South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested once again in his United Nations speech that the two Koreas and the United States, probably joined by China, declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.
The Philippines is backing a new defence partnership between the United States, Britain and Australia, hoping it can maintain the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region, a view that contrasts sharply with some of its neighbours.
Nations of the Quad grouping have to coordinate their resources, but also their messaging, to pose a formidable challenge to China’s various plans for the Indo-Pacific.
North Korea’s foreign ministry said a new US alliance in the Indo-Pacific and recent US submarine contract with Australia could trigger a “nuclear arms race” in the region.
A recent survey has found that Indonesians are more supportive of “authoritarian” measures to address the devastating pandemic than their Southeast Asian neighbors.
The crux of the AUKUS defense pact announced by the U.S., the U.K. and Australia is an arrangement that will give Canberra its first nuclear-powered submarines and boost the naval power of another American ally in the Pacific.
Top EU diplomat ‘regrets’ not being part of arrangement between Australia, UK and US, but says effect on relations with Washington should not be ‘dramatised’.
The newly announced military partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia – the so-called AUKUS pact – is set to have unclear but likely far-reaching implications for the future strategic balance in Asia.
New Delhi and Canberra have had to bear the brunt of increasingly belligerent Chinese behavior in the Indo-Pacific, pushing their bilateral relationship to new heights.