(June 15, 2010) Chinese officials often cite increased transparency as a reason others should not be alarmed by its military modernization. Does this claim hold up? In recent years, China has accelerated its military modernization, with double-digit increases in official military budgets funding the development and acquisition of a range of new weapons systems.  The [...]

(June 4, 2010) TOKYO— Naoto Kan, a plain-spoken finance minister with activist roots, was elected prime minister on Friday, making him the fifth Japanese leader in four years. Mr. Kan, 63, won a vote in the lower house of Parliament and will now go through the formality of being appointed by Emperor Akihito. Earlier Friday, [...]

(May 30, 2010) WASHINGTON — Surprised by how easily a South Korean warship was sunk by what an international investigation concluded was a North Korean torpedo fired from a midget submarine, senior American officials say they are planning a long-term program to plug major gaps in the South’s naval defenses. They said the sinking revealed [...]

(May 25, 2010) BEIJING — China and the United States wrapped up three days of high-level meetings here on Tuesday with some modest trade and energy agreements, but the United States made little progress on winning China’s backing for international measures against North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship. Secretary of State [...]

(May 25, 2010) SEOUL, South Korea — Relations between North and South Korea, already strained over the sinking of a South Korean warship, deteriorated to their worst point in many years on Tuesday as the South Korean president redesignated the North as its archenemy, and the North retaliated by severing its few remaining ties with [...]

(May 19, 2010) SEOUL, Korea– To prevent anything like the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan from happening again, South Korea needs to gain the edge over North Korea by securing enough submarines and naval bases for an appropriate military response, a U.S. defense analyst says. Bruce Bennett of the hardline conservative RAND Corporation made [...]

(May 19, 2010) TAIPEI, Taiwan– Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou said Wednesday the island will not engage in an arms race with China, despite the threat it poses, highlighted by the mainland’s efforts to acquire an aircraft carrier. Taiwan will maintain a “small but elite” force to defend itself while continuing to promote trade ties with [...]

(May 18, 2010) SEOUL, Korea– has concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank one of its warships in March, killing 46 sailors, according to government officials and domestic news reports on Tuesday. South Korean officials are preparing to announce the results of their investigation later this week. The much anticipated finding will accuse North Korea [...]

Seoul seeking to counter NK’s asymmetrical warfare (May 16, 2010) Seoul, KOREA– President Lee Myung-bak has directed an increase in expenditure for weapons systems to cope with North Korea’s asymmetrical and irregular warfare, a government source said Sunday. Lee called for spending 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) on arms improvement programs, the source said. The [...]

…will be undersea, say Toshi Yoshihara and James R. Holmes, and will have big political repercussions for the entire Asia-Pacific region. A naval arms race is gathering pace in the Asia-Pacific. It will be unlike the competition that gripped Europe over a century ago, when the great powers sought to outdo each other in the [...]