The U.S. Navy ordered a pair of New Zealand navy vessels to dock in Honolulu’s commercial port last week, instead of Pearl Harbor, where the other navies participating in the RIMPAC naval exercise were at anchor. Kiwi politicians were upset, and saw the basing of their ships away from Pearl as a Yankee snub, as Kirk Spitzer reported …
Pacific
“Brazen Showboating”
Beijing is reacting to the Pentagon’s so-called “pivot to Asia,” and not in a friendly way. Amid several recent naval exercises — including the 22-nation RIMPAC now underway around Hawaii – China doesn’t like what it …
Kiwis Ask: Hey, Where Is Everybody?
TOKYO – In a gesture of friendship and goodwill toward an obscure former ally, warships from New Zealand have been granted special, private berthing privileges for a major naval exercise now underway in Hawaii. And wouldn’t …
The Perfectly Ironic Chinese Foreign Direct Investment
Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal story of how Chinese state bank (China Development Bank) is pumping $1.7 billion into two long-stalled redevelopment projects in the San Francisco Bay area – namely, Hunter’s Point (a Navy base until …
Tokyo Puts a Pro in Charge — for a Change
TOKYO – Japan finally has a defense minister who knows what he’s doing – and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Satoshi Morimoto, a prominent national security analyst and government advisor who served in both the Japan …
Clock Ticks On China-Japan Islands Dispute
TOKYO – Japan has one year, maybe two, to resolve the ownership dispute over a tiny group of islands or risk an honest-to-goodness shooting war with China. Unfortunately, neither Japan’s diplomats nor public seem to realize …
NoKo Non-Nuclear Blast: A Secret Plea for Help?
North Korea has reacted sharply to criticism over the weekend from the working G8 lunch at Camp David. “All of us agree that North Korea is violating its international obligations and that there is a path for them to rejoin the international community,” President Obama said. “But that objective will not be achieved if they continue …
“This Looks Familiar, Captain…”
$240 million
Marines’ Move to Guam: Just the First Step
Over on Time’s Global Spin blog, Krista Mahr explains that the shift of 9,000 Marines from Japan’s Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam only fixes half the problem:
…many islanders recognize Japan’s geopolitical vulnerability next to China, and are okay with the U.S. military presence on the island. But they really don’t
…
Kiwis to Yanks: Welcome Back!
TOKYO – For the first time in almost three decades, Americans are training for combat in New Zealand – and even the Kiwis are happy about it.
U.S. Marines and soldiers began a joint-training exercise Thursday with the New Zealand Army in the rugged mountains of the North Island. The 10-day exercise is the first combat-related …