All entries by this author

Defense expenditure falls further in budget request

Sep 2nd, 2009 | By | Category: Articles, Military Spending

(Sep 01, 2009) The nation saw a decline in the central government’s defense budget request for the second consecutive year since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) took office in May last year. Based on the central government’s budget statement sent to the legislature for deliberation in the upcoming session, which starts in the middle of [...]



Gates Presses Lockheed to Meet F-35 Cost, Schedule

Sep 2nd, 2009 | By | Category: Countries, United States

(Aug. 31) Bloomberg — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. must get control of how it buys weapons in an era of budget constraints and he wants to ensure the F-35 fighter stays on schedule for deployment to the armed forces. [read more]



Intellectuals from South Korea, U.S. and Japan call for peace in security in Northeast Asia

Sep 2nd, 2009 | By | Category: Disarmament

(Aug, 21. 2009) (Seoul)-Korean, American and Japanese intellectuals issued a joint statement on Aug 20 calling for peace and security in Northeast Asia and for U.S. President Barack Obama and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to come up with a fundamental plan to reduce North Korea-U.S. confrontation in order to end what they are calling a vicious cycle of hardline responses. [read more]



Missile defense system upgrade, new helicopter carrier part of defense budget

Sep 2nd, 2009 | By | Category: Military Spending

(Sept. 1, 2009) The Ministry of Defense released its 4.85-trillion-yen budget plan for the next fiscal year on Monday, including provisions for upgrading the nation’s missile defense system and purchasing a new helicopter carrier. The current PAC-3 missile interceptor system, which currently covers the Tokyo metropolitan area and vicinities between the Tokai and Kansai regions, [...]



Taiwan’s Major Threat Is Nature, Not China, President Ma Says

Sep 1st, 2009 | By | Category: Countries, Peoples Republic of China

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — Taiwan’s biggest threat is from nature, not mainland China, President Ma Ying-jeou said today when outlining plans for the island’s military to do more to limit losses from natural disasters. [read more]



Will Japanese Policies towards North Korea Thaw?

Sep 1st, 2009 | By | Category: Countries, Japan

(2009-8-31) The Japanese opposition Democratic Party led by Yukio Hatoyama won a historic victory in the August 30 election, and changes in Japan’s North Korea Policy are among the many potential shifts being watched for in the international community. [read more]



U.S. concerned about Seoul’s defense budget, minister’s letter says

Sep 1st, 2009 | By | Category: Military Spending


N. Korea extends invitation to Bosworth for nuclear talks: sources

Sep 1st, 2009 | By | Category: Six-Party Talks

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) — North Korea has requested that Ambassador Stephen Bosworth visit Pyongyang next month to discuss the six-party talks on the North’s denuclearization, which have been stalled over international sanctions on North Korea, diplomatic sources here said Monday. [read more]



UN chief calls for action on weapons, climate change

Aug 12th, 2009 | By | Category: Disarmament, Military Spending

(August, 11. 2008)
SEOUL — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Monday for renewed international efforts to tackle the twin threats to the world posed by nuclear weapons and climate change. [read more]



Obama Sets Markers On Defense Spending

Jul 28th, 2009 | By | Category: Countries, Military Spending, United States

(July 15, 2009) The White House this morning issued its official position on a Pentagon funding bill that is its first showdown with Congress on fixing what it calls a broken Defense Department procurement system.

President Obama categorically threatens to veto the bill only because of one provision — more money for the F-22 stealth fighter, which was designed for dogfights during the Cold War, but which the Pentagon says is ill-suited to current defense needs.[read more]



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