State Media News

China fired rockets into waters off Taiwan on Tuesday, showcased new assault ships and dismissed prospects of U.S. and allied intervention to block any future attack by Beijing to take control of the island in its most extensive war games to date.As part of drills rehearsing a blockade, China's Eastern Theatre Command conducted 10 hours of live-fire exercises, launching rockets into waters to the north and south of the democratically governed island.Chinese naval and air force units also simulated strikes on maritime and aerial targets and carried out anti-submarine drills around the island…

China fired rockets into waters off Taiwan on Tuesday, showcased new assault ships and dismissed prospects of U.S. and allied intervention to block any future attack by Beijing to take control of the island in its most extensive war games to date.As part of drills rehearsing a blockade, China's Eastern Theatre Command conducted 10 hours of live-fire exercises, launching rockets into waters to the north and south of the democratically governed island.Chinese naval and air force units also simulated strikes on maritime and aerial targets and carried out anti-submarine drills around the island…

China launched its most extensive war games around Taiwan on Monday to showcase Beijing's ability to cut off the island from outside support in a conflict, testing Taipei's resolve to defend itself and its arsenal of U.S.-made weapons.The Eastern Theatre Command said it had deployed troops, warships, fighter jets and artillery for its "Justice Mission 2025" exercises to encircle the democratically-governed island, conduct live fire and simulated strikes on land and sea targets…

Iran has seized a foreign oil tanker near the Iranian island of Qeshm in the Gulf, saying it was carrying 4 million litres of smuggled fuel, state media reported on Friday.Authorities did not name the vessel or disclose its nationality. They said 16 foreign crew members had been detained on criminal charges.

China's military sometimes simulates attacks on foreign naval vessels in the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan shares intelligence with international partners when they operate in those waters, a senior Taiwan security official said on Wednesday.China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, a major trade route for about half of global container ships.Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait is an international waterway, however.U.S.

China has indicated it will ban all imports of Japanese seafood, two government officials in Tokyo said on Wednesday, in what appears to be the latest salvo in an escalating diplomatic dispute between Asia's top two economies.Tensions between the two countries ignited after new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan's survival could trigger a military response.China has demanded she retract the remarks and urged its citizens not to travel to Japan…

The crew of an oil products tanker are safe and the vessel is anchored off Iran's Bandar Abbas port, its manager said on Monday, after Tehran said it seized the ship in open Gulf waters last week.Iran confirmed on Saturday that its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had seized the Talara, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, over alleged cargo violations, Iranian state media reported.It was the first seizure of a tanker by Tehran since Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran in June and has raised…

Iran confirmed on Saturday that its Revolutionary Guards had seized a tanker in Gulf waters carrying a cargo of petrochemicals bound for Singapore over alleged violations, Iranian state media reported.A U.S. official and maritime security sources had said on Friday that Iranian forces intercepted the oil products tanker and diverted it into Iranian territorial waters. It was the first report of Tehran seizing a tanker since Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran in June.Iranian state-run…

A boat carrying members of the Rohingya community from Myanmar has sunk near the Thai-Malaysian border, with hundreds missing, seven dead and 13 rescued, the Malaysian maritime agency said on Sunday.Rescuers were combing an area of 170 square nautical miles near Langkawi Island on Saturday after a boat with 300 people on board left Myanmar's Rakhine state three days earlier, said the maritime agency head for the area Romli Mustafa.Images from the agency showed one survivor covered with a sheet and another on a stretcher.Myanmar's impoverished Rakhine state has suffered years of conflict…

The commissioning of China's latest aircraft carrier this week marks a new chapter in its military modernisation effort but security analysts and regional diplomats say tough challenges lie ahead before it can be made fully operational.President Xi Jinping attended the commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony of the Fujian in Hainan province on Wednesday, and boarded the vessel for an inspection tour, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.The Fujian is China's third aircraft carrier…

The Pakistan Navy expects its first Chinese-designed submarine to enter active service next year, the country's top admiral told Chinese state media, bolstering Beijing's bid to counter regional rival India and project power toward the Middle East.A deal under which Islamabad will take delivery of eight Hangor-class submarines by 2028 is "progressing smoothly," Admiral Naveed Ashraf told the Global Times in an interview published on Sunday, adding the submarines would boost Pakistan's…

Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasized the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC summit on Saturday.The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, hosted by South Korea this year, unfolded under the shadow of rising geopolitical tensions and aggressive economic strategies - ranging from U.S. tariffs to China's export controls - that have pressured global trade.Ahead of the gathering, U.S.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament and called U.S.-South Korea military exercises an "obvious expression of their will to provoke war," state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.South Korea and its ally the United States kicked off joint military drills this week, including testing an upgraded response to heightened North Korean nuclear threats.Pyongyang regularly criticises such drills as rehearsals for invasion and sometimes responds with weapons tests…

The proposed inclusion of Chinese shipping giant COSCO in Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison's contentious global ports sale is a potential win for Beijing in a strategic sector, but the deal is far from final and could face resistance from Washington, sources and analysts say.Since the deal was announced on March 4 to sell 43 of CK Hutchison's ports in 23 countries, including two along the Panama Canal, to a consortium led by U.S. firm BlackRock, and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's family-run shipping company MSC, it has sparked a firestorm of criticism from China.While the U.S.

Iran warned a U.S. destroyer on Wednesday to change course after it approached waters being monitored by the Islamic Republic, leading the U.S. ship to turn away, Iranian state media reported.The U.S. Navy and U.S. Central Command, which overseas U.S. forces in the Middle East, had no immediate comment on the report.The reported incident follows U.S. strikes last month on Iranian nuclear facilities that Washington says were part of a program geared towards developing nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes."U.S.

North Korea has detained shipyard officials responsible for a recent major accident during the launch of a new warship, state media said over the weekend.The failed launch that crippled the 5,000-tonne warship was witnessed by leader Kim Jong Un who said the accident damaged the country's dignity and vowed to punish those found responsible.The mishap likely occurred in front of a large crowd at the northeastern port of Chongjin, increasing the public humiliation for Kim who tried to show off military might…

A serious accident occurred on Wednesday during the launch of a new North Korean warship while leader Kim Jong Un was attending the event, with him calling it a "criminal act" that could not be tolerated, state media KCNA reported.Kim, who witnessed the failed launch of the 5,000-ton destroyer, excoriated the accident as caused by "carelessness" that tarnished the country's dignity, and ordered the ship to be restored before a key ruling party meeting in June, KCNA said on Thursday.The report did not mention whether there were any casualties.KCNA said the incident at the eastern port of Chongj

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a ceremony for the launch of a "new multi-purpose destroyer", state media KCNA reported on Saturday.The 5,000-tonne warship was equipped with the "most powerful weapons" and built "within 400-odd days perfectly with our own strength and technology", the report said, quoting Jo Chun Ryong, a secretary in the ruling Workers' Party.Kim, in a speech from the launch reported by KCNA, said the warship would be handed over to the navy and go into…

China's top market regulator said on Sunday it was paying close attention to CK Hutchison's planned sale of most of its port operations to a BlackRock-led consortium and parties to the deal should not try to avoid an antitrust review.The sale by the Hong Kong conglomerate, which contains two ports along the strategically important Panama Canal, has become highly politicised amid intensifying U.S.-Sino trade tensions."No concentration of undertakings shall be implemented without approval…

The death toll from a powerful explosion at Iran's biggest port of Bandar Abbas has risen to at least 40, with more than 1,200 people injured, state media reported on Sunday, as firefighters worked to fully extinguish the fire.Saturday's blast took place in the Shahid Rajaee section of the port, Iran's biggest container hub, shattering windows for several kilometres around, tearing metal strips off shipping containers and badly damaging goods inside, state media said.The incident…

Singapore's PSA International is exploring the sale of its 20% stake in CK Hutchison's ports business, two people with knowledge of the matter said, joining the Hong Kong conglomerate in its controversial plans to sell.Tycoon Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison announced last month it would sell its 80% holding in the business which includes two ports along the strategically important Panama Canal to a BlackRock-led consortium. The holding has an equity value of $14.2 billion.U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the deal as a "reclaiming" of the canal.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday seized two foreign tankers in the Persian Gulf carrying over 3 million litres (792,516 U.S.

CK Hutchison on Thursday reported an 11% drop in underlying profit for 2024, as one of Hong Kong's most powerful conglomerates becomes increasingly embroiled in a political row over the sale of its ports business to a BlackRock-led consortium.The telecoms-to-retail conglomerate, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing, said this month it had agreed to sell most of its global ports business, including assets near the strategically important Panama Canal, in a deal that would garner the firm more than $19 billion in cash.Its shares initially rallied after the deal…