https://www.scmp.com/rss/513021/feed Seong Hyeon joined the SCMP in 2022. He is from South Korea and graduated with a bachelor of journalism and master of international and public affairs from the University of Hong Kong. He worked as a research intern for Korea Chair at US foreign policy think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and as a news trainee for NK news. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi South Korea’s combat-proven, interoperable and geopolitically accessible surface-to-air missiles could hinder China’s efforts to sell its own defence systems to the Middle East, analysts have suggested. The US-Israel war on Iran has been marked by tit-for-tat missile and drone attacks across the Persian Gulf states, driving a surge in demand for surface-to-air missiles to defend against incoming Iranian aerial threats. According to a study by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3350414/will-south-koreas-goldilocks-missile-dent-chinas-middle-east-arms-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3350414/will-south-koreas-goldilocks-missile-dent-chinas-middle-east-arms-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:00:09 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi,Alcott Wei Seong Hyeon Choi,Alcott Wei Japan’s most extensive participation to date in a counter-landing and missile defence exercise in the Philippines signals its “priorities” in deterring Beijing in a Taiwan contingency, according to analysts. Japan’s Joint Staff announced on Tuesday that its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) would deploy about 1,400 personnel, multiple warships and aircraft, as well as Type 88 anti-ship missile systems for the Balikatan exercise, an annual large-scale joint military drill between the Philippines and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3350344/what-does-japans-role-us-philippine-military-drill-mean-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3350344/what-does-japans-role-us-philippine-military-drill-mean-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:00:14 +0000 Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz might give it a strategic advantage over Iran, analysts said, but they warned that the increased pressure on Tehran might call the ceasefire into question and deepen the energy crisis. US Central Command said on Sunday that a blockade on ships “entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas” would take effect at 10am US Eastern Time on Monday along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. It also said it would not impede vessels crossing the Strait of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349933/us-blockade-strait-hormuz-easy-enough-them-do-what-cost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349933/us-blockade-strait-hormuz-easy-enough-them-do-what-cost?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:28:05 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Japan’s participation in annual US-Philippine military exercises is a “big deal”, because it shows how Tokyo is taking a bigger role in regional groupings that could face off with China, according to analysts. More than 7,000 soldiers from the United States and Philippine armies are taking part in this year’s Salaknib drill, a joint annual exercise that started on the north of Luzon island on Monday. The exercise aims to “enhance combat readiness and interoperability between the two armies,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349650/big-deal-military-drills-showing-tokyos-growing-focus-deterring-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349650/big-deal-military-drills-showing-tokyos-growing-focus-deterring-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:00:09 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Washington is pulling most long-range cruise missiles from the Pacific for redeployment to the Middle East amid its war on Iran – a move analysts say signals possible supply constraints and tells Indo-Pacific “friends and foes alike” that US priorities lie elsewhere. According to US media reports, the Pentagon ordered nearly the entire inventory of its JASSM-ER air-launched cruise missiles to be moved from the Pacific, and even from the continental United States, to US Central Command bases in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349263/what-us-telling-its-pacific-allies-removing-missiles-use-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349263/what-us-telling-its-pacific-allies-removing-missiles-use-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:20:23 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi,William Zheng Seong Hyeon Choi,William Zheng The rescue of a missing American crew member after Iran shot down an F-15E fighter jet is proof of the United States’ “comprehensive capability” to mount high-risk rescue operations, according to Chinese analysts. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump confirmed that the missing crew member – one of two on the fighter jet shot down over southern Iran on Friday – had been rescued. It was the first manned US aircraft shot down over Iran since the US-Israel war on the country began on February... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349170/while-trump-hails-daring-airman-rescue-iran-chinese-experts-count-us-wins-and-losses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349170/while-trump-hails-daring-airman-rescue-iran-chinese-experts-count-us-wins-and-losses?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:13:31 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Washington’s deployment of an amphibious assault ship from Japan to the Middle East could signal a temporary reduction in US military capacity in the Indo-Pacific region but will not necessarily diminish its deterrence of China, according to analysts. According to American media reports, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli has left its home port in Japan and is making its way to the Middle East, carrying 2,500 marines on board. According to Marinetraffic.com, which monitors ships based on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347438/does-uss-tripolis-deployment-middle-east-create-strategic-opening-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347438/does-uss-tripolis-deployment-middle-east-create-strategic-opening-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 14:00:08 +0000 Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi The first known combat damage to an F-35 fifth-generation fighter aircraft from a likely Iranian attack suggests that stealth jets can be detected by electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor systems, according to Chinese analysts. US Central Command reported that the stealth fighter was forced to make an emergency landing during a combat mission over Iran on Thursday. “We are aware of reports that a US F-35 aircraft conducted an emergency landing at a regional US airbase after flying a combat... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347383/iran-detected-and-damaged-us-f-35-stealth-jet-combat-chinese-experts-map-out-how?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347383/iran-detected-and-damaged-us-f-35-stealth-jet-combat-chinese-experts-map-out-how?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:26:16 +0000 Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi Iran’s power structure, succession mechanism and geographic conditions are all factors in its military resilience, despite the decapitation of its leadership by the US and Israel, according to Chinese experts. They also said the United States was unlikely to achieve regime change in Iran without deploying ground forces, a lesson one expert argued Beijing would take into account for any operation on Taiwan. Beginning on February 28, the US and Israel have killed a string of senior Iranian... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347070/chinese-experts-assess-military-decapitation-iran-venezuela-lessons-closer-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3347070/chinese-experts-assess-military-decapitation-iran-venezuela-lessons-closer-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:37:24 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The navies of China and Vietnam have added live-fire drills to future joint training – marking a deepening of military cooperation as Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam hailed relations with Beijing as a “top priority”. Naval commanders from both sides held a courtesy meeting on Monday at Fangcheng port in southern China’s Guangxi, as Vietnamese frigates Tran Hung Dao (hull number 015) and Ly Thai To (012) arrived to join PLA Navy vessels for their 40th joint patrol and training... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346907/china-vietnam-agree-live-fire-drills-naval-exercise-boost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346907/china-vietnam-agree-live-fire-drills-naval-exercise-boost?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:24:28 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Zhao Tong is a senior fellow with the Nuclear Policy Programme at Washington-based think tank the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and its East Asia-based research centre on contemporary China, Carnegie China. His research focuses on strategic security issues, including nuclear weapons policy, deterrence, arms control, non-proliferation, missile defence, hypersonic weapons, regional security in the Asia-Pacific, and China’s security and foreign policy. This interview first appeared in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346215/why-iran-strikes-may-drive-asian-nuclear-race-hit-china-middle-east-zhao-tong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346215/why-iran-strikes-may-drive-asian-nuclear-race-hit-china-middle-east-zhao-tong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:00:10 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Japan is deploying its domestically produced long-range missiles near the East China Sea – a move that could be interpreted by Beijing as crossing a “strategic threshold”, analysts say. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Monday that the upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles would be deployed at Camp Kengun in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto by the end of this month. Ground forces vehicles carrying the first batch of missile launchers were reportedly... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346610/why-japans-type-12-missile-deployment-may-complicate-chinas-regional-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346610/why-japans-type-12-missile-deployment-may-complicate-chinas-regional-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 02:00:13 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The increasing military use of drones has raised questions about the future role of helicopters as countries such as China and the United States increasingly pivot towards the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Traditionally, helicopters have been used for a wide range of functions ranging from transport to surveillance, but these functions are now increasingly being taken over by pilotless aircraft. Both the Chinese and US armed forces are increasingly building up their UAS fleets –... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346602/how-are-military-helicopters-evolving-adapt-age-drone-warfare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346602/how-are-military-helicopters-evolving-adapt-age-drone-warfare?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 22:00:10 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Washington’s redeployment of elements of its missile defence systems from South Korea to the Middle East could be read by China as a short-term capability gap in the region, analysts said. They said the move also underlined US flexibility to move its assets across theatres of operation. A Washington Post report on Tuesday citing two unnamed US government officials said that the United States had been moving parts of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system stationed in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346575/us-shifting-thaad-south-korea-mideast-what-does-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346575/us-shifting-thaad-south-korea-mideast-what-does-mean-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 14:00:09 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Zhao Tong is a senior fellow with the Nuclear Policy Programme at Washington-based think tank the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and its East Asia-based research centre on contemporary China, Carnegie China. His research focuses on strategic security issues, including nuclear weapons policy, deterrence, arms control, non-proliferation, missile defence, hypersonic weapons, regional security in the Asia-Pacific and China’s security and foreign policy. SCMP Plus readers get early access... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/military/article/3346333/us-israeli-war-iran-may-spark-nuclear-arms-race-carnegie-scholar-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/military/article/3346333/us-israeli-war-iran-may-spark-nuclear-arms-race-carnegie-scholar-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:39:17 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Beijing’s arms imports have nose-dived by nearly three-quarters over the past five years, as it has replaced overseas weapons purchases with domestic technology, according to a Swedish think tank report. However, other countries in the region have increased in their overseas weapons purchases amid “fears over China’s intentions”. A report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday said countries in Asia and Oceania imported 31 per cent of the world’s arms... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345868/why-have-chinas-arms-imports-plummeted-72-over-past-5-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345868/why-have-chinas-arms-imports-plummeted-72-over-past-5-years?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:16 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Washington’s decapitation operation in Iran would push Pyongyang to feel “vindicated” in developing nuclear weapons for its own security and move closer to China and Russia to bolster its deterrence capabilities, according to analysts. On Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the test firing of what the country’s state media called a “strategic cruise missile” from the new 5,000-tonne naval destroyer Choe Hyon before the vessel’s official commissioning. Kim hailed the warship as a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345806/will-us-attack-iran-push-north-korea-even-closer-russia-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345806/will-us-attack-iran-push-north-korea-even-closer-russia-and-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:00:07 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Canada’s defence agreement with South Korea signals the two countries’ “middle-power answer” to increasing cooperation between Beijing and Moscow in the Arctic region and Washington’s pressure on its allies for defence burden sharing, according to analysts. The agreement, signed on February 25 as part of a 2+2 foreign and defence ministerial meeting, followed the security and defence cooperation partnership established by the two countries in October. According to a joint statement issued after... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345670/middle-powers-canada-south-korea-set-arctic-course-between-china-russia-and-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345670/middle-powers-canada-south-korea-set-arctic-course-between-china-russia-and-us?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 06:00:21 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi,Yuanyue Dang Seong Hyeon Choi,Yuanyue Dang The US and Israel’s air strikes against Iran, supported by electronic and cyber capabilities, serve as a “wake-up call” for China’s intelligence strategy and its military’s approach to deploying advanced technologies in modern warfare, analysts say. In weekend air strikes against Iran that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the US struck over 1,000 targets with an array of advanced weaponry, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, stealth fighters and bombers. And for the first time... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345123/iran-attack-seen-wake-call-chinas-electronic-warfare-and-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3345123/iran-attack-seen-wake-call-chinas-electronic-warfare-and-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:42:23 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The United States needs to go on the offensive in space to be able to “turn around and punch” back at China’s rapidly expanding surveillance satellite network, according to a US Space Force general. According to the US military news website The War Zone, Lieutenant General Gregory Gagnon said China had built “the second-best remote sensing architecture in the world from outer space”. He said China had expanded from fewer than 100 satellites in 2013, when Chinese President Xi Jinping first came... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344873/us-must-be-able-turn-around-and-punch-space-china-boosts-satellites-general?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344873/us-must-be-able-turn-around-and-punch-space-china-boosts-satellites-general?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 09:15:26 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi China’s maritime militia was deployed in “record-high numbers” across the disputed South China Sea in 2025, according to a US think tank report. However, the report also cited a concentration of civilian fishing fleets near less contested reefs, saying this suggested their waning strategic role for Beijing. The report was published on Monday by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) – a research programme affiliated with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344474/record-chinese-maritime-militia-deployed-south-china-sea-2025-us-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344474/record-chinese-maritime-militia-deployed-south-china-sea-2025-us-report?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 10:18:23 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi China’s push to sell its J-35 fifth generation fighter jet in the Asia-Pacific was likely to face stiff competition from US rival the F-35 as well as cheaper alternatives, military analysts said after the plane featured at this year’s Singapore Airshow. They said political and economic considerations apart from performance would weigh on potential buyers, and questioned how many countries would want to buy the Chinese plane. In Singapore this month, the booth operated by China National... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344208/can-china-find-market-its-fifth-generation-j-35-warplanes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344208/can-china-find-market-its-fifth-generation-j-35-warplanes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Feb 2026 14:00:09 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi,Meredith Chen,Dewey Sim Seong Hyeon Choi,Meredith Chen,Dewey Sim Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi highlighted what she called Chinese “coercion” as she delivered her first parliamentary speech since her party’s landslide victory about two weeks ago, while also calling for continued communication with Beijing. Analysts say this indicates Tokyo will prioritise its ties with Washington but also attempt to maintain pragmatic engagement with Beijing as a strategic hedge. Takaichi said on Friday that Beijing’s growing “coercion” was driving the island nation... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344178/japans-takaichi-targets-chinese-coercion-us-ties-first-speech-after-landslide-win?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3344178/japans-takaichi-targets-chinese-coercion-us-ties-first-speech-after-landslide-win?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 14:00:51 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi US and Chinese fighter jets have engaged in a rare stand-off over the Yellow Sea, according to media reports in South Korea. This comes at a time when the United States has been trying to shift the focus of its troops stationed in the country away from North Korea to concentrate more on China. The incident on Wednesday involved around 10 US F-16s, which took off from Osan Air Base around 65km (40 miles) south of Seoul and flew west over the Yellow Sea as part of a training operation, according... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344147/china-scrambles-fighters-confront-us-warplanes-based-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3344147/china-scrambles-fighters-confront-us-warplanes-based-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 12:01:49 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi,Fan Chen Seong Hyeon Choi,Fan Chen A former president of Iceland has rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that nearby Greenland was surrounded by Chinese and Russian vessels, saying it was “not supported by facts”. In an interview on the sidelines of last weekend’s Munich Security Conference, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who was Iceland’s president from 1996 to 2016, said there were “no Russian and Chinese ships in the waters of Greenland”. Trump said last month that the US “needed Greenland” – a Danish territory – “from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343884/trumps-claim-chinese-and-russian-ships-near-greenland-not-supported-facts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343884/trumps-claim-chinese-and-russian-ships-near-greenland-not-supported-facts?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 10:00:17 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Chinese military activities – and the need to respond to them – were framed as a major driver of cooperation between US allies in the Indo-Pacific and Europe during this year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC). It comes as Washington pushes its allies to spend more on their own defence and in the collective defence of the “first island chain” to deter potential war with China. Speaking at the conference on Saturday, Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary of defence for policy, said that while... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343636/munich-us-urges-collective-strength-among-allies-deter-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343636/munich-us-urges-collective-strength-among-allies-deter-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 22:00:21 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham,Fan Chen,Seong Hyeon Choi Finbarr Bermingham,Fan Chen,Seong Hyeon Choi The US and China sought to manage their great power competition at Europe’s premier defence summit on Saturday, even as their top diplomats traded thinly veiled barbs at their respective roles in the current global tumult. In back-to-back speeches at the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke of the need to carefully manage the superpowers’ differences, continuing a relative thaw that is expected to see US President Donald Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343593/rubio-wang-yi-manage-us-china-great-power-rivalry-munich-even-core-tensions-linger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343593/rubio-wang-yi-manage-us-china-great-power-rivalry-munich-even-core-tensions-linger?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:00:08 +0000 Fan Chen,Seong Hyeon Choi Fan Chen,Seong Hyeon Choi China and the US could get along well but whether that goal is reached would ultimately depend on the United States, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. Wang said China sought to find the right way for the two major countries to get along well through dialogue and consultation, and would continue on this path in the interest “of our own peoples” and in line with the expectations of the international community. “But whether we can achieve that goal... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343579/chinas-wang-yi-calls-global-governance-reform-amid-global-turbulence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343579/chinas-wang-yi-calls-global-governance-reform-amid-global-turbulence?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 08:54:00 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The US is converting Cold War-era helicopters into drones, a move defence experts say could play a “critical role” in any conflict with Beijing over the Taiwan Strait. The PLA has also been retrofitting outdated aircraft to act as uncrewed drones, with both militaries unveiling similar systems within a month of each other last year. The S-70UAS U-Hawk, a fully autonomous helicopter based on the UH-60 Black Hawk, was first showcased last October at an annual American military event, where it was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3342774/black-hawk-drone-new-frontier-us-rivalry-beijing-over-taiwan-strait?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3342774/black-hawk-drone-new-frontier-us-rivalry-beijing-over-taiwan-strait?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2026 14:00:08 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Lockheed Martin expects to have around 300 of its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets operating in the Asia-Pacific by 2035, one of the US aerospace giant’s senior executives said at the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday. Steve Sheehy, aeronautics vice-president of international business development, made the prediction during a media briefing in which he cited the “emergence of threat” in the region and the “game-changing” interoperability achieved by US allies. Lockheed Martin’s appearance at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3342328/record-f-35-deliveries-muscle-american-allies-asia-pacific-region?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3342328/record-f-35-deliveries-muscle-american-allies-asia-pacific-region?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 05:32:26 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi China’s 4.5-generation fighter the J-10C appeared at the Singapore Airshow this week amid a drive by Beijing to boost arms sales to Southeast Asia. The model has gained increasing global prominence following reports last May that it had been used by the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down at least one French-made Rafale fighter operated by India during a brief border conflict. The seven J-10C jets taking part in the Singapore Airshow arrived last Wednesday, accompanied by a Y-20A refuelling... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3342255/chinas-j-10c-performs-singapore-air-show-after-lead-role-india-pakistan-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3342255/chinas-j-10c-performs-singapore-air-show-after-lead-role-india-pakistan-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:01:46 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The Pentagon has signalled a shift for US forces in South Korea, pushing them to expand their role beyond North Korea to help deter Beijing in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere in the region, according to experts. The analysis follows a visit to South Korea this week by Elbridge Colby, the US undersecretary of defence for policy and a key architect of the Pentagon’s National Defence Strategy. In his first trip outside the United States since taking office in April, Colby hinted at a possible... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341991/pentagon-eyes-expanded-role-south-korea-based-us-forces-help-deter-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341991/pentagon-eyes-expanded-role-south-korea-based-us-forces-help-deter-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 14:00:14 +0000 Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi The first close-up image of the Chinese PL-17 long-range missile – one of the most mysterious weapons in the PLA Air Force’s arsenal – appears to have surfaced online. Analysts say the PL-17 may be the world’s longest-range air-to-air missile, posing a threat to US air superiority in the western Pacific. A photo believed to show the PL-17 has recently been making the rounds on Chinese social media. The date and location of the photo are unclear, although the angle of view is extremely close. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341883/has-chinas-pl-17-missile-likely-pacific-game-changer-finally-been-seen-close?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341883/has-chinas-pl-17-missile-likely-pacific-game-changer-finally-been-seen-close?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:00:15 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi China’s new dry dock near the South China Sea could help it avoid having an aircraft carrier “gap” in the disputed waterway and pave the way for military outreach to the Indian Ocean, analysts said. According to a report by American geospatial intelligence company AllSource Analysis, satellite imagery on January 21 showed the first use of a new dry dock at Yulin Naval Base in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, for the likely maintenance of PLA Navy aircraft carriers. The report said... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341270/shandongs-use-plas-newest-dry-dock-near-south-china-sea-suggests-carrier-milestone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341270/shandongs-use-plas-newest-dry-dock-near-south-china-sea-suggests-carrier-milestone?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:36:10 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi In the US State Department’s catalogue of priorities for the next five years, Taiwan rates exactly zero mentions. The department’s Agency Strategic Plan does list peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific as a goal but its top focus after national security is the western hemisphere. The plan sets out the direction of US foreign policy and foreign assistance between 2026 and 2030 and in doing so, sidesteps the island entirely. It is a contrast to the White House’s National Security Strategy (NSS)... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341101/what-about-taiwan-why-us-foreign-policy-now-all-about-western-hemisphere?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341101/what-about-taiwan-why-us-foreign-policy-now-all-about-western-hemisphere?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 14:00:10 +0000 Liu Zhen,Seong Hyeon Choi Liu Zhen,Seong Hyeon Choi Thailand, a US treaty ally, has been adding to its arsenal of Chinese-made weapons with deals for ships, tanks and other high-value hardware. Analysts put the trend down to pragmatic considerations. The Royal Thai Army has finalised a deal to buy an additional batch of Chinese-made VN-1 armoured vehicles for 1 billion baht (US$32 million). This is expected to add around 20 new units to its existing fleet of more than 100 VN-1s, according to local media reports. The contract was signed on January... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341089/why-thailand-us-treaty-ally-stocking-chinese-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3341089/why-thailand-us-treaty-ally-stocking-chinese-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 10:00:16 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi By 2030, China could operate about 1,000 units of the J-20 fifth-generation fighter jet, possibly challenging the US and its allies’ air power projection near the first island chain, according to a British think tank. A report this month by the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) found a “dramatic increase” in the past five years in China’s capacity to contest Western air power, citing the production of “modern and highly capable” fourth- and fifth-generation fighters. While the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3340871/how-1000-chinese-j-20s-could-challenge-us-dominance-indo-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3340871/how-1000-chinese-j-20s-could-challenge-us-dominance-indo-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 13:00:10 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Nato members must collectively protect the Arctic from growing Chinese and Russian influence, the chief of the security alliance said on Wednesday, while sidestepping the issue of Washington’s controversial bid to acquire Greenland. Speaking at an event during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said the transatlantic security alliance was crucial not only for the defence of Europe, but also for the US, which required a “safe Arctic, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3340730/sidestepping-greenland-row-nato-chief-urges-arctic-unity-counter-china-and-russia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3340730/sidestepping-greenland-row-nato-chief-urges-arctic-unity-counter-china-and-russia?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 13:21:09 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi A US aircraft carrier has reportedly left the South China Sea after a live-fire drill and is heading to the Middle East amid anti-government protests in Iran. US cable news network NewsNation reported on Thursday that the Pentagon ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group, which includes Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, to leave their position in the South China Sea and sail towards the Middle East. According to the US Naval Institute’s carrier tracker, there... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3340015/us-aircraft-carrier-steams-south-china-sea-mideast-after-trump-threat-against-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3340015/us-aircraft-carrier-steams-south-china-sea-mideast-after-trump-threat-against-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:05:15 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s back-to-back visits to China and Japan suggest a “pragmatic approach” to reset ties with both countries as tensions soar between Beijing and Tokyo, analysts said. Lee met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday during a two-day trip to Japan. Speaking to reporters after their summit in Nara – Takaichi’s hometown – Lee said there was “unprecedented turmoil” in the global political landscape and trade order. He stressed the need for South Korea and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339989/south-korean-leader-lee-takes-pragmatic-approach-reset-ties-china-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3339989/south-korean-leader-lee-takes-pragmatic-approach-reset-ties-china-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jan 2026 08:00:14 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi A bit more than a week after the United States abducted former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid on Caracas, US President Donald Trump is threatening military action against Iran, which is seeing a massive wave of anti-government protests. Yet a strike aimed at taking out the Iranian leadership could prove harder, given that Iran’s more sophisticated air defence system is also reported to be integrating China’s most advanced exported technology. On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his social... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339847/why-us-may-find-irans-air-defence-system-harder-break-venezuelas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339847/why-us-may-find-irans-air-defence-system-harder-break-venezuelas?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 09:02:24 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi America’s top defence official declared that the US must achieve unquestioned AI “dominance” to prevent adversaries from gaining a technological edge, as he unveiled a strategy that includes integrating Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth’s announcement did not mention China by name, but it came a month after a report to the US Congress in which the Pentagon warned of Beijing’s accelerating use of AI to reach its military modernisation goals. On Monday, Hegseth said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339743/us-moves-ai-dominance-outpace-china-new-overwhelming-military-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339743/us-moves-ai-dominance-outpace-china-new-overwhelming-military-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:14:14 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Reported discussions between Riyadh and Islamabad over a potential deal involving fighter jets co-developed by China and Pakistan could be a “big win” for Beijing’s arms exports to the Gulf region, analysts said. However, doubts remained over whether such an agreement would actually proceed on the grounds that the JF-17 was in such marked contrast to Saudi Arabia’s Western-centric air force. A Reuters report on Thursday that cited two Pakistani sources said Islamabad and Riyadh were in talks for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339553/chinese-arms-exporters-may-be-big-winners-any-pakistan-saudi-jf-17-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339553/chinese-arms-exporters-may-be-big-winners-any-pakistan-saudi-jf-17-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:29:32 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi,Sylvie Zhuang Seong Hyeon Choi,Sylvie Zhuang US President Donald Trump’s proposal to boost next year’s military budget to US$1.5 trillion aims to blunt China’s global influence, a move analysts said could push Beijing to speed up its own military build-up with “greater urgency”. On Wednesday, Trump wrote on social media that the US military budget for the 2027 financial year should be raised in the face of “very troubled and dangerous times”. “This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339229/trump-wants-us15-trillion-dream-military-will-china-boost-spending-response?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339229/trump-wants-us15-trillion-dream-military-will-china-boost-spending-response?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2026 14:11:08 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi The United States’ decapitation operation against Venezuela will reinforce North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, an aspiration that will continue to draw China’s “tacit tolerance”, according to analysts. After the US military abducted Nicolas Maduro during an attack on Venezuela on Saturday, Pyongyang criticised Washington’s actions as “wildly” violating the sovereignty of Caracas. It was one of a slew of countries that issued swift criticism of the US move. In a statement on Sunday, the North Korean... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339129/kim-jong-un-expected-cling-nuclear-security-blanket-after-venezuela-decapitation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339129/kim-jong-un-expected-cling-nuclear-security-blanket-after-venezuela-decapitation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2026 05:00:08 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi As the new year unfolds, China finds itself grappling with strategic pressures fuelled by two US treaty allies at its doorstep – Japan and South Korea. In the second of a two-part series, Seong Hyeon Choi looks at how competing pressures in the Korean peninsula may complicate China’s security calculus. Read the first part here. In 2025, there was a major shift in China’s security environment relating to the Korean peninsula, as the North grew more open in its push for nuclear weapons and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3338853/korean-peninsula-arms-race-heating-how-will-china-react-2026?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3338853/korean-peninsula-arms-race-heating-how-will-china-react-2026?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:00:09 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi,Alcott Wei,Oliver Balch Seong Hyeon Choi,Alcott Wei,Oliver Balch Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “patience” over North Korea’s nuclear programme, the South’s president, Lee Jae Myung, said on Wednesday. Speaking during a visit to Shanghai, Lee said he had asked Xi to act as a “mediator for peace” on the Korean peninsula, including on the nuclear issue. He said all channels between the North and South had been blocked and there was “zero trust” between the two sides. “President Xi noted the efforts until now and said patience is needed,” Lee said. He... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339046/chinese-president-xi-jinping-urges-seoul-be-patient-over-north-korean-nuclear-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3339046/chinese-president-xi-jinping-urges-seoul-be-patient-over-north-korean-nuclear-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:01:11 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi As the new year unfolds, China finds itself grappling with strategic pressures fuelled by two US treaty allies at its doorstep – Japan and South Korea. In the first of a two-part series, Seong Hyeon Choi looks at how historically fraught China-Japan ties might fare as Tokyo bolsters its military posture with record budgets and advanced weaponry. Read the second part here. China and Japan have never fully resolved the decades-old grudges of their wartime history and territorial disputes, but it... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3338769/china-japan-military-tensions-what-lies-ahead-2026?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3338769/china-japan-military-tensions-what-lies-ahead-2026?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2026 01:00:29 +0000 Amber Wang,Seong Hyeon Choi,Yuanyue Dang Amber Wang,Seong Hyeon Choi,Yuanyue Dang US President Donald Trump’s new battleship plan, apparently aimed at deterring China, faces huge implementation hurdles and could cause Beijing to double down on its anti-ship weapons, according to analysts. Trump unveiled a new class of navy battleships on Monday. These “Trump-class” ships will be larger, faster and “100 times more powerful” than any previously built, according to the American leader, forming the centrepiece of what he called an expanded “Golden Fleet” aimed at cementing US... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3337739/golden-fleet-will-trumps-battleship-plan-deter-china-or-it-just-pipe-dream?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3337739/golden-fleet-will-trumps-battleship-plan-deter-china-or-it-just-pipe-dream?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Dec 2025 22:00:16 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Beijing’s build-up of maritime facilities in a contested part of the Yellow Sea is expected to trigger “more scrutiny” from South Korea, a report by a US think tank has warned. According to a report published on Monday by the website Beyond Parallel – a project operated by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies – there has been “growing” Chinese activity in and around the Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) in the Yellow Sea. It said Beijing was building buoys in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336626/chinas-build-yellow-sea-facilities-expected-fuel-south-korean-suspicions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336626/chinas-build-yellow-sea-facilities-expected-fuel-south-korean-suspicions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:00:25 +0000