Defence Notes
US withdrawal from INF upsets China
Since the 1988 signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the Soviet Union and US, the Cold War agreement abolished all nuclear and conventional …
Defence Notes
Lethality of DF-21D anti-ship missile revealed
Designed specifically to destroy US aircraft carriers, the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is one of China’s key anti-access area denial weapons. However, how it would …
Naval Warfare
Taiwan submarine programme builds momentum
Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) programme is now cracking on after almost two decades of inertia. However, the effort has raised eyebrows in media and …
Digital Battlespace
US intelligence is in bed with Taiwan space agency
Growing evidence, including documents acquired by Shephard, indicate that the US intelligence community and the Pentagon have had a direct relationship with Taiwan’s National Space …
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Defence Notes
US coalition to block North Korean oil
20th September 2018
A US government effort to build a multinational coalition to monitor North Korean violations of fuel smuggling appears to be gaining steam. The Trump administration, …
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Defence Notes
Japan’s budget reflects fears for remote islands
10th September 2018
Japan’s defence budget grew by 2.1% for the 2019 fiscal calendar to a new seven-year high of $47 billion. Much of the money goes to …
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Defence Notes
Taiwan pyrotechnics sale raises question mark
4th September 2018
A $62 million contract for hand-held signal flares is raising questions in Taiwan defence circles. Security Signals Inc, based in Cordova, Tennessee, won a firm-fixed-price …
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Defence Notes
China and Thailand military ties grow
3rd September 2018
When the Thai military took power in Bangkok in May 2014, China took full advantage of downgraded Western ties by cosying up with Thailand’s former …
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Defence Notes
Insight: 2019 NDAA breaks China’s heart
22nd August 2018
The US military got the green light from the White House to improve military relations with Taiwan and attempt to disrupt China’s efforts to displace …
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Defence Notes
China tests a future hypersonic 'hydra'
13th August 2018
Like the mythological hydra, the American ‘Hercules’ appears incapable of dealing with this existential threat. Beijing’s successful test launch of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), dubbed …
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Digital Battlespace
Taiwan hacker conference proves unnerving
31st July 2018
The 2018 Hacks in Taiwan Conference (HITCON) was disturbing. After being founded in 2005, the 14th HITCON was held from 27-28 July at the Taipei …
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Naval Warfare
Insight: China owns South China Sea
30th July 2018
The US appears to have lost the South China Sea permanently to China due to a failure by Washington to check China’s long-term strategy of …
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Defence Notes
Insight: The East China Sea’s ‘Knuckle Junction’
16th July 2018
Any successful military campaign by the Chinese military to capture and secure Japan’s Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea could lead to an ‘existential …
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Digital Battlespace
Insight: Australia on China’s AI shopping list
4th July 2018
China’s advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are closely entangled in obtaining talent and dual-use technologies in both Australia and the US, according to a new …
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Digital Battlespace
China steals US hydrophones
3rd July 2018
An arrest of a Chinese citizen accused of illegally exporting hydrophones to China has set off alarm bells amongst US experts on naval warfare in …
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Defence Notes
Trump kicks North Korea nuclear can down the road
28th June 2018
Even though the ‘Singapore Communique’ was only a basic outline for peace, North Korea specialists were largely aghast by the four non-binding goals signed by …
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Digital Battlespace
China’s ‘sloppy’ American spy
22nd June 2018
The US Justice Department (DOJ) issued a felony complaint against Ron Hansen, a former US intelligence officer, on 2 June, alleging he worked for Chinese …
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Defence Notes
Insight: Canadian intelligence spooks New Zealand
18th June 2018
A report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has raised ire in New Zealand over allegations that Wellington is under Beijing’s thumb. The report, …
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Defence Notes
US releases ‘Mad Dog’ at Shangri-La
5th June 2018
US Defense Secretary James Mattis failed to placate China’s fears that the US government, under the Trump administration, was taking China as a serious existential …
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Digital Battlespace
US needs to become proactive on AI and cyber threats
4th June 2018
Proactive measures need to begin before threats posed by cyber and artificial intelligence (AI) overwhelm our ability to react to them in real-time during a …
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Defence Notes
China and India calm border dispute
2nd June 2018
This week’s 17th Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) began with a panel session on the border dispute between China and India, ahead of a keynote address by Indian …
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Defence Notes
Taiwan faces defence export challenges
25th May 2018
Taiwan’s defence industry is struggling to enter the US defence global supply chain, despite its procurement of billions of dollars of US equipment over the …
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Digital Battlespace
CIA faces crippling challenges in China
17th May 2018
China’s perfection of facial recognition and gait detection software, integrated into algorithms that have access to millions of profiles of ‘blacklisted’ individuals, would give Cold …
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Defence Notes
Xi unleashes PLA on Taiwan
8th May 2018
China’s military and intelligence services have significantly ramped up efforts to undermine the self-ruled island of Taiwan. These strategies have much to teach regional neighbours …
