Beijing’s South China Sea militia fleet largest ever
China’s maritime militia of professional and civilian vessels increased its activity at Mischief and Whitsun reefs in 2025 while boosting its overall South China Sea
PLA repels Philippine aircraft’s illegal intrusion over China’s Huangyan Dao: source
The Global Times learned on Wednesday from sources that several Philippine aircraft recently illegally intruded into China’s territorial airspace over Huangyan Dao without Chinese government
Iran hits huge Qatari gas facility in missile strike
Iran has struck the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export facility in Qatar after threatening to hit key sites across the Gulf. Officials in Qatar
Mojtaba Khamenei vows revenge for Larijani assassination
Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge on the killers of Ali Larijani in his second statement since taking power. Iran’s new supreme leader, who has still not
With Larijani dead, Iran must choose between negotiation and destruction
It took 20 one-ton bombs to remove the one Iranian official who could end the war. Ali Larijani was the person Western diplomats believed could actually
Tehran won’t fall without a ground offensive, says Kurdish leader
Iran’s regime has been weakened but will not fall without a ground offensive by Kurdish forces, a leader of one of their armed groups has
Trump’s three options for reopening the Strait of Hormuz
For decades, Iran has held the Strait of Hormuz as its trump card in reserve. And now, they have played it. The 21-mile-wide choke point – through
Keeping Australia’s national-security community fit to avoid strategic surprises
Strategic surprise rarely occurs because there is no warning. Signals accumulate, intelligence reporting circulates and analysts identify emerging risks. Strategic surprise occurs when institutions cannot
Jakarta treaty’s real test may be rhetorical, not military
When Australia and Indonesia signed the Jakarta Treaty on Common Security in February, the central question was never whether it sounded historic. It did. The
Despite a supposedly defensive policy, China’s military budget rises fast
China’s military budget increases keep painting a picture that’s inconsistent with the country’s claims to a defensive policy. The rise for calendar 2026 would be