With governments focused on conflicts in the Gulf and Ukraine, China is pressing ahead with a more assertive military and strategic posture across the Pacific, particularly around its immediate neighbourhood.
The latest concerns include suspected Chinese unmanned underwater vehicles found in waters near Indonesia and the Philippines. Maritime analysts said one object discovered near Bali was almost certainly an unmanned recording platform potentially used to monitor shipping.
China has also increased military activity in the South China Sea, including repeated confrontations with Philippine vessels and drills near the disputed Scarborough Shoal., which China calls Huangyan Island.
In July, China test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the South Pacific, while reports also linked Beijing to a sharp rise in cyberattacks against Taiwan.
Beijing's growing assertiveness is forcing countries across the region to balance economic ties with China against security concerns.
Japan has warned that a Chinese move against Taiwan could pose an “existential” threat, while Chinese patrols near disputed Japanese islands have increased. Australia and the Philippines are strengthening defence cooperation with Washington while maintaining economic ties with Beijing.
Indonesia has similarly sought to maintain relations with both powers, including taking part in joint naval manoeuvres with China.
Despite the rivalry, some diplomats believe Washington and Beijing may be entering a period of strategic stability as both sides seek to reduce their dependence on one another.
China's dominance in critical minerals and technology remains an important source of leverage, while Western defence and technology companies continue to face difficulties sourcing non-Chinese components.
The broader challenge for countries across the Indo-Pacific is how to manage growing Chinese influence while maintaining security ties with the United States.
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European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Kazakhstan’s security service has arrested Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Samruk-Kazyna, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on suspicion of corruption. Yelzhas Otynshiyev, Chairman of KTZ, Kazakhstan’s national railway firm has also been detained.
Eight people have been killed and at least 17 injured after an apartment building collapsed into a neighbouring construction site in Brooklyn, New York, as rescuers continued searching the rubble for possible survivors.
BMW is recalling more than 720,000 vehicles in the U.S. over a fire risk, warning owners to park outside and away from buildings until repairs are completed. The recall follows 10 reported fires involving cars previously repaired for the same fault.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 3.7 million children in Afghanistan are suffering from acute malnutrition, as worsening drought and funding shortages threaten to deepen the crisis amid the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye.
A consortium of Türkiye’s Limak and Qatar’s HBK Contracting has won an international tender to build and operate a new airport terminal in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, under a 23-year public-private partnership, with the project potentially costing up to $300 million.
Spain’s parliament has approved a government package aimed at easing the country’s housing crisis, a day after workers staged the first general strike in 14 years over soaring housing costs.
Here's your AnewZ Technology Daily Brief for the 13th of November. This week, a Microsoft outage hit Australian agencies, Google restricted mapping data in South Korea, a lawsuit targeted advanced AI development, and Nvidia faced a leadership crisis after Jensen Huang's resignation.
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