SIPRI’s annual report, released Monday, said global military expenditure reached $2.72 trillion in 2024, a 9.4% increase from 2023 and the largest year-on-year rise since the Cold War's end. This marks the tenth straight year of growth.
Defense spending is rising across East Asia as China’s expanding military power fuels regional concerns, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
The world’s five biggest military spenders, the United States, China, Russia, Germany, and India made up 60% of total spending, combining for $1.64 trillion.
Spending in Asia and Oceania reached $629 billion in 2024, up 6.3% from 2023, with East Asia alone seeing a 7.8% jump to $433 billion.
China accounted for half of Asia’s total defense spending, with an estimated $314 billion, a 7% increase from 2023, and its largest annual rise since 2015. This marks the 30th consecutive year of growth, as China pushes to modernize its military across all domains by 2035.
China’s buildup has led neighboring countries to bolster their own defenses. Japan raised its defense budget by 21% to $55.3 billion, its biggest increase since 1952, lifting defense spending to 1.4% of GDP, the highest since 1958. Japan’s plan focuses on enhancing long-range strike and air defense capabilities through 2027.
Meanwhile, Taiwan boosted its military spending by 1.8% to $16.5 billion, allocating a significant portion to upgrade F-16 jets, purchase U.S. naval systems, and develop anti-drone technologies amid heightened tensions with China.
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China expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to what it described as smears and slanders targeting Hong Kong’s judicial system, following international criticism of the guilty verdict handed down to media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai on Monday (15 December).
China’s core artificial intelligence (AI) industry is projected to surpass 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025 (about $170 billion), up from more than 900 billion yuan in 2024, according to a new industry assessment.
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday that it will introduce a licensing system for steel exports starting in 2026, covering around 300 steel products.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated his offer to host Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Ankara, at his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The talks took place on the sidelines of the international Forum for Peace and Trust in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Friday (12 December).
Russia’s human rights commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, has said that Ukraine has not provided Moscow with a list of thousands of children it alleges were taken illegally to Russia, despite the issue being discussed during talks in Istanbul.
Iranian authorities have seized a foreign tanker carrying more than 6 million litres of smuggled fuel in the Sea of Oman, detaining all 18 crew members on board.
An explosive device found in a vehicle linked to one of the alleged attackers in Bondi shooting has been secured and removed according to Police. The incident left 12 people dead.
The latest round of clashes between Thailand and Cambodia has left 15 Thai soldiers dead and 270 others injured, Thailand’s Ministry of Defence spokesman Surasant Kongsiri said at a press conference on Saturday.
Tensions escalate as the U.S. seizes Venezuelan oil tanker Skipper on 10 December, a move Caracas calls “international piracy,” targeting sanctioned crude and marking a sharp escalation in Washington’s pressure on Maduro’s regime.
Syria has arrested five people suspected of having links to a deadly attack on a joint U.S.–Syrian convoy in the central town of Palmyra on Saturday, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
The head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, the foreign spy service known as MI6, has warned that Russia "remains an aggressive and expansionist threat", vowing sustained support for Ukraine and calling for greater use of technology to protect UK security.
Odesa residents remained without power for a third straight day on Monday (15 December) after a Russian missile and drone strike crippled the power grid on Saturday (13 December).
Fighting along the Thailand–Cambodia border has entered a fifth consecutive day, despite U.S. President Donald Trump claiming he had brokered a ceasefire between the two sides.
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