Month: May 2023

North Korea Launches Space Satellite; Warnings Lifted in South Korea, Japan

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SEOUL/TOKYO —  North Korea launched what it called a space satellite toward the south on Wednesday local time, South Korea’s military said, prompting emergency alerts and brief evacuation warnings in parts of South Korea and Japan. North Korea had said it would launch its first military reconnaissance satellite between May 31 and June 11 to boost monitoring of U.S. activities. In data provided to international authorities, North Korea said the launch would carry the rocket south, with various stages and other debris expected to fall over the Yellow Sea and…

China Declines US Offer for Defense Talks in Singapore this Week

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pentagon —  The Pentagon says China has declined a request by the U.S. for a meeting between their defense chiefs at an annual security forum in Singapore this weekend. Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the U.S. in early May had offered for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to meet with the People’s Republic of China Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu, but that invitation was turned down this week. Both defense leaders are slated to attend the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, with Austin speaking on Saturday and…

Intense clashes in Myanmar’s Chin, Shan states leaves 19 dead

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Intense fighting between the military and anti-junta forces in Myanmar’s Chin and Shan states since the weekend left 19 dead, including four civilians, RFA Burmese has learned.  The clashes, which killed an 11-year-old boy and left a dozen civilians injured, are the latest to erupt in two areas known as hotbeds of resistance to military rule since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat. Salai James, the chairman of the anti-junta Zofe Chin Defense Force, told RFA that a battle broke out between his paramilitaries and military troops in the Chin…

Pentagon accuses Chinese fighter jet of ‘aggressive’ action near US plane

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A Chinese fighter jet performed an “unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre” near a US military aircraft that was flying over the South China Sea last week, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The US Indo-Pacific Command released video footage of the incident, which it said happened on Friday, as US defence secretary Lloyd Austin was on his way to the region for a visit with stops in Japan, Singapore and India. It was the latest in a number of similar encounters and comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.…

China suspends plan to build floating nuclear reactors in the South China Sea

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The move was a surprise for the project’s scientists, since floating nuclear power reactors are generally regarded as safer than those on land. According to Wang’s team, the floating power plants would be more acceptable for governments and the general public since they would be located at sea with less impact than land-based facilities. The ocean acts as a natural heat sink, which helps cool the reactor core and makes it inherently safer Nuclear research team They are also less vulnerable to earthquakes because seismic waves do not travel well…

North Korea plans to launch spy satellite in June

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North Korea on Tuesday revealed that it would launch its first military reconnaissance satellite in June to monitor U.S. and South Korean military activities, including regularly scheduled joint exercises. In a statement published in the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Ri Pyong Chol, the vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party, said that the satellite would launch next month.  He said it would counter various activities by United States and South Korean forces, including a plan to deploy an American nuclear submarine to South Korean…

Chinese pilot performed ‘aggressive maneuver’ near US plane, military says

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A Chinese fighter pilot performed an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” near an American surveillance aircraft operating over the South China Sea last week, according to US military. The incident – which the Pentagon says is part of a pattern of behavior by China – comes at a time of already heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan and an alleged Chinese spy balloon that was shot down after traversing the United States earlier this year. The Chinese plane “flew directly in front of and within 400 feet of…

Chinese and US jets tangle over South China Sea

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UPDATED at 6:10 p.m. EST on 2023-05-30 A Chinese J-16 fighter jet last week carried out “an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” near an American reconnaissance plane that was flying above the South China Sea, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. The incident, which occurred Friday, follows a near collision of Chinese and American jets late last year over the same contested waters.  A video released by the U.S. military shows the Chinese fighter jet approaching the American plane at a high altitude before turning sharply, veering away suddenly and disappearing in…

Tibetans in western China ordered to vacate land for hydropower dam construction

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Chinese authorities have ordered Tibetans living in Rebgong county, in western China, to vacate their land for the construction of a hydropower dam, forcing them off the farmlands they need to make a living, two Tibetans with knowledge of the situation said. Authorities in Lingya village, about an hour’s drive from Rebgong, issued the order on May 23, requiring seven villages in the region to move so the Chinese government can begin the first phase of construction 10 days after the notice’s issue date, said a Tibetan from Rebgong who now…

Humanitarian groups say storm aid still not reaching parts of Myanmar’s Rakhine state

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More than two weeks after Cyclone Mocha damaged much of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, many people still haven’t received aid, and humanitarian groups are asking the military junta to relax restrictions on road transport so that food and supplies can reach affected areas. Junta soldiers have set up security gates along the Yangon-Sittwe highway to block traffic between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Donor organizations and humanitarian groups have been sending supplies to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, said Khaing Kaung San, secretary of the Sittwe-based Wan Lark Foundation. “It needs…