Category: South East Asia

High-ranking Pakistani spy official killed, 7 injured in clash with militants

A Pakistani intelligence official was killed and seven of his team members were injured in an encounter with militants in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, the country’s military said. The region has seen a resurgence of Islamist militant attacks since late last year, including a deadly bombing of a mosque in the city of Peshawar that killed over 100 people, mostly […]

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Pakistan court grants Imran Khan bail in terrorism cases

A Pakistani court on Tuesday granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan a weeklong bail in two new cases in which he faces terrorism charges, officials said. The ruling gave the embattled ousted premier and now popular opposition leader another brief reprieve from arrest. Since his ouster in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last April, the 70-year-old former cricket player turned […]

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Russia-China ties enter ‘new era’ as Xi meets Putin in Moscow

Xi signs an agreement with Russian president Vladimir Putin cementing their ‘no limits’ partnership, days after the latter was issued an international arrest warrant. China’s President Xi Jinping has said he signed an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin bringing their ties into a “new era” of cooperation, as the two leaders called for “responsible dialogue” to resolve the […]

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Washington Tries to Ease Potential Anger by China over Taiwan Leader’s Upcoming Visit to US

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to lower any possible animosity from China over an upcoming visit to the United States by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. President Tsai will stopover in California and New York later this month before embarking on an official mission to Central America. An unnamed administration official says the Biden administration has told […]

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A Peaceful China-Taiwan Reunification Is No Longer Possible – OpEd

Since the nationalist forces established a government on the island of Taiwan in 1949, all Chinese leaders have adhered to the reunification of the motherland based on the priority of political and military actions. The only thing that has changed over the past decades is China’s military capability through which it can now attack Taiwan and objectify united China. But […]

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Indonesian And Malaysian Concerns Over AUKUS – Analysis

Operating nuclear submarines from HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth will increase military surveillance off Australian coastline Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, and US president Joe Biden, publicly announced an implementation timetable for the AUKUS agreement, which until this week had been very abstract. Under the plan, there would be a combined fleet of nuclear-powered […]

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Six Myths About China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign – Analysis

Few people in the West think of China as a kleptocracy, or at least not in the same sense as Vladimir Putin’s Russia. This is perhaps because the scale and nature of China’s global engagement are of an entirely different order. But systemic corruption has also shaped China’s domestic governance, and as Beijing pushes for worldwide influence, it increasingly exports […]

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How Current Great-Power Competition Helps Taliban In Afghanistan – Analysis

The Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan is a new geopolitical reality that the world is still grappling with. Over the past year, the Taliban has continued its quest for diplomatic recognition with varying degrees of success. While most countries have shied away from affording the group any status of political normalcy, others such as Iran, Russia, and China, pushed by new […]

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Rise Of ‘Militarism’ In Japan – OpEd

Japan’s traditional constitution calls for the armed forces to forever abandon the principle of war and formulate foreign policy. The country can no longer maintain that tradition. On 12 December 2022, Japan’s ruling party coalition, composed of 90 percent of Liberal Democratic Party MPs and 10 percent of Komeito Party MPs, agreed on a change in national security strategy. Along […]

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Pak-Afghan Relations: Key To Regional Stability – OpEd

Pakistan and Afghanistan are conjoined twins having centuries-old cultural, religious, social, and economic ties. The prosperity of both the nations and, to a great extent, of the entire region, is wedded to their peaceful coexistence. Peace and stability in one country directly impact the other. Similarly, mistrust and violence pave the way for inimical foreign forces to further the conflict […]

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