chinese involvement in high-profile cyberattacks. Already an issue between China and the US before their relations deteriorated, cyber espionage has become another of the fronts on which Beijing and Washington are set to confront each other in the coming years. A coalition of accusers The US, Britain, the European Union and Nato on Monday accused... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141865/what-are-hacking-accusations-against-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3141865/what-are-hacking-accusations-against-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jul 2021 14:30:15 +0000 China is pushing ahead with plans to turn the People’s Liberation Army into a modern fighting force by 2027 – the centenary of its founding – as tensions with the US build. One senior US commander has called China “the pacing threat for the next decade” and Washington is ramping up support for Taiwan as the island faces growing political and military pressure from Beijing. Meanwhile analysts have warned that the South China Sea could be the tipping point for a military conflict between the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3140681/us-china-rivalry-who-has-stronger-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3140681/us-china-rivalry-who-has-stronger-military?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jul 2021 22:00:13 +0000 The deep-sea drones, ballistic missiles, tanks, and fighter jets flaunted in military parades and at events like the Communist Party’s centenary celebrations increasingly demonstrate China’s growing military power. China has long been engaged in an arms race with other global leaders to import and produce the most advanced military technology. But where does it acquire its foreign weapons, and where do its own armaments go? Who is China’s main supplier of weapons? While China has gradually... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3139603/how-china-grew-buyer-major-arms-trade-player?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3139603/how-china-grew-buyer-major-arms-trade-player?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jul 2021 00:00:13 +0000 This is the third in the South China Morning Post’s series of explainers about China’s Communist Party, in the lead-up to the party’s 100th anniversary in July. In this piece, Josephine Ma looks into the relationship between the party and the military. From a party that fought a guerilla war to one of the longest-running single-party regimes in modern history, the Communist Party of China has paid great attention to its control over the military, which is now the largest in the world with 2... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3133210/why-chinas-communist-party-maintains-tight-grip-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3133210/why-chinas-communist-party-maintains-tight-grip-military?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 May 2021 21:00:14 +0000 For more than 18 weeks now, thousands of Indian and Chinese forces have been locked in an unprecedented stand-off along their 3,488km (2,167 mile) undemarcated boundary known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which ranges from the Karakoram mountain range in the north to the trijunction with Myanmar in the east. The stand-off, sparked by skirmishes between troops in early May at the glacial lake named Pangong Tso in the western Himalayan region of Ladakh and in the northeastern Indian region... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3101267/india-china-border-peace-really-horizon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3101267/india-china-border-peace-really-horizon?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2020 14:58:08 +0000 The US drone strike that killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani has revived debate about whether American presidents have unilateral authority to launch attacks and send soldiers into battle, or must await congressional approval. War powers are divided in the US Constitution, and not in a definitive way, experts say, leading to a decades-long tug of war between the White House and Congress over who has final say on military action. Iran’s options for revenge on Trump aren’t limited to its... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3044937/what-war-powers-does-donald-trump-have?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3044937/what-war-powers-does-donald-trump-have?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2020 03:23:17 +0000 After an unprecedented series of meetings between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, negotiations over eliminating the latter’s nuclear arsenal have stalled. In the meantime, Kim has been busy making his nuclear arsenal bigger, deadlier and better able to strike South Korea, Japan, American forces stationed in Asia – and the US mainland. Could Kim really hit the US? He appears to be rapidly closing on that capability. North Korea could likely fit miniature warheads... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3041923/how-kim-jong-un-kept-expanding-north-koreas-nuclear-arsenal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3041923/how-kim-jong-un-kept-expanding-north-koreas-nuclear-arsenal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Dec 2019 03:15:13 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s announcement late on Sunday that he was pulling US troops from northeastern Syria was met with fierce criticism in Washington and elsewhere. Here is why it is so controversial. Who are the Kurdish fighters? They are one of the many groups involved in Syria’s civil war, which began in 2011. When troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retreated from Kurdish-majority areas in the north, a Kurdish party known as Democratic Union Party of Syria and its armed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3031938/explained-why-are-syrias-kurds-accusing-us-betrayal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3031938/explained-why-are-syrias-kurds-accusing-us-betrayal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Oct 2019 03:00:43 +0000 On September 10, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Philippine military to crush the long-running communist rebellion in an “all-out war”, insisting “if I can, I will end the insurgency problem within my term”. There was nothing new about the exhortation and hopeful promise: it’s been made before by previous national leaders. When she was president, Gloria Arroyo also promised an all-out war and vowed to crush the communists in three years. Instead, Arroyo finished her term in 2010 with the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3027414/explained-philippines-communist-rebellion-asias-longest-running?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3027414/explained-philippines-communist-rebellion-asias-longest-running?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Sep 2019 06:00:08 +0000 The wedge of sea between Japan, Russia, and the Korean peninsula became a new flashpoint this week, with a regional airspace dispute, a seized fishing boat, and missile tests by North Korea aggravating long-standing tensions. The patch of ocean is commonly known as the Sea of Japan but South Korea argues it should be known by the more neutral name the East Sea. South Korea fires warning shots after Russian, Chinese planes enter airspace The dispute over the name exemplifies the numerous... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3020054/explained-how-competing-claims-make-sea-japan-geopolitical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3020054/explained-how-competing-claims-make-sea-japan-geopolitical?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2019 07:50:45 +0000 The United States has charged two Chinese men with orchestrating cyber hacking attacks against scores of companies and government agencies in the US and around the world for more than a decade. According to the US Department of Justice, Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong acted on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security in coordinating espionage activity through a hacking group known as APT10, to steal trade secrets and technologies from at least 12 countries. Beijing responded to the charges by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2179107/apt10-what-do-we-know-about-alleged-chinese-hacking-group?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2179107/apt10-what-do-we-know-about-alleged-chinese-hacking-group?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Dec 2018 11:02:57 +0000 The resignation of United States Defence Secretary James Mattis, the so-called last adult in the room in the Trump administration, has plunged the future of the decades-old security balance in Asia into doubt. Mattis’ exit, after nearly two years defending the rules-based international order that underpinned a widespread consensus on defence policy until Donald Trump’s election, casts uncertainty over the US presence in the region and its alliances with partners such as South Korea and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2179130/last-adult-james-mattis-leaves-room-what-next-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2179130/last-adult-james-mattis-leaves-room-what-next-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Dec 2018 09:45:00 +0000 When late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping gave the order for more than 300,000 People’s Liberation Army troops to cross from southwest China into Vietnam in February 1979, there was more than regional rivalry at stake. Within a month, the PLA occupied more than a dozen cities in northern and southern Vietnam, overcoming the heavily outnumbered Vietnamese troops and militia. Then on March 16 China suddenly withdrew all of its troops, declaring that it had “successfully given Vietnam a lesson”. On... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2176752/misfire-big-shot-how-military-helped-china-open-and-become-force?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2176752/misfire-big-shot-how-military-helped-china-open-and-become-force?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Dec 2018 22:18:51 +0000 An upgraded version of China’s J-10 fighter jet stole the limelight at the country’s biggest air show this week. The J-10 variant has manoeuvrability and combat capability that, until now, were the preserve of the United States and Russia. At Airshow China 2018 in Zhuhai, southern Guangdong province, the J-10B TVC performed a series of flying drills including a J-turn (rapid change of direction), the Cobra (raising the nose to vertical) and falling leaf moves, all of which were made possible by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2172535/chinas-new-jet-engine-suddenly-takes-air-combat-whole-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2172535/chinas-new-jet-engine-suddenly-takes-air-combat-whole-new?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Nov 2018 17:33:46 +0000 US President Donald Trump has declared his intention to withdraw from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty, a move the Kremlin warned would “make the world a more dangerous place”. Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top officials to explain the motives behind Trump’s plan to pull out from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. What is the INF Treaty? The pact was signed by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2169942/going-nuclear-5-things-know-about-inf-treaty-russia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2169942/going-nuclear-5-things-know-about-inf-treaty-russia?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Oct 2018 04:19:01 +0000 Every year in September, images of Chinese students from secondary schools and universities dressed in military uniforms marching in formation flood the internet. They are the result of a Chinese rite of passage: a week or two of military service to mark the start of the academic year. However, with equal predictability, an annual slew of controversies emerge – with students being injured, mistreated or even killed during the training, prompting critics to question whether the exercise is really... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2165265/why-chinese-students-have-start-academic-year-short-spell?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2165265/why-chinese-students-have-start-academic-year-short-spell?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Sep 2018 17:03:19 +0000 The Indian government, rattled by a vocal opposition campaign that has charged it with financial wrongdoing and endangering national security over the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft from French company Dassault, is now soft-pedalling the purchase of other weapons badly needed by its overstretched and ill-equipped military. In March, a senior general testified before a parliamentary defence committee that more than two-thirds of the army’s equipment was obsolete, while only eight per cent... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2165161/how-modis-rafale-defence-deal-has-left-india-lagging-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2165161/how-modis-rafale-defence-deal-has-left-india-lagging-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:00:00 +0000 As Russia participates in its biggest military exercise together with China and Mongolia – Vostok 2018, which began on Tuesday – it is demonstrating some of its advanced weaponry. The week-long drills, in Russia’s far east and the Pacific Ocean, involve about 300,000 service members; more than 1,000 planes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles; 36,000 tanks, armoured fighting vehicles and other cars; and up to 80 ships and support vessels. China has sent nearly 3,200 troops, 900 weapons and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2164354/russia-rolls-out-advanced-weapons-during-vostok-2018-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2164354/russia-rolls-out-advanced-weapons-during-vostok-2018-military?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Sep 2018 14:00:56 +0000 Russia’s biggest military exercise in nearly four decades will get under way on Tuesday in a five-day show of its power in the far east. President Vladimir Putin is expected to inspect the Vostok 2018 war games involving 300,000 troops from Russia’s Eastern and Central military districts, the biggest of their kind since the Zapad 81 exercise in 1981. Both China and Mongolia are sending troops to Vostok 2018, also known as East 2018, while Turkey, a Nato member, said it was still “evaluating the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2163608/vostok-2018-showcase-russian-military-might-and-ties-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2163608/vostok-2018-showcase-russian-military-might-and-ties-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Sep 2018 13:31:40 +0000 The US military has a long history of enlisting the help of animals in warfare. The bottlenose dolphin’s sophisticated sonar enabled the Navy to detect and clear underwater bombs during the Iraq War, and homing pigeons played a vital role as secret messengers during both world wars, with some awarded medals for bravery. But there is one animal that the military has had significantly less success in conscripting, and that is the bat. In the wake of the Pearl Harbour bombing in 1941, hundreds of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2153562/how-pentagon-planning-using-bats-battle-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2153562/how-pentagon-planning-using-bats-battle-against?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Jul 2018 07:00:43 +0000 Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have launched their investigation into an alleged chemical attack near Damascus on April 7. What exactly is the fact-finding team’s mission, what will it be looking for, how independently will it be able to perform its duties and how significant will its findings be? Here are some facts on the OPCW’s Syria mission: Background on the OPCW The organisation is based in The Hague, in the Netherlands. It is the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2141955/explainer-what-we-know-about-investigation-syrian-regimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2141955/explainer-what-we-know-about-investigation-syrian-regimes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Apr 2018 11:30:30 +0000 As poisoned Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal was said to be on the mend on Friday, toxicology experts warned that the nerve agent used on him could leave long-term damage. This is what we know. Britain contends that the military-grade nerve agent that poisoned the 66-year-old ex-spy and his daughter Yulia, 33, was of the Novichok family developed by the Soviet government towards the end of the cold war. Russia denies any responsibility. Nerve agents are the most toxic known chemical warfare... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2140687/can-you-recover-nerve-gas-poisoning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2140687/can-you-recover-nerve-gas-poisoning?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Apr 2018 20:00:10 +0000 The US Air Force will this summer begin testing a laser that will be mounted on an F-15 warplane, an official said Monday. The Pentagon last year awarded a $26 million contract to Lockheed Martin for a laser programme called SHiELD (Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator.) The idea is to put a powerful laser system on aircraft with an output of about 50 kilowatts to test their ability to shoot down drones or cruise missiles. “We have got tests starting this summer and the flight tests next... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2138015/us-air-force-says-it-fitting-fighter-jet-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2138015/us-air-force-says-it-fitting-fighter-jet-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 06:39:32 +0000 The Syrian war has included no shortage of twists already this year, but this weekend, it produced one of its most consequential. On Saturday, Israel’s military announced that it had carried out a “large-scale” aerial attack inside Syria, after back-and-forth clashes overnight in which an Iranian drone was shot down in Syrian territory and an Israeli F-16 was downed by Syrian anti-aircraft fire. It was the first known time that Israel has used force against Iran. The attacks and counterattacks... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2132884/israel-strikes-iranian-targets-syria-what-does-unprecedented?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2132884/israel-strikes-iranian-targets-syria-what-does-unprecedented?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Feb 2018 03:21:25 +0000 China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, is expected to start blue-water trials soon, according to state media and mainland military websites. The 001A, which started preliminary trials in Dalian in the northeast of China in November after its launch on April 26, has a similar design to the country’s first carrier the Liaoning. That ship started life as the Varyag, an unfinished Admiral Kuznetsov class carrier that China bought in 1998 from Ukraine – which inherited the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2123610/what-are-differences-between-chinas-two-aircraft?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2123610/what-are-differences-between-chinas-two-aircraft?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Dec 2017 09:10:57 +0000 North Korea released dozens of photos Thursday of the Hwasong-15, a new intercontinental ballistic missile it claims can reach any target in the continental United States. The photo dump, published in the paper and online editions of the ruling party’s official daily, is a gold mine for rocket experts trying to parse reality from bluster. Their general conclusion is that it’s bigger, more advanced and comes with a domestically made mobile launcher that will make it harder than ever to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2122255/what-photos-reveal-about-north-koreas-new-hwasong-15-ballistic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2122255/what-photos-reveal-about-north-koreas-new-hwasong-15-ballistic?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Nov 2017 06:06:25 +0000 For almost 60 years, China has been hosting exercises in its largest military training ground, the Zhurihe Combined Tactics Training Base, to prepare Chinese troops for future. During President Xi Jinping’s visit to the military training base in a remote part of northern China, 400km northwest of Beijing, to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, he is expected to watch war games that will showcase China’s ability to win in wars. Here’s what we know about... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2103593/8-things-know-about-chinas-biggest-army-training-base?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2103593/8-things-know-about-chinas-biggest-army-training-base?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Jul 2017 05:15:15 +0000 It’s 57 years old, operates out of western Beijing and connects the biggest players at the highest echelons of power in China. It’s the “Channel One Operator” unit, an all-women military group that transfers calls between leaders through a system of red desk phones. Shedding rare light on the top-secret web of communications, military mouthpiece PLA Daily revealed on Thursday that the unit was under the direct command of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department, the hub for the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2103499/call-duty-military-unit-connects-chinas-secret-red?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2103499/call-duty-military-unit-connects-chinas-secret-red?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jul 2017 00:02:58 +0000 This weekend China is opening up its Liaoning aircraft carrier to the public for the first time. The ship will arrive in Hong Kong on Friday, accompanied by two destroyers and a frigate. Only 2,000 tickets for the tour at the weekend were handed out, leaving many who had lined up for hours disappointed. But for the lucky few, the visit is a peek into a deeply specialised community, one that works, eats and sleeps together in a maze of hallways and rooms, surrounded by some of the most... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2101434/inside-liaoning-warship-10-cafeterias-tv-station-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2101434/inside-liaoning-warship-10-cafeterias-tv-station-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jul 2017 02:00:15 +0000 Late 1970s: Starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984 1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km) August, 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 over Japan as part of failed satellite launch September, 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2101205/key-dates-north-koreas-missile-development?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2101205/key-dates-north-koreas-missile-development?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Jul 2017 07:23:33 +0000 As his administration prepares to brief all 100 US senators on the nuclear and ballistic missile programmes of North Korea, President Donald Trump continues to heighten tensions along the Korean Peninsula in ways he can’t possibly control – as does Kim Jong-un, the crazed leader of North Korea. But how will the dangerous situation evolve? First, some US senators are likely to come away from the briefing on Wednesday unconvinced, since the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2090425/can-trump-do-anything-stop-war-north-korea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2090425/can-trump-do-anything-stop-war-north-korea?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Apr 2017 12:00:30 +0000