Russia-Ukraine Conflict
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Conflicts - Tensions
Beijing’s support for Russia casts doubt on claims of respect for other nations’ sovereignty
FORUM Staff Days before Russia’s unprovoked 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) top foreign policy official claimed that Beijing respects the sovereignty and independence of all nations, including Ukraine. Days afterward, the PRC abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote demanding Russia stop its attack on Kyiv. A decade earlier, the PRC pledged “to provide…
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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
Swarming drone ‘hellscape’ to deter PRC use of force against Taiwan
FORUM Staff A key to maintaining a Free and Open Indo-Pacific involves thousands of armed drones providing a swarming “hellscape” to deter Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping from ordering the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to cross the Taiwan Strait and invade self-governed Taiwan. United States Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), recently said the…
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Conflicts - Tensions
PRC harbors ship tied to illicit Russia-North Korea arms transfers
Reuters The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is providing moorage for a sanctioned Russian cargo ship implicated in North Korean arms transfers to Russia, satellite images show. The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a United Kingdom-based think tank, said the Angara — which since August 2023 has transported thousands of containers believed to contain North Korean munitions to Russian ports…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Allies, Partners resolute over North Korea WMD sanctions, condemn Russia’s veto
FORUM Staff Russia’s latest attempt to weaken monitoring of United Nations sanctions of North Korea over its illegal nuclear weapons program will have negligible impact, according to security experts. In late March 2024, Moscow vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have extended the mandate for a panel of experts (POE) to monitor the sanctions. The veto has instead…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Russia’s arms sales plummet as India, others seek new suppliers
FORUM Staff Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine continues to impose a heavy toll on Moscow beyond the battlefield, as international sanctions bite into the regime’s arms exports and qualms about quality and reliability prompt longtime customers in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere to seek new weapons suppliers. Moscow’s arms exports plummeted by 53% over the past decade, dropping Russia out of…
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Across The Region
Indo-Pacific Partners
National security advisors for Japan, the Philippines and the United States held their first joint talks in June 2023 and agreed to strengthen defense cooperation, as Indo-Pacific partners reinforce their alliances to address growing tensions over North Korea, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The three officials discussed the “turbulent regional security environment and…
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Features
Persistent partnerships in cyberspace
FORUM Staff When Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Lt. Gen. Hiroe Jiro went to Ukraine in 2020, the nation’s sophisticated cyber defenses came as a surprise. It was six years after Russia seized Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine, launching a yearslong cyber onslaught along the way. Russian-affiliated cyberattacks targeted Ukraine’s Central Election Commission, took down power grids and unleashed malware. Disruptive…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Slippery Moves
FORUM STAFF A dearth of modern tanker ships willing to carry sanctioned Russian oil has given rise to a “shadow” fleet of more than 600 past-their-prime vessels that deliver crude and refined petroleum to receptive nations. The vessels elude detection by obscuring their ownership, turning off automatic identification system (AIS) devices, transferring cargo at sea and “spoofing,” or broadcasting a…
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Conflicts - Tensions
PRC’s global security initiative contradicts actions
Dr. Jinghao Zhou The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) foreign ministry released a paper in February 2023 addressing international security challenges and solutions. The Global Security Initiative (GSI) reflected a speech by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping 10 months earlier in which he unveiled his GSI proposal. It is imperative that those who question recent CCP actions…
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