#indopacific — Public Fediverse posts

Japan's Golden Week diplomatic push highlights a growing focus on economic security and strategic outreach, but its compressed timing and lack of institutional flexibility raise doubts about how strategic it truly is. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/05/10/japan/japans-recent-diplomatic-offensive/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #sanaetakaichi #indopacific #middleeast #europe #africa #us #china #vietnam #australia #centralasia #southasia #russia #southeastasia #shinzoabe #freeandopenindopacific #foip #diet

Japan's Golden Week diplomatic push highlights a growing focus on economic security and strategic outreach, but its compressed timing and lack of institutional flexibility raise doubts about how strategic it truly is. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/05/10/japan/japans-recent-diplomatic-offensive/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #sanaetakaichi #indopacific #middleeast #europe #africa #us #china #vietnam #australia #centralasia #southasia #russia #southeastasia #shinzoabe #freeandopenindopacific #foip #diet

Japan's Golden Week diplomatic push highlights a growing focus on economic security and strategic outreach, but its compressed timing and lack of institutional flexibility raise doubts about how strategic it truly is. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/05/10/japan/japans-recent-diplomatic-offensive/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #sanaetakaichi #indopacific #middleeast #europe #africa #us #china #vietnam #australia #centralasia #southasia #russia #southeastasia #shinzoabe #freeandopenindopacific #foip #diet

Japan's Golden Week diplomatic push highlights a growing focus on economic security and strategic outreach, but its compressed timing and lack of institutional flexibility raise doubts about how strategic it truly is. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/05/10/japan/japans-recent-diplomatic-offensive/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #sanaetakaichi #indopacific #middleeast #europe #africa #us #china #vietnam #australia #centralasia #southasia #russia #southeastasia #shinzoabe #freeandopenindopacific #foip #diet

A new defense cooperation agreement positions Jakarta as a key partner in securing one of the world's busiest maritime corridors. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/05/08/japan/indonesia-japan-defense-pact/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #indonesia #defense #indonesiajapanrelations #shinjirokoizumi #northnatunasea #malaccastrait #indopacific #us #china #taiwan #southeastasia

https://www.alojapan.com/1481222/ukraine-sees-path-to-getting-japanese-arms-after-tokyo-eases-export-rules/ Ukraine sees path to getting Japanese arms after Tokyo eases export rules #australia #China #EastAsia #EuropeanContinent #FumioKishida #IndoPacific #Japan #kyiv #MiddleEast #nato #news #Russia #SanaeTakaichi #Taiwan #Tokyo #TokyoNews #Ukraine #YuriiLutovinov #東京 #東京都 Japan’s relaxation of its weapons-export rules opens a path for talks that could one day lead to Tokyo supplying military equipment to help Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion, Kyiv

https://www.alojapan.com/1481222/ukraine-sees-path-to-getting-japanese-arms-after-tokyo-eases-export-rules/ Ukraine sees path to getting Japanese arms after Tokyo eases export rules #australia #China #EastAsia #EuropeanContinent #FumioKishida #IndoPacific #Japan #kyiv #MiddleEast #nato #news #Russia #SanaeTakaichi #Taiwan #Tokyo #TokyoNews #Ukraine #YuriiLutovinov #東京 #東京都 Japan’s relaxation of its weapons-export rules opens a path for talks that could one day lead to Tokyo supplying military equipment to help Ukraine resist Russia’s invasion, Kyiv

https://www.europesays.com/uk/917114/ India-Germany defence road map ‘good template’ for wider EU cooperation #BorisPistorius #Brussels #CUdayBhaskar #China #Delhi #DongkeunLee #EU #Europe #Germany #India #IndianOcean #IndoPacific #MazagonDockShipbuildersLimited #pakistan #RajnathSingh

India-Germany defence road map ‘good template’ for wider EU cooperation https://www.byteseu.com/1963150/ #BorisPistorius #Brussels #CUdayBhaskar #China #Delhi #DongkeunLee #eu #Europe #Germany #india #IndianOcean #IndoPacific #MazagonDockShipbuildersLimited #Pakistan #RajnathSingh

Japan sealed its largest-ever defense export contract with Australia on Saturday, in a major breakthrough for the country's defense industry. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/04/18/japan/mogami-japan-australia-announcement/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #australia #australiajapanrelations #richardmarles #sdf #defense #shinjirokoizumi #indopacific #defense #defenseministry

Philippines, US military drills underscore Washington’s defense commitment, US official says

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2026/04/15/312032/philippines-us-military-drills-underscore-washingtons-defense-commitment-us-official-says/

At a meeting this week, the Japanese and Australian defense chiefs delivered a clear message: crises elsewhere — including in the Middle East — must not come at the expense of Indo-Pacific security. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/04/09/japan/politics/japan-australia-defense-ministers-asia/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #australia #australiajapanrelations #richardmarles #sdf #defense #shinjirokoizumi #us #iran #middleeast #ukraine #indopacific #defense #defenseministry

US weapons or China’s friendship? Iran war revives Taiwan’s security debate

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://news.bomboradyo.com/us-weapons-or-chinas-friendship-iran-war-revives-taiwans-security-debate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=us-weapons-or-chinas-friendship-iran-war-revives-taiwans-security-debate

https://www.alojapan.com/1472150/space-force-leaders-visit-japan-to-strengthen-partnership-u-s-indo-pacific-command-news/ Space Force leaders visit Japan to strengthen partnership > U.S. Indo-Pacific Command > NEWS #combatant #defense #død #IndoPacific #IndoPacificCommand #indopacom #usindopacom #VisitJapan While in Japan, Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr., SpOC commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Caleb Lloyd, SpOC command senior enlisted leader, met with members of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s Space Operations Group, which was activated in 2022, at Fuchu Air B

https://www.alojapan.com/1472150/space-force-leaders-visit-japan-to-strengthen-partnership-u-s-indo-pacific-command-news/ Space Force leaders visit Japan to strengthen partnership > U.S. Indo-Pacific Command > NEWS #combatant #defense #død #IndoPacific #IndoPacificCommand #indopacom #usindopacom #VisitJapan While in Japan, Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr., SpOC commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Caleb Lloyd, SpOC command senior enlisted leader, met with members of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s Space Operations Group, which was activated in 2022, at Fuchu Air B

The U.S. attacks on Iran contradict Washington’s stated strategic priorities, risk draining resources from the Indo-Pacific focus on China and expose the persistent dilemma of Middle East entanglements. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/03/03/world/middle-east-ensnares-a-us-president/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #us #defense #iran #donaldtrump #israel #benjaminnetanyahu #operationepicfury #ayatollahalikhamenei #nss #indopacific #china #barackobama #russia #ukraine #russiaukrainewar #syria #middleeast

In 1989, he stood in Tiananmen Square as a student leader.
Today, Wu’er Kaixi reflects on democracy, exile, and what the world still misunderstands about China.

New episode: Surviving Tiananmen Square.

🎙️ Listen here:

Apple
https://apple.co/3OIHQoD

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2XcBo6ULpBL7j56AbbCKoE?si=RUl14fSbTre9D-DTmwMV_g

SoundCloud
https://on.soundcloud.com/LARbq0qOQwORJsDa8e

#TiananmenSquare
#China, #CCP, #Chinesepolitics
#Democracy
#Geopolitics
#wuerkaixi, #humanRights #freedom
#worldhistory #Taiwan #podcast
#indopacific

It may sound heretical, but China could prove the better strategic geopolitical bet than the U.S. under the Trump administration. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/02/18/world/as-trump-betrays-allies-and-norms-why-not-china/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #donaldtrump #marcorubio #friedrichmerz #securityconference #nato #us #china #eu #russia #ukraine #indopacific #beijing #nss

Un des organismes les plus "joueurs" avec les plongeurs bio :
<< c'est un #vers tubicole ?! hé bé non ! :-P >> .
Le vermet géant a dorénavant sa fiche !

MÜLLER Yves, LE GRANCHÉ Philippe in : #DORIS, 11/02/2026 :
Thylacodes grandis (Gray, 1842), https://doris.ffessm.fr/ref/specie/3823

#biodiversite #Mollusca #gastropoda #Vermetidae #biodiversity #ffessm #IndoPacific #tubicole #carapace

The new opposition centrist force that was supposed to upend Japan’s political calculus isn’t gaining any ground. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/02/04/japan/how-unpredictable-is-the-snap-election/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #ldp #cdp #komeito #cra #dpp #sanseito #jip #china #us #indopacific #eastasia #senkakus #xijinping #sanaetakaichi #2026lowerhouseelection #nipponishinnokai #diet

Japan’s Feb. 8 snap election is less about short-term politics than a pivotal choice among competing coalition paths that will determine whether the country can adapt its domestic politics to shifting voter behavior. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/02/03/japan/where-japan-goes-from-here/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #ldp #jip #cdp #komeito #cra #dpp #sanseito #china #unitedstates #indopacific #eastasia #senkakuislands #xijinping #sanaetakaichi #2026lowerhouseelection

Japan enters 2026 with rare political stability under Prime Minister Takaichi, but her durability will depend on managing a fragile coalition, navigating U.S. pressure and delivering long-term economic solutions. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/07/japan/takaichis-2026-political-landscape/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #sanaetakaichi #ldp #jip #donaldtrump #usdefense #indopacific #japaneseeconomy

China's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Taipei said, its first transit of the sensitive waterway since formally entering service last month. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/17/asia-pacific/chinese-aircraft-carrier-taiwan-strait/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #china #pla #taiwan #indopacific #aircraftcarriers

Degradation caused by human activities:
"Indonesian environmentalists blame rapid forest loss in Sumatra for severity of deadly floods."

"Environmental groups say the government is hypocritical and partly to blame for the destruction, given its approval of mining and logging permits. Environmentalists want an official audit of land use in Sumatra and other Indonesian islands, saying extractive industries combined with disasters could produce more devastation."

"...The floods and landslides that have devastated parts of Sumatra have been made worse by extensive deforestation driven by the approval of hundreds of extractive permits... Deforestation and mining activities in Sumatra had intensified the effects of the disaster and led to more deaths."

"Data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry showed in Sumatra there were at least 1,907 active mining permits covering a total area of almost 2.5 million hectares."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-04/why-is-indonesia-the-most-severly-affected-by-cyclone-senyar/106095614
#floods #landslides #diy #extractivism #deforestation #mining #energy #LoggingImpacts #PulpPaper #EU #EudR #forests #climate #plantations #extractivism #biodiversity #governance #IndoPacific

Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasized the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC summit Saturday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/01/asia-pacific/politics/apec-summit-trade-wrapup/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #apec #indopacific #southkorea #trade #tariffs #donaldtrump #us #china #leejaemyung #xijinping #globaleconomy

The commander of a British aircraft carrier strike group said in an exclusive interview that the group will have achieved "full operating capability" by the time it returns home, following a landmark visit to Japan. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/02/asia-pacific/uk-aircraft-carrier-commander-japan/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #uk #ukjapanrelations #defense #indopacific #aircraftcarriers #f35 #sdf

Modi: Modi is moving his pawns to check Trump
https://vaartha.com/modi-strategic-moves-to-counter-trump/international/529694/
#Modi #NarendraModi #DonaldTrump #IndiaUSRelations #TradeTensions #StrategicDiplomacy #IndiaTrade #USIndiaTariffs #GlobalPolitics #Geopolitics #ModiVsTrump #IndiaRussiaRelations #ForeignPolicy #IndoPacific #GlobalStrategy

Two Chinese aircraft carriers conducted about 1,000 takeoffs and landings of fighter jets based on the vessels during recent sailings that saw them punch further into the Pacific Ocean, Japan’s defense chief said Friday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/20/japan/china-aircraft-carriers-1000-sorties/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #china #chinajapanrelations #sdf #defense #defenseministry #pla #taiwan #indopacific #aircraftcarriers

🇺🇸 US | 🇹🇼 TAIWAN
🔴 Trump Plans Surge in Taiwan Arms Sales

🔸 Trump aims to exceed his first-term $18.65B arms sales to Taiwan over next 4 years.
🔸 Upcoming packages to focus on missiles, munitions, and drones.
🔸 Move could heighten military tensions with China amid rising regional strain.

#Taiwan #Trump #China #ArmsSales #US #IndoPacific

🇺🇸 US | 🇨🇳 CHINA
🔴 US Counters China with Nmesis Missile System

🔸 US deploys Nmesis to Batan Island, near Taiwan, to counter Chinese naval power.
🔸 Nmesis uses Norway’s Naval Strike Missiles (185 km range) to hit moving sea targets.
🔸 System’s launcher is unmanned; controlled via two separate vehicles.

#US #China #Philippines #Taiwan #Nmesis #IndoPacific #NavalStrikeMissile

🇺🇸 US | 🇨🇳 CHINA
🔴 US Counters China with Nmesis Missile System

🔸 US deploys Nmesis to Batan Island, near Taiwan, to counter Chinese naval power.
🔸 Nmesis uses Norway’s Naval Strike Missiles (185 km range) to hit moving sea targets.
🔸 System’s launcher is unmanned; controlled via two separate vehicles.

#US #China #Philippines #Taiwan #Nmesis #IndoPacific #NavalStrikeMissile

🇺🇸 US | 🇨🇳 CHINA
🔴 US Counters China with Nmesis Missile System

🔸 US deploys Nmesis to Batan Island, near Taiwan, to counter Chinese naval power.
🔸 Nmesis uses Norway’s Naval Strike Missiles (185 km range) to hit moving sea targets.
🔸 System’s launcher is unmanned; controlled via two separate vehicles.

#US #China #Philippines #Taiwan #Nmesis #IndoPacific #NavalStrikeMissile

🇺🇸 US | 🇨🇳 CHINA
🔴 US Counters China with Nmesis Missile System

🔸 US deploys Nmesis to Batan Island, near Taiwan, to counter Chinese naval power.
🔸 Nmesis uses Norway’s Naval Strike Missiles (185 km range) to hit moving sea targets.
🔸 System’s launcher is unmanned; controlled via two separate vehicles.

#US #China #Philippines #Taiwan #Nmesis #IndoPacific #NavalStrikeMissile

Optimizing U.S. and Allied Forces for Deterrence and Defense Throughout Indo-Pacom: From Korea to Australia and Everywhere in Between https://www.byteseu.com/1041850/ #Deterrence #IndoPacific #INDOPACOM #SouthKorea #StrategicDeterrence #UsForeignPolicy

France’s first deployment of a carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific in 60 years has allowed its navy to deepen its understanding of the region and boost interoperability with partner nations. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/02/18/asia-pacific/france-navy-carrier-commander-interview/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #france #indopacific #francejapanrelations #msdf #defense #aircraftcarriers

PALAWAN, Philippines — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited a Filipino military base only miles from the South China Sea, a sign of resolve against Chinese harassment in the waterway that flared this summer.

Antonio Bautista Air Base was Austin’s final stop in the Philippines, a country he’s visited more than any previous secretary of defense. He spoke with officials from Manila’s Western Command, which defends Filipino claims to the South China Sea — mapped in bright green on the wall inside the base’s headquarters.

The trip itself is a message to China, which claims ownership over much of the area despite a 2016 ruling from the United Nations saying otherwise.

In response, the U.S. and Philippines’ militaries have recently become much closer partners. American officials often attribute this warmth to shared interests and values. During a Tuesday press conference, though, Manila’s top defense official was more direct.

“The operative factor ... which has caused this alliance to be as robust as it is, is the Chinese overreach and aggression,” said Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, noting that Austin initiated the visit.

Teodoro was referencing behavior around the islands mapped in the headquarters’ lobby, in particular Second Thomas Shoal. This is the site of an ageing Filipino outpost that houses a clutch of its marines.

To protest the Philippines’ presence there, Chinese coast guard ships have blocked missions to resupply the outpost. At times they’ve done so violently, including a standoff this June in which Chinese forces rammed Filipino ships and brandished knives, cutting off one sailor’s thumb.

The crisis nearly triggered a mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and the Philippines, whose president has said would activate if China killed a Filipino citizen.

Austin later declined to specify whether the U.S. agrees with that threshold, though American officials have long argued that the treaty applies to the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines later negotiated a temporary deal to avoid further crises around Second Thomas Shoal. Rather than ceasing altogether, Chinese ships and planes have kept up such behavior around other disputed parts of the South China Sea.

Austin is not America’s first defense secretary to visit Palawan, but he’s the first one to do so in this era of conflict around the waterway.

A painting a local student made for Austin drove home the point. It featured the American and Philippines’ flags above two clasped hands in uniform, with the words: “West Philippine Sea, it’s ours,” referring to another name for the South China Sea.

To help the Philippines defend its territory, the U.S. recently sent the country half a billion dollars in long-term security aid, more than 12 times the number last year. Meanwhile, Manila is also funding a more capable military — investing $35 billion in the effort over 10 years.

The aid will act as a kickstart, mainly buying equipment to help Manila monitor its waterways. While at the base Tuesday, Austin watched a demonstration of maritime drones already being delivered to the Philippines through U.S. assistance.

These systems, which look like rowboats with a swiveling camera on top, are already deployed to Oyster Bay, another part of Palawan. Austin said that the Philippines will be ordering more drones with the aid.

The base Austin visited on the island is one of nine military sites where the U.S. can rotate in equipment of its own — a number of locations that almost doubled in his time as secretary. Some of the bases are more developed than others, and even the one on Palawan partly overlaps with the jungle, as wild animals roam and locals hang clothes out to dry.

Though Congress has yet to pass this year’s defense budget, the Pentagon has requested $128 million to build military infrastructure across the nine sites. The number is more than twice that of the previous year.

Projects like these will help the Pentagon bring more and more advanced equipment to the country, such as the Typhon, a missile launcher with a range long enough to catch China’s attention.

The U.S. deployed one of the launchers to the Philippines this spring, and Manila has sought to buy one of its own. American defense officials, speaking with reporters traveling alongside Austin, acknowledged the interest but said the weapon is still in development and not yet for sale.#south-china-sea #philippines #indo-pacific #china #dn-dnr #circulated-defense-news #circulated-military-times
Pentagon chief visits island near South China Sea in sign to Beijing

DARWIN, Australia — The U.S., Australia and Japan agreed to broaden a series of drills and trainings Sunday, the next step in preparing their militaries to work together in crisis.

To announce the changes, the three countries’ top defense official gathered at a base in Darwin, which sits on Australia’s northern coast and, in a sign of how much their relationship has grown, was once bombed heavily by Japan during the second world war.

A group of U.S. Marines have rotated through the site for almost 15 years, and it’s since become a symbol of Washington and Canberra’s military ties.

Those two countries are now expanding the clique to include Japan.

Starting next year, Tokyo will send a brigade to train with the Australian and American militaries. The first of these exercises will be Talisman Sabre held farther west in Queensland in 2025, though Japan said it would also play a larger role in other drills — building up to a live-fire version of the exercise in 2027.

Australia, meanwhile, committed to the same in exercises held in Japan.

“Because you’ve got the exercises bilaterally, what you’re really doing is accelerating the cooperation between Australian and Japanese forces,” said Brad Glosserman, an expert on the Japanese military who advises the Pacific Forum, a think tank.

The upshot is that the drills will no longer act as a straight line, connecting two militaries. They’ll now look more like a triangle, helping each country learn each other’s habits, language and equipment.

The teaming could help in the event of a crisis, whether from a natural disaster or conflict with America’s top rival, China. In particular, a U.S. defense official said, Japan and Australia will learn from American Marines on how to fight in littorals. These shallow-water environments resemble Taiwan and the South China Sea, where China has grown more aggressive in recent years.

And in the case of Japan and Australia, the exercises will involve two of the region’s most powerful and growing militaries. In the last two years each country has pledged to increase defense spending and buy more advanced weapons. The change has been especially stark in Japan, whose pacifist constitution still restricts its armed forces.

Partnering U.S. allies in the region in new ways has been a hallmark of the Biden Pentagon’s approach to the Indo-Pacific. For almost 70 years, the U.S. interacted with other countries like the hub and spokes of a bike wheel: each had a relationship with America, but not each other.

That model is changing as the U.S. — and a more threatening China — has encouraged such countries to work together. After the reelection of Donald Trump in November, it’s also a sign of American allies clinging to each other amid uncertainty in Washington.

“All of this is about trying to insulate them from the potential disruptions of the Trump administration,” Glosserman said.

Two years ago, Australia and Japan signed a deal that allows their militaries to access each other’s territory. In 2026, Japan may deploy its advanced F-35 fighters to Australia during exercise Pitch Black, its defense minister said Sunday. And the two are also building weapons together, with Japan interested in the second pillar of AUKUS, a submarine pact between the U.S., U.K. and Australia that includes development of advanced technology.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is on his last official trip to the Indo-Pacific. While there, he’s trying to reassure his counterparts that Washington won’t veer from its commitments despite the change in administration.

In part to make the U.S., Japan and Australia relationship more durable, the three countries agreed to a more formal schedule of meetings for their top defense officials. It’s a similar structure to what the U.S. has built with Japan and South Korea, two historic rivals, over the last two years.

“There’s an enormous strategic benefit in us working more closely together,” Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister and defense minister, said in a briefing here.

Concerning for allies in the region, though, is the chance America doesn’t follow what they see as its strategic interest. Trump’s nominee to replace Austin is Pete Hegseth, a military veteran and Fox News host with no Washington experience.

When asked whether he was confident in Hegseth’s ability, Marles argued just that.

“I approach the prospect of getting to know Pete Hegseth and working with him with enormous optimism,” he said.#pentagon #indo-pacific #australia #japan #china #dn-dnr #circulated-defense-news #circulated-marine-corps-times #circulated-military-times
US, Japan, Australia broaden exercises, set target for live-fire drill

Spurred by fears of a "new Ukraine" in East Asia, European powers are ramping up their presence in the Indo-Pacific. When push comes to shove, though, can they be counted on in a crisis? https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/10/25/asia-pacific/europe-japan-defense-cooperation/ #asiapacific #indopacific #defense #fighterjets #sdf #aircraftcarriers #defenseministry #spain #france #germany #italy #britain #eujapanrelations