CSIS

European Union Maintaining Uneasy Maritime Relationship with China, Admiral Says

French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle sets on Feb. 21 2021. French Navy Photo

When the European Union assesses China’s behavior in the South China Sea, the 27 nations see a threat to their security, but they also view Beijing as a partner to combat Indian Ocean pirates, the director general of its military staff said Thursday.

Vice Adm. Hervé Bléjean said the EU realizes it has “to connect with like-minded nations … to counter some activities from the South China Sea to the Black Sea” where...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/03/european-union-maintaining-uneasy-maritime-relationship-with-china-admiral-says

Panel: Russia Conflicted by America’s Afghanistan Withdrawal

U.S. Army soldiers board a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft prior to departure for Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Allies Refuge at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on Aug. 13, 2021. US Air Force Photo

Russia’s Afghanistan failures in the 1980s are driving the Kremlin’s thinking of how to deal with the Taliban and the possible rise of religious extremism near its borders, two scholars on Central Asia said Wednesday.

Pavel Baev, a professor at Oslo’s Peace...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/22/panel-russia-conflicted-by-americas-afghanistan-withdrawal

Taiwanese Official Say Island’s Freedom Key to Stable Indo-Pacific

President Tsai Ing-wen reviews a Marine Corps battalion in Kaohsiung in July 2020. Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China

Taiwan needs to remind Washington of the island’s geostrategic role in maintaining a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific, one of its top diplomats said Tuesday.

Chiu Chuicheng, deputy minister of the mainland affairs council, said President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have misjudged the resolve of the United State, United Kingdom, the...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/17/taiwanese-official-say-islands-freedom-key-to-stable-indo-pacific

Duckworth Calls for Closer Ties to Taiwan, More U.S. Vaccine Diplomacy

Soldiers from a M110A2 self-propelled artillery squad from the Republic of China (Taiwan) Army. CNA Photo

The Taiwan Strait is a key route of trade and is as important as the Malacca Strait, between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, for the free flow of commerce in the Indo-Pacific, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.) said Indo-Pacific nations view the U.S. Navy’s strait transits through the Taiwan Strait and...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/10/duckworth-calls-for-closer-ties-to-taiwan-more-u-s-vaccine-diplomacy

AFRICOM: U.S. Forces ‘Commuting to Work’ to Curb Rising Terror Threat in Somalia After Pullout

U.S. forces host a range day with the Danab Brigade in Somalia, May 9, 2021. US Air Force Photo

After leaving Somalia in December, U.S. forces are “commuting to work” from other parts of Africa and Europe to combat the rising terrorist threat in Somalia and across the region.

Army Gen. Stephen Townsend added, “there’s really no denying” that the Trump administration’s sudden decision in December to pull most U.S. forces out of Somalia raised the level of risk across the Horn of Africa. Al Shabab,...

https://news.usni.org/2021/07/01/africom-u-s-forces-commuting-to-work-to-curb-rising-terror-threat-in-somalia-after-pullout

Panel: Japan Needs More Offensive Firepower to Counter Chinese Ambitions

An F/A-18E (left) of the ‘Royal Maces’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 27 flies in formation with two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15J Eagles during a dissimilar air combat training near Okinawa, Japan in 2015. US Navy Photo

The China Coast Guard’s aggressive behavior around the Senkaku islands, Beijing’s build-up of coastal military capabilities and this weekend’s transit of a People’s Liberation Army Navy carrier strike group near Okinawa underline Tokyo’s need for its own offensive...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/06/panel-japan-needs-more-offensive-firepower-to-counter-chinese-ambitions

Panel: Many U.S. Defense Spending Trends Based on What’s Happening in China, Russia

The launch of the Type 75 big-deck amphib in Shanghai. PLAN Photo

Questions about China’s defense spending, programs and systems – and the Pentagon’s response – dominated a Wednesday House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing on future U.S. defense spending trends.

Thomas Mahnken, chief executive officer of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told the subcommittee that, when it comes to Beijing’s current security spending, “the majority of their spending is actually on...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/26/panel-many-u-s-defense-spending-trends-based-on-whats-happening-in-china-russia

Hyten: U.S. ‘Not In A Very Good Position’ Due to Chinese and Russian Missile Capabilities

Chinese DF-26 missiles on display during a military parade in Tiananmen Square. Photo via globalsecurity.org

China, Russia, North Korea and Iran’s continued investment in modernizing cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles has left the United States “not in a very good position,” the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Tuesday.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, speaking in a Center for Strategic and International Studies online forum, said “we need [to] have a strategic deterrence review” that...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/24/hyten-u-s-not-in-a-very-good-position-due-to-chinese-and-russian-missile-capabilities

Kathleen Hicks: Current Navy Shipbuilding Plan Needs ‘Future Analysis’

Deputy Defense Secretary nominee Kathleen Hicks. Center for Strategic and International Studies Photo

The nominee for the number-two civilian job in the Pentagon told a Senate panel on Tuesday the Navy’s proposed long-term shipbuilding plan would “require future analysis to validate the numbers.”

Before that work could kick-off, Kathleen Hicks said during her confirmation hearing to serve as deputy defense secretary that she would want to have a Navy civilian leadership team in place.

Sen. Roger...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/02/kathleen-hicks-current-navy-shipbuilding-plan-needs-future-analysis

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