Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From http://www.defence-aerospace.com Wedgetail Aircraft Heading to Australia for First-Ever Visit Source: Boeing Co.; issued March 1, 2005 ST. LOUIS --- Boeing today announced that an airborne early warning and control aircraft for Australia’s Project Wedgetail will make its first visit to Australia at the Australian International Air Show in Avalon beginning March 15. “Hundreds of Australian defence and industry personnel are working on the Wedgetail program and this visit is a great opportunity for them to see the aircraft and the excellent progress being made, said Air Vice-Marshal (ret.) Norman Gray, deputy chief executive officer of the Defence Materi…

From Defense News N. Korea Threatens To Build More Nuclear Bombs By JUN KWANWOO, REUTERS, SEOUL North Korea said March 15 it would strengthen its atomic arsenal in an angry response to upcoming joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which the communist state denounced as nuclear war games. The North justified its possession of nuclear weapons as establishing a balance of power to prevent a nuclear holocaust, ahead of the joint war games in South Korea starting March 19. “The exercises will be nuclear war exercises aimed to invade the North to all intents and purposes in view of their nature, scope and contents,” a foreign ministry spokesman told t…

From BBC News Pirates have attacked a gas tanker in the Malacca Strait, kidnapping its captain and chief engineer for ransom, a watchdog said. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said about 35 pirates with rocket launchers stormed the Indonesian-owned MT Tri Samudra late on Saturday. They diverted the Belawan-bound vessel to a different part of Sumatra, before disappearing with the hostages. The shipowners are trying to negotiate the hostages' release, the IMB says. The narrow Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and has long been a haunt of pirates. Some 37 acts of piracy were recorded ther…

From Navy Times Fallon seeks quick agreement on Kitty Hawk replacement Associated Press (Kyodo) The commander of U.S armed forces in the Pacific told Congress on Wednesday he wants to reach an early agreement with Japan on a replacement of the retiring Japan-based aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. ”I’d like to have some agreement on the issue with Japan,” Adm. William Fallon, commander of the Hawaii-based Pacific Command, told a House of Representatives Armed Services Committee hearing. With the Kitty Hawk slated for retirement in 2008, Congress is urging the military to quickly set out an overall naval deployment plan to offset China’s growing naval power in …

From Army Times March 09, 2005 Base in Korea closes Associated Press CAMP PAGE, South Korea — Thumping helicopters streamed out of the U.S. military base Camp Page Wednesday, as soldiers packed trucks with equipment to prepare for moving as part of Washington’s plan to reduce its forces in South Korea. The base is to be closed and turned over to South Korea by the end of March in line with U.S. plans to restructure its deployment of overseas forces in order to focus more on anti-terrorism operations. Some 12,500 troops will depart by 2008, leaving 24,500 soldiers in this country as part of the military presence that the United States has maintained here …

From Defense News China To Have 800 Missiles Aimed at Taiwan in 2006: Defense Minister By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TAIPEI The number of Chinese ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan is expected to reach at least 800 next year, the island’s defense minister Lee Jye said March 9. The People’s Liberation Army currently has 700 ballistic missiles deployed opposite Taiwan, Lee said in his first report to the new session of parliament. “The number is estimated to increase to 800 next year,” Lee warned, in a call for support of a new 480 billion Taiwan dollar ($15.24 billion) arms package aimed at deterring China. His report came one day after Taipei lodged wh…

From Defence Aerospace First B-2s Deploy to Andersen Source: US Air Force; issued March 4, 2005 ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --- B-2 Spirit bombers have deployed here for the first time to support Pacific Command’s security efforts in the Western Pacific. More than 270 Airmen of the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron deployed from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., currently the only B-2 unit in the Air Force. They replaced the 93rd EBS from Barksdale AFB, La. The 393rd EBS is the first B-2 squadron to deploy here supporting Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The bombers enhance regional security…

From http://www.defensenews.com Singapore Navy To Escort Passing Merchant Ships By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SINGAPORE Armed escorts from the Singapore Navy will guard selected merchant ships and cruise liners plying the city-state’s busy waters as part of efforts to prevent terrorism, the defense ministry said Feb. 28. The Accompanying Sea Security Teams scheme will be launched sometime in March, a ministry spokesperson said. The Straits Times newspaper reported Feb. 28 that up to eight navy personnel capable of running a commercial vessel in an emergency will board selected ships that might be threatened because of their cargo. The team will includ…

From http://www.defensenews.com N. Korea Slams U.S., Threatens To Hold Missile Tests By JON HERSKOVITZ, REUTERS, SEOUL North Korea threatened to resume long-range missile testing and demanded the United States apologize for calling the country "an outpost of tyranny", official media reported late March 2. The Korean-language version of a Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report quoted a Foreign Ministry statement as saying Pyongyang threatened to test-fire a long-range missile. The statement said North Korea did not feel bound by a 1999 moratorium on missile testing, reached when Pyongyang was in non-proliferation talks with the administration of then-U.S. P…

From http://www.defensenews.com China To Increase Military Spending in 2005 By ROBERT J. SAIGET, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING China is expected to increase its military expenditure by 12.6 percent this year, while boosting its capability of using force to reunify rival Taiwan, sources said March 3. The rise in spending comes with Washington voicing concern that China’s military build-up could tilt the strategic balance with Taiwan and also threaten U.S. forces in Asia. In his budget report to the upcoming annual session of the National People’s Congress, Finance Minister Jin Renqing is expected to propose raising military spending in 2005 to 244.65 billion …

From http://www.defensenews.com Indonesia Sends Warships to Waters Claimed by Malaysia By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, JAKARTA Indonesia has dispatched three warships to a maritime border area also claimed by Malaysia amid rising tensions in the Sulawesi Sea, a navy spokesman said March 2. The warships were now in the disputed area off the coast of Malaysia’s Sabah state and the Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province, Navy Spokesman First Admiral Abdul Maliki Yusuf told Agence France-Presse. A fourth ship will leave for the area later March 2, Yusuf said, adding the navy also was considering sending a submarine to the area. “It is normal for the Indonesian nav…

From www.defence-aerospace.com (Source: Tenix Defence; issued Feb. 22, 2005) Tenix Defence began cutting steel for the NZ$500m Project Protector naval shipbuilding contract at its Williamstown, Melbourne shipyard today. NZ Secretary of Defence, Mr Graham Fortune, switched on computerised cutting equipment to begin manufacturing plates for two 85m, 1500 tonne Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Royal New Zealand Navy. The ships are being constructed as part of Royal New Zealand Navy seven-ship order, which includes four 55m Inshore Patrol Vessels and a 131m Multi-Role Vessel, as well as the Offshore Patrol Vessels. Tenix Defence CEO Robert Salteri said the ceremony at …

News from BBC, 18 February 2005 Defence to top Japan, US talks Japan's defence and foreign ministers are in Washington for key security talks with US counterparts. There is speculation that one topic on the agenda is the Taiwan Strait, an important flashpoint in the region. ... More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4275963.stm