by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS Washington has pressured the Philippines, whose government it owns, into conducting joint military exercises in the South China Sea. Washington’s excuse is that China has territorial disputes with the Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries concerning island and sea rights in the South China Sea. Washington asserts that China’s territorial disputes with [...]

China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and beyond consist of “conflicting mandates” and “lack of coordination” which has stoked tensions with its neighbors, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group. The report comes as Philippine and Chinese vessels remain locked in a two-week stand-off just outside Filipino waters. Both countries claim [...]

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir says Sudan has “declared war” on his country, following weeks of fighting along their common border. Mr Kiir was speaking in China, which is a major buyer of oil from both countries but has long been an ally of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir. On Monday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned [...]

India launches nuclear-capable missile that would give it capability of striking major Chinese cities for the first time India test-fired a long range missile capable of reaching deep into China and Europe on Thursday, thrusting the emerging Asian power into an elite club of nations with intercontinental nuclear weapons capabilities. A scientist at the launch [...]

India has test-launched its first long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, significantly upgrading the emerging Asian nation’s military capabilities. It has the capacity to target major Chinese cities and Europe. According to Indian media the missile was launched just after 8am local time from Wheeler Island off India’s east coast. It rose to an altitude of 600 [...]

The US and China have been discreetly engaging in “war games” amid rising anger in Washington over the scale and audacity of Beijing-co-ordinated cyber attacks on western governments and big business, the Guardian has learned. State department and Pentagon officials, along with their Chinese counterparts, were involved in two war games last year that were [...]

Chinese shipyards are to deliver 12 supertankers to Iran, with the final vessel ready by the end of 2013. These could help alleviate logistical difficulties caused by US and European sanctions against Iranian oil exports. ­The first of the very large crude carriers (VLCCs) built for Iranian oil shipping operator NITC is expected to arrive [...]

Shell has signed a production sharing contract with China National Petroleum Corporation to develop a shale gas block in China, the first deal of its kind in the country. For more on this story, visit: Shell agrees shale gas deal in China | Business | The Guardian.

The UN security council, including Russia and China, on Wednesday threw its weight behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis. In a statement approved by all 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified “further steps” [...]

The remote, wind-blasted desert of northwestern Gansu could be the most unloved, environmentally abused corner of China. It is home to the country’s first oilfield and several of the coalmines and steel factories that have contributed to China’s notoriety as the planet’s biggest polluter and carbon dioxide emitter. But in the past few years, the [...]