Russia
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Conflicts - Tensions
Far East territorial dispute tests PRC-Russia ties
FORUM Staff With his authoritarian regime already isolated and weakened because of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin now has stirred up discord in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the most important of Moscow’s few remaining backers. The flare-up centers on an intractable territorial dispute over Russia’s Far East, which is home to Moscow’s Pacific Fleet…
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Northeast Asia
North Korea, PRC partnership built on shaky ground
FORUM Staff Regardless of the North Korea-People’s Republic of China (PRC) declaration that 2024 will be a year of friendship between the nations, Pyongyang’s erratic behavior, banned nuclear and missile programs, and growing ties with Russia cast a shadow over North Korea’s relationship with Beijing. Analysts say Moscow and Pyongyang likely acted without the PRC’s input in trading North Korean…
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Global Commons
CCP’s espionage threatens military, critical infrastructure systems worldwide
FORUM Staff To modernize its military under General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sought to steal critical industrial and military information and advanced technologies from foreign corporations, governments, militaries and universities through a range of techniques, according to defense experts. “The behavior we’re talking about here goes well beyond traditional espionage,” Mike Burgess, director general of…
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Conflicts - Tensions
North Koreans starve amid regime’s military spending, arms deal with Russia
FORUM Staff North Korea’s rural economy is in “a terrible situation,” the isolated nation’s dictator said in late January 2024, admitting a “failure to satisfactorily provide the people in local areas with basic living necessities including condiments, foodstuff and consumption goods,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. Days after Kim Jong Un’s admission, North Korean diplomats met in Pyongyang…
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Northeast Asia
North Korea-Russia arms transfers threaten global security
FORUM Staff More than 40 nations have condemned North Korea’s export and Russia’s procurement of ballistic missiles for Moscow’s unprovoked war on Ukraine. North Korea provided Russia with several dozen such missiles and missile launchers, violating United Nations resolutions that ban arms exports from Pyongyang and undermining global nonproliferation efforts, United States officials said in January 2024. Missiles that Russia…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Report reveals importance of U.S., Allies, Partners countering PRC aggression in 2024
FORUM Staff The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is increasingly using military coercion in its attempts to overturn the established system of international laws and norms, according to the 2023 China Military Power Report (CMPR) by the United States Department of Defense (DOD). Security analysts expect the trend to continue in 2024. The DOD, for example, documented more than 300…
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Conflicts - Tensions
North Korea-Russia arms deal destabilizes region, undercuts nonproliferation efforts
FORUM Staff North Korean and Russian actions are undermining multinational nonproliferation efforts in the Indo-Pacific. Enhanced cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang will offer North Korea’s authoritarian regime access to intelligence, analysis and sensitive technology to accelerate its banned ballistic and nuclear weapons programs, Sue Mi Terry, a Korea expert and former Central Intelligence Agency analyst, said in an episode of…
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Features
Protecting Civilians During Conflict
FORUM Staff Territorial disputes, political ambitions and resource competition often spark or escalate armed conflicts. The resulting wars, regardless of their cause, come with complicated consequences. Among them: short- and long-term devastation, and civilian deaths that account for nearly 90% of wartime casualties, according to a 2022 United Nations Security Council report. One of the grimmest pictures of conflict’s toll…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
Experts: PRC, Russia uphold North Korea’s human rights violations
FORUM Staff Japan, South Korea and the United States are aligned on improving human rights in North Korea, experts say. Meanwhile, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia are exacerbating conditions for a beleaguered North Korean population. “China and Russia are really helping to facilitate a worsening of the North Korean human rights situation,” Victor Cha, an Asia expert…
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Northeast Asia
Maverick states challenge nuclear weapons verification standards
FORUM Staff Disregard of a United Nations agreement that discourages the spread of nuclear weapons and related technology jeopardizes worldwide security, experts say. Some Indo-Pacific regimes directly violate the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons or diminish its confidence-building measures. The agreement, which entered into force in 1970 and is commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is the…
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