Internal Security
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Conflicts - Tensions
Beijing’s support of Myanmar’s junta fuels resentment, resistance
Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) backing of Myanmar’s brutal, highly unpopular and illegitimate military junta further exposes Beijing’s hypocrisy and heavy-handed interference in the region. In mid-August 2024, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met with the head of Myanmar’s junta and reiterated the PRC’s support for its efforts “in implementing the five-point roadmap for ensuring…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Australian, island nations’ police to respond to Blue Pacific emergencies
FORUM Staff A new multinational police force based in Australia will provide security for Blue Pacific nations while also serving as a deterrent to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) push to embed itself with law enforcement agencies in the region. The $271 million Pacific Policing Initiative, underwritten by Australia, includes a new training facility in Brisbane and up to…
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Global Commons
U.S. monitoring, disrupting Cuba-PRC spy bases
FORUM Staff Expanded spy stations in Cuba suggest the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is attempting to monitor United States military activities and potentially intercept commercial communications, according to a July 2024 report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The study follows a 2023 report by The Wall Street Journal newspaper that the PRC was…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Japan, Cambodia to train Ukraine on removing land mines
The Associated Press Cambodia and Japan will share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with Ukraine and other countries. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made the announcement during a July 2024 visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, which was formed in the 1990s at the end of the nation’s decades of civil war. It seeks to deal with…
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Conflicts - Tensions
CCP continues its crackdown on military leaders, expelling two former ministers from party
FORUM Staff The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by General Secretary Xi Jinping, expelled two former defense ministers, Le Shangfu and predecessor Wei Fenghe in late June 2024, after stripping them of their military titles. The move is the latest in Xi’s ongoing campaign to eliminate “corruption” among the military ranks and consolidate his power. In the past year, Xi…
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Conflicts - Tensions
PRC hackers increase aim at Taiwan targets, report says
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A suspected People’s Republic of China (PRC)-sponsored hacking group has stepped up its targeting of organizations in Taiwan, particularly those in government, education, technology and diplomacy, according to cybersecurity intelligence company Recorded Future. In recent years, relations have deteriorated between the PRC and Taiwan, a self-governed island across the Taiwan Strait that Beijing claims as its territory…
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Conflicts - Tensions
North Korea’s garbage balloons, other provocations follow regime’s failed satellite launch
FORUM Staff The hundreds of trash-laden balloons that North Korea floated over the fortified border into South Korea were a dangerous provocation, Indo-Pacific Allies and Partners said. The United Nations Command (UNC), which monitors compliance with the armistice that halted the Korean War in 1953, condemned the bizarre act as not only harmful and unsanitary but also a violation of…
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Conflicts - Tensions
PLA antics targeting Taiwan impede Xi’s goals
FORUM Staff The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), under General Secretary Xi Jinping, is using a recent incident near Taiwan’s Kinmen archipelago as an excuse to escalate coercive gray-zone tactics, analysts say. Beijing’s latest moves follow a pattern of increasing military, economic and psychological pressure aimed at Taiwan, the self-governed island the CCP claims and threatens to annex by force. Taiwan’s…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Australian, New Zealand defense forces supporting Solomon Islands elections
Tom Abke International partners including Australia, New Zealand and the United Nations are providing security, logistical and other assistance to support the Solomon Islands conduct national elections in April 2024. In addition to defense and police personnel, Pacific neighbors are contributing financial assistance to the island nation. Almost 150 of the nearly 1,000 islands, atolls and reefs that comprise the…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Accelerate to maintain deterrence edge, experts say
FORUM Staff The message to 1,900 representatives from 15 nations across the Indo-Pacific came repeatedly during the largest-ever Pacific Operational Science & Technology (POST) Conference in early March 2024: There is a need for speed. “Three words: Accelerate. Accelerate. Accelerate. I think we all agree we need to go faster,” said Maj. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, chief of staff, United…
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