On June 23, China’s third aircraft carrier, Fujian, transited the Taiwan Strait. According to an official statementTaiwan’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed that the aircraft carrier had crossed the strait, prompting the Taiwanese military to activate “its joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance measures to closely monitor” the ship’s movements. The ministry also released a black-and-white aerial image of Fujian, taken from high altitude. Notably, no carrier-based aircraft was visible on the flight deck, although the ministry did not disclose the precise time or location where the photo was taken. This image, released by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense on June…
Author: Frank M. Everett
When the US Trump administration unveiled 100% tariffs on branded pharmaceuticals in April 2026, Indian drugmakers heaved a sigh of relief. The duties hit patented medicines, not the low-cost generics that make up India’s commercial stockpile, and the White House has said that dealing with generics and biosimilars would be reassessed only after one year. For now, India’s robust pharmaceutical industry appears immune to tariffs. It is not China-proof, however – and exposure to this is a problem not only for India, but also for its Western partners. India is, according to the common description, the pharmacy of the world.…
The ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Maritime Cooperation, adopted at the 48th Summit in Cebu on May 8, 2026, referred to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) no less than 18 times, reaffirming the key principles of peace and stability, peaceful resolution of disputes and respect for UNCLOS. However, ASEAN never officially recognized the 2016 Arbitral decision on the South China Sea issued by an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS – the very convention that ASEAN itself has repeatedly affirmed as the overarching legal framework governing all activities at sea. July 2026…
Recent conflicts have triggered a palpable increase in drone production, particularly in countries like the United States, China, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine and Iran. Mainly driven by the private sector, with the exception of China, drone production allows states involved in active combat to meet their own operational needs on the battlefield. For states not engaged in active conflict, local drone production provides a pathway to industrial development and increased export potential beyond military self-sufficiency. New Delhi has jumped on the bandwagon. The Indian government has tried to encourage the private sector to scale up drone production. As it gathers pace,…
The Dong people of China are an indigenous ethnic group known to have lived in the mountainous regions of southwest China for approximately 600 years. They have no written language, but their cultural knowledge is shared by word of mouth. This means that the outside world doesn’t know much about them. But an ambitious university research project document the distinctive architecture of the Dong people reveals a a lot about that marginalized indigenous groups lifestyle. An estimated 3 million Dong live in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi. They are renowned for their polyphonic choral singing, listed by UNESCO…
On June 17, US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed an interim agreement to end the warthe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of oil sanctions which had paralyzed the Iranian economy. As the war in Iran enters the final stages of negotiations, this episode has exposed the strategic calculations of all players involved. These calculations have consequences far beyond the Middle East, reshaping diplomatic relations and the terms on which governments choose to align themselves. For China, its strategy in the Middle East is now limited to preventing the Gulf States, and especially…
On December 11, 2025, Chun Jae-soo arrived at Incheon International Airport. He had just returned from New York, having successfully proposed that South Korea host the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2028, the world’s largest debate on maritime sustainability. His gait was rapid. He was optimistic. It was therefore with surprise that he announced to the crowd of journalists that he was resigning from his post as Minister of Oceans and Fisheries. An allegation recently surfaced that he received 40 million won (about $26,000) in cash along with two designer watches from a sect known for bribing politicians for its…
ASEAN often says “don’t make us choose”, and yet some of the region’s sharpest observers say its states are move to China and far from the United States, particularly in the economic and diplomatic fields. Washington, meanwhile, finds itself with a shrinking traditional security portfolio. Many now believe that the contested and fast-growing market Southeast Asia region could drift towards a Chinese-led order. This argument captures a real trend. China is now influential enough that US presumption in Asia, in general, is casually assumed. it’s over. Considering China significantly increased economic weight since the 1990s, this is hardly surprising. However,…
At the Taiwan Expo in Europe 2026 in Warsaw on June 22, Polish and Taiwanese officials plans revealed for Taiwan to help revive two of Poland’s stalled industrial ambitions: its long-delayed electric vehicle project, which was initially to be developed with Chinese partners, and semiconductor projects abandoned by Intel’s abandoned site. A technology park supported by Taiwanese companies associated with TEEMA (Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association) would be built in Miękinia in Lower Silesia – the same site near Wrocław where Intel had previously planned a major semiconductor factory. In other words, Taiwan occupies the space left by China…
Pakistan’s federal budget for the financial year 2026-27, with a total outlay of around $67 billion, has been formally passed by Parliament following committee-level amendments. The budget aims to maintain fiscal discipline while supporting growth in an economy trying to stabilize after facing a severe balance of payments crisis in 2023. The recently passed 2026 Finance Bill will officially come into force on July 1, 2026, marking the start of the new fiscal year. This means that all financial proposals, new tax measures, taxes and federal spending priorities will be implemented from this date. The government has said that the…