Latest news with #RobertWard
Newsweek
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
US Ally Says Chinese Ships Detected in Territorial Waters
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Two heavily armed Chinese coast guard vessels have been tracked in what Tokyo considers to be territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands, according to the Japanese coast guard. Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment via email. Why It Matters Japan administers the uninhabited islands, which China and Taiwan have long claimed—calling them the Diaoyu and Diaoyutai, respectively. Japan's nationalization of the islands in 2012 prompted China to step up its activities in the area. The latest patrols come against a backdrop of tensions between the U.S. ally over China's military buildup. Analysts say China is using its coast guard to normalize its presence in disputed waters through "gray zone" actions that stop short of what would likely trigger a military response. What To Know The pair of Chinese coast guard cutters crossed into Japan-claimed territorial waters—which extend 12 nautical miles, or about 14 miles, from shore—near the Senkaku Islands early Wednesday morning, Japan's coast guard told local media. The vessels, both of which were equipped with deck-mounted autocannons, attempted to approach a Japanese fishing boat operating in the area, the agency added. Japan's coast guard said its ships had repeatedly ordered their Chinese counterparts to leave the area and managed to prevent them from sailing closer to the fishing vessel. Nevertheless, both Chinese ships were still operating in territorial waters as of Thursday and were again successfully blocked from intercepting a fishing boat, the agency said, criticizing the move as "a violation of international law." Thursday marked the third day this month that Chinese vessels were tracked in the zone. Meanwhile, two other Chinese coast guard ships were monitored in the contiguous zone, a buffer area extending 12 nautical miles beyond the territorial waters. It marked the 234th consecutive day Chinese vessels were observed in the area—a new record. China's coast guard possesses more than double the number of vessels greater than 1,000 tons compared to Japan, many of them larger and more heavily armed. In 2021, Beijing passed a law authorizing its coast guard fleet to use lethal force to enforce its territorial claims, further putting Tokyo on edge. What People Are Saying Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on May 12 during a news conference: "The Diaoyu Islands are China's inherent territory. The activities of China's oceanographic research vessels in the relevant waters are entirely within the scope of China's sovereign rights." Robert Ward, the Japan chair and director of the geo-economics and strategy program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, wrote in a May article: "This form of China's asserting of what it sees as its territorial rights is also visible in other disputed areas in the region, particularly in the South China Sea, a major thoroughfare for Japan's sea lines of communication." What Happens Next The uninhabited islands are expected to remain a point of friction between Japan and China as the latter continues its patrols. Washington has confirmed that the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty covers the Senkaku Islands, and Japanese officials have continued to adopt a measured response, making near-term military escalation unlikely.
The Diplomat
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Diplomat
Japan Steps Up New Security Assistance to Countries Caught Between US and China
Japan is expanding its security assistance to strategically located countries across the Indo-Pacific, reflecting Tokyo's embrace of its security role in the region and its desire to provide more options to countries that feel caught between the United States and China. That aid comes through the Official Security Assistance (OSA) program, which is only in its third year but has grown considerably, from about $13.8 million in 2023 to about $34.6 million in 2024 to about $56 million for the 2025 fiscal year, which began on April 1. The number of recipients has also increased from four in each of the first two years to the eight countries now in discussions with Tokyo, Japanese media reported last month. Those candidates are Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, which have received OSA grants in the past (the Philippines in both years), and Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Tonga, which would be first-time recipients. Japan has provided some security-related resources through its long-running Official Development Assistance program, but that program is officially for economic and social development and has generally focused on non-military aid. It also hasn't provided aid directly to foreign militaries. OSA is meant to provide equipment, supplies, and support for infrastructure to 'armed forces and related organizations of like-minded countries' to strengthen 'their security and deterrence capabilities,' according to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which says OSA projects 'are limited to areas not directly related to international conflict.' OSA was unveiled in Japan's 2022 National Security Strategy, and while it has received less attention than other initiatives announced in that document – most notably the counterstrike missile capability – it is still significant. 'This is an important shift for Japan' because it means official assistance 'is being tied to security issues,' Robert Ward, Japan Chair at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31. 'Japan is keen, I think, to make sure that that is directed at coast guards and anything that's to do with the maintenance of the rule of law in the region,' Ward said, adding that the OSA was 'an important example of' the broader change in Japanese foreign policy. 'It's worth keeping an eye on OSA,' he added. 'Don't Want to Have to Choose' OSA has focused on improving recipients' ability to monitor their waters and airspace. In 2023, it funded patrol boats for Fiji's and Bangladesh's navies, rescue boats for Malaysia's military, and coastal radars for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. OSA projects expanded in value and scope in 2024, providing high-speed patrol boats to Indonesia's navy, coastal radars to Djibouti's navy, air-traffic-control systems to Mongolia's air force, and a rigid-hull inflatable boat and coastal radars to the Philippine Navy, as well as equipment for an air-surveillance radar previously sold to the Philippine Air Force. 'There are some priority targeted areas,' including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Saya Kiba, an expert on Southeast Asian security at Japan's Kobe City University, said at an event hosted by Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok in March. 'It's non-kinetic. It's more for the capacity-building,' Kiba said. While OSA grants have been modest, Japanese officials hope to increase them as they get a better sense of other countries' needs. Some also see OSA as a step toward future arms deals. 'They can try our defense equipment, and then if they like, probably they can buy the more expensive one from Japan,' Kiba said. OSA serves Tokyo's immediate interests by boosting recipients' military capabilities, contributing to stability in what it sees as a deteriorating security environment and supporting the rule of law, including freedom of navigation at sea. When it announced the first OSA grants in late 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the recipients were responsible for monitoring 'important sea lanes' and the aid was intended 'to contribute to maintaining and strengthening maritime security.' In its 2024 grant announcements, the ministry said 'enhancing' receiving countries' 'security and deterrence capability' would strengthen their security cooperation with Japan and 'create a desirable security environment' for Tokyo. Japan also wants to present itself as another option for countries trying to balance their relationships with the U.S. and China. That can be 'difficult' at times because Japan is an official U.S. ally, Ward said, but overall Tokyo 'doesn't want to alienate China, wants to keep relations with the U.S. good, but also wants to provide this sort of center away for countries that don't want to have to choose.' That combination of motives is visible in the distribution of OSA projects. Djibouti, for instance, overlooks important sea lanes and hosts U.S. and Chinese (and Japanese) military bases. Fiji and other Pacific Island states are also near important sea lanes and are being courted by China and the U.S. and its allies. Other countries, like Sri Lanka, are in a similar situation, but Tokyo is particularly interested in Southeast Asia, an economically dynamic region that sits astride important maritime trade routes and faces a growing challenge from U.S.-China competition. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 'is so strategically critical that Japan hopes that that desire not to antagonize China, to work with China, also resonates within ASEAN,' Ward said. 'Japan has very good, deep economic relations with ASEAN' and is generally trusted by its 10 members, Ward added. That was reflected in the 2025 State of Southeast Asia survey, in which ASEAN respondents ranked Japan as their most trusted major power and as the third-most important ASEAN Dialogue Partner, behind China and the U.S. Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has kept up engagement with the region since taking office in October, with visits to Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, and has used the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo to get more face time, including with his counterparts from Laos and Cambodia. Cambodia is closely aligned with China, but Prime Minister Hun Manet has looked to Japan and others to widen the country's diplomatic circle. Japanese warships were the first to visit Cambodia's Ream Naval Base when it reopened after a controversial Chinese-funded renovation project, and Cambodia recently welcomed the return of a Japanese defense attaché. After meeting at the Expo on May 30, Ishiba and Hun said that they wanted 'to further advance' security ties and expected 'smoother bilateral defense cooperation,' including 'consideration' of future OSA projects. Such meetings were 'a good opportunity,' Ishiba reportedly said in May. 'We can convey Japan's importance to countries sandwiched between the United States and China.' 'A Very Important Partner' In late May, Fiji became the first country to receive new equipment funded through OSA when Japan handed over an underwater camera unit, a rescue boat, and a water rescue training doll covered by a grant awarded in December 2023. A Japanese official told The Japan Times in January that the slow pace of delivery was mainly due to the time needed to negotiate, implement tenders and contracts, and build new hardware. Even with momentum behind OSA, there still appear to be limits on its scope and scale. The program adheres to Japan's 'Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology,' and while those rules have been eased, Tokyo still restricts transfers of lethal weapons. 'They've loosened export constraints, but there are still normative issues, and I'm assuming some legal issues, around what they can send out,' Ward said at the Shangri-La Dialogue. The OSA budget also limits the value and sophistication of what can be provided – the roughly $104 million allotted so far is only about one-quarter the cost of one of Japan's Mogami-class frigates – and Japan's economic outlook may affect what it's willing to hand over in the future. Japan is also sensitive to how its military activity is perceived abroad, and its leaders 'try to treat the security-related issues, or military-defense kind of issues, very, very carefully,' Kiba, of Kobe City University, said in March. Kiba cited surveys showing Southeast Asian elites generally support Japan's overseas security activity but that opinions differed among general publics, indicating that Tokyo should tailor its messaging to each country. China, for its part, has criticized Japan's OSA as the 'militarization and weaponization' of foreign aid meant to increase Tokyo's influence and help the U.S. contain China. But countries that are wary of Beijing's influence and worried by shrinking assistance from Washington are likely to welcome more Japanese support. 'Japan is a very important partner for Papua New Guinea, and I would like to say that we do have a lot of trade and relationship with them. Most of the infrastructures in the country have been built by Japan,' Billy Joseph, Papua New Guinea's defense minister, said at the Shangri-La Dialogue on June 1. 'Japan is working with our defense to build capacity, and there are many different levels we are working with that.'
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Trans guidance is 'important resource' for schools in Jersey
Jersey's minister for education and lifelong learning is standing by trans guidance in schools after a petition called for it to be revoked until parents were fully consulted, he a response to the 1,062-signature petition, Robert Ward said the guidance was an "important resource for schools" when children were questioning their said it would not be revoked and was only for the use of teaching and non-teaching staff when a child disclosed to them "their thoughts around their gender".He said this would be "a very small proportion of the school population and most children and families will not be affected by the guidance". Open dialogue He added that the guidance stressed the "vital role" of working with petition raised concerns that parents "should be involved in any discussions on the issue of their child's gender identity".Ward said: "The guidance makes it clear that open dialogue with parents is our goal."He added that information about a child's gender identity would only be withheld or masked in "exceptional circumstances".Ward said: "We won't be 'outing' them to anyone on the sole basis of their identity." He said staff do not need to tell parents if a child who was exploring their gender identity did not ask the school to "facilitate any social transition".If they do, "schools cannot simply choose to not include parents", he said. Petitioners also objected to books parents may consider "unsuitable" placed in school libraries and in the children's section of public said the three books recommended as part of the guidance were professional education resources and were not recommended for children.
CNA
30-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
IISS' Robert Ward on Japan's firm multilateral stance and its security ambitions
The International Institute for Strategic Studies' (IISS) Japan chair Robert Ward shares how Tokyo is adjusting its security posture and ambitions ahead of a trilateral meeting with the US and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He also explains how such multilateral platforms are important for Japan, especially in an era of great power rivalry.
BBC News
08-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Irthlingborough remembers on 80th anniversary of VE Day
Many faces of those who remember the end of World War Two have now gone, but communities across the UK - including in Northamptonshire - have been marking the 80th anniversary since guns fell silent in Irthlingborough, the stillness of the early morning was broken by the plaintive sound of bagpipes on Parsons strident tones of town crier John Farrar were then heard, delivering a VE Day 80 was pleased that "quite a lot of people have turned up - it shows that people are still remembering and are still interested and it means something to them". Among those watching the commemorations were two people who remembered how Irthlingborough marked the end of and Pamela Ward were aged eight and seven on 8 May 1945. Mrs Ward had found the war to be a frightening experience. She said: "We lived down Nicholas Road and there were all fields at the back. One day, they must have been doing an exercise and I thought the Germans had come."I was absolutely terrified. I remember my Mum drawing all the curtains so I needn't look." When the coming of the Germans was no longer a threat and peace came, streets across Irthlingborough were filled with happy Ward remembered "the older people putting trestles on the old green in Abington Road and they had newspaper cloths on the tables."They all brought out jelly, fish paste sandwiches and we had a big party. As kids, we really loved it." The unbridled joy of 1945 has given way to more reflective commemorations in 2025, but later on Thursday Irthlingborough residents are being treated to a fish and chip supper while listening to a singer and a of peace are also due to be lit and the Last Post will be sounded from the church tower, as a reminder of the sacrifices of the war and of people across the world still striving for mayor, Tracey Walton, said: "People have been saying that this one [anniversary] is probably going to be the most significant event for VE Day because we are losing our veterans now, so to be able to pass that on to our youngsters and make sure they carry that forward is really so important. It's part of who we are." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
