Above Photo: Prime Minister of the Solomon islands Manasseh Sogavare, second left, talks to Chinese President Xi Jinping, not pictured, during their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, on October 9, 2019. Parker Song / Pool Photo / AP. The Anglo ruling classes have gone into a state of frenzy over a recently-signed security agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Solomon Islands. Various people who had barely heard of the Solomon Islands just a few weeks ago are now expressing grave concern that this small sovereign nation could be used as a pawn by an aggressive […]
Pacific
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Above Photo: Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare with Chinese president Xi Jinping. China Daily. The security cooperation deal signed between the two governments came in the backdrop of anti-Chinese violence and riots precipitating in a political crisis on the island nation in November last year. The United States and its Pacific allies have sounded alarm bells over a security cooperation deal signed between Solomon Islands and China, with threats directed at China. On Sunday, April 24, the Chinese embassy in Solomon Islands hit back at the comments made by the US delegation that visited the Pacific nation last week, calling […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/102168/67/1021686745_20:0:1986:1106_1200x675_80_0_0_03c37bb45075fba404d3558b8452172c.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/russia/202010191080812327-diesel-powered-submarines-conduct-underwater-duel-in-sea-of-japan-russian-pacific-fleet-says/ MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Two diesel-powered submarines of the Russian Pacific Fleet have conducted an underwater duel in the Sea of Japan as part of scheduled drills, the press service of the Pacific Fleet informed in a statement. “At the training ground, two Pacific Fleet submarines have worked out practical skills in the search, attack and counterattack of a simulated enemy submarine using … weaponry and hydroacoustic countermeasures,” the statement says. As part of the drills, one of the submarines attacked the other, “enemy,” submarine with torpedoes. The naval training exercises were provided for by […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/105600/36/1056003633_0:43:3487:2005_1200x675_80_0_0_1804f3ddbd9cca8d11eb1d2e3bec5200.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/russia/202009071080386246-russias-pacific-fleet-enhances-security-measures-over-typhoon-haishen/ VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) – Russia’s Pacific Fleet has boosted security measures in the Primorsky Territory in the wake of approaching Typhoon Haishen, the fleet’s spokesman, Nikolai Voskresensky said on Monday. Viktor Chulkov, a spokesman for the local branch of the Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia, told Sputnik that Typhoon Haishen, raging across northeast Asia, is approaching Russia’s Primorsky Territory faster than forecast, with the arrival expected on Monday. Local authorities have declared storm warning on 7-8 September over the typhoon. “The forces of the Pacific Fleet, stationed in the Primorsky Territory, are ready for the passage […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/13/1080210441_4:0:3644:2048_1200x675_80_0_0_3d99cdca85bb0dfd3a443c3fb4e0a095.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/latam/202008191080210473-mexico-closes-ports-on-pacific-coast-over-hurricane-genevieve/ MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Mexico has closed several ports located on the Pacific coast over the approaching Hurricane Genevieve, the National Coordination of Civil Protection said on Tuesday. Earlier, Genevieve has been designated as a category four hurricane. “[The Mexican Secretariat of the Navy] reports the closure of ports in PacificoMexicano [the Pacific coast of Mexico] for the passage of Genevieve”, the coordination said on Twitter. Among the closed ports are Manzanillo, Lazaro Cardenas, Zihuatanejo y Puerto Marques, and Puerto Angel for small vessels, and Manzanillo for large ones. A category four hurricane is considered […]
Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan to the United States on 15 August 1945 as Soviet armies invaded his puppet state in Manchuria. After the Second World War ended, the US hunted down a broadcaster who had betrayed her country. Between 1941 and 1945 a succession of honey-voiced women broadcast in English on Radio Tokyo, serenading the American soldiers who were pushing the Imperial Japanese Army back across the Pacific. Radio Tokyo would pump out propaganda and misinformation on behalf of the Japanese Empire, including exaggerated claims about US casualties and erroneous claims about the sinking of American aircraft carriers, […]
The head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said last week his top priority is establishing an Aegis Ashore system on Guam by 2026. New air defenses will help protect U.S. citizens and forces in Guam; but as Japan’s government found, Aegis Ashore may not be the best option to protect military and civilian targets from growing and improving Chinese and North Korean missile threats. Guam is pivotal to U.S. and allied military posture in the Western Pacific. Home to Andersen Air Force Base and Apra Harbor, it is far enough from adversaries like China and North Korea to negate the threat from […]
In late June, a Chinese government think tank warned of a possible military conflict due to the US military’s “unprecedented” deployment to the Asia-Pacific region. War Zone has reported about “substantial improvements” to the secretive US military base on Wake Island, described by the news outlet as “America’s remote outpost deep in the Pacific”. “The major expansions to the [Wake Island] airfield began early this year and are still underway today”, War Zone said, referring to new satellite imagery that it obtained from the private American imaging company Planet Labs. The improvements include a large apron expansion on the eastern side […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/106299/69/1062996915_0:170:3037:1878_1200x675_80_0_0_05a52b7acbbf3d2337415cd14a0d03e7.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/military/202006271079736510-russian-tu-142mk-aircraft-escorted-by-us-and-norwegian-fighters-over-arctic-and-pacific-oceans/ Three of the Russian bombers were performing a scheduled mission over the Barents and Norwegian Seas, while another four planes flew over the Pacific Ocean, the Russian Defence Ministry said, stressing that the flights were conducted in strict compliance with international regulations. Russian anti-submarine Tu-142MK aircraft have conducted flights over the Barents and Norwegian seas, as well as over the Pacific Ocean, and were escorted by fighters from the United States and Norway, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday. According to the ministry, Norway scrambled F-16 fighters to escort the Russian bombers over […]
Following news that US President Donald Trump intends to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien suggested they might be headed for the Pacific instead. On June 15, Trump announced his intent to slash US troops garrisoned in Germany by nearly 10,000 until the Central European nation pays its “delinquent” NATO support bill. Each NATO nation is expected, but not required, to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense; Germany dedicated 1.4% of its GDP to military matters last year. The move would leave about 25,000 US troops in Germany. […]
Having nerves of steel is an essential attribute for any confidence trickster, and Inigo Philbrick, 33, described as the art world’s Bernie Madoff for an alleged $20m fraud, certainly had those. Philbrick, who was arrested last week while strolling through the locked-down streets of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu, wearing just swimming trunks and a t-shirt, had made no attempt to hide his identity and had been using his own name to book tennis lessons and in dealings with local businesses on the island, the industry website Artnet reports. After being picked up, Philbrick was frogmarched to a Gulfstream jet […]
Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) fighters, US Navy E/A-18G Growlers and two US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers linked up over the Sea of Japan on Wednesday to conduct a number of training missions and demonstrate their joint readiness in the Indo-Pacific region. Pacific Air Forces detailed in a June 17 news release that US and Japanese service members were able to conduct a number of realistic, lengthy missions while demonstrating the forces’ “unwavering commitment to the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region.” The B-52s were observed conducting long-range escort and intercept training with four F-2s and 12 F-15s of […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107957/96/1079579645_0:26:3396:1936_1200x675_80_0_0_957730b335a14dad24e8bcfda3b30d3b.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/asia/202006101079579724-us-carriers-reagan-nimitz-sail-into-pacific-after-monthslong-absence-of-american-warships/ The US Navy has come roaring back from the COVID-19 lockdowns of months past, now having three aircraft carriers underway in the Pacific Ocean. On Monday, two carrier strike groups put to sea in the Pacific: the USS Nimitz departed from San Diego, California, and the USS Ronald Reagan set sail from Yokosuka, Japan. The Reagan had been in port for months for repairs, but the Nimitz just finished up drills following the end of its repairs in late April. Sailors in both strike groups endured a 14-day quarantine period, in order to prevent […]
Cryptocurrency-related investment scams targeting Pacific communities are on the increase, New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and Commerce Commission have warned. Concerns over various crypto-related frauds alongside coronavirus-related scams have now prompted the two regulators to launch an awareness campaign aimed to stop communities falling foul of the criminal schemes. According to the FMA, there has been a “steady increase in complaints” relating to a variety of different frauds since March. Social media bitcoin scams that fake celebrity endorsements and news articles were identified as being the most widely reported among the different types. The FMA’s director of regulation, Liam Mason, […]