The captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier ordered to monitor China's military activities around Taiwan says the warship will maintain the necessary readiness to win a fight. "Everything that we do onboard 'Warship 76' is oriented towards the common understanding that not only must we sustain our combat readiness in order to prevail in conflict, but that we also have a responsibility to maintain such a consistently high level of warfighting prowess that those who would otherwise threaten peace in our region understand without any ambiguity that today is not the day they dare pick a fight," said Captain Fred Goldhammer, commanding officer of USS Ronald Reagan , also known as CVN-76. The Japan-based Seventh Fleet released Goldhammer's statement over the weekend as the Nimitz-class supercarrier continued training exercises in the waters east of Taiwan. Kurt Campbell, the White House's top Asia policy adviser, told reporters last Friday that President Joe Biden had directed … [Read more...] about U.S. carrier watched by China will maintain “warfighting prowess”: Captain
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U.S. must challenge “gorilla” China over Taiwan missile tests: Official
A senior U.S. Navy officer described China as a "gorilla in the room" on Tuesday as he argued for pushback against Chinese military drills that would soon create a new status quo around Taiwan. Vice Admiral Karl Thomas, who commands the Seventh Fleet, said Beijing threatened busy commercial shipping lanes around Taiwan when it launched ballistic missiles earlier this month, some of which traveled over the democratically governed island, landing in its surrounding waters. The move was a stated response, which the White House has called an overreaction, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 's recent visit to Taiwan. At least five of the projectiles —Taipei said it detected 11 in total—landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, drawing protests from the U.S. treaty ally that is also home to tens of thousands of American troops. Speaking in Singapore ahead of the Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training naval exercise, commonly known as SEACAT, Thomas said: "It's very important … [Read more...] about U.S. must challenge “gorilla” China over Taiwan missile tests: Official
The Taiwan Tangle: How US-China Tensions Have Pushed ASEAN into A Corner
As ASEAN marks its 55th anniversary, its midyear foreign ministers’ meeting (AMM) of 3 August 2022 was as usual accompanied by two important ministerial meetings of ASEAN-centric bodies. The AMM was followed by the 12th East Asia Summit (EAS) foreign ministers meeting and the 29th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) ministerial meeting — both on 5 August. These meetings were chaired by the current ASEAN chairman, Cambodia, through Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. India was represented by Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar had attended the ASEAN-India meeting on 3 August. The ASEAN Regional Forum in this set of meetings is most important because it meets only at the ministerial level. The EAS FMs report into the EAS summit which is held along with the ASEAN summit in November annually. The ARF is mainly a security-related institution and … [Read more...] about The Taiwan Tangle: How US-China Tensions Have Pushed ASEAN into A Corner