The Indo-Pacific is a strategic system encompassing the Indian and Pacific oceans, reflecting the expanding interests and reach of China and India as well as the enduring role of the US. The Lowy Institute's International Security program presents a weekly selection of links illuminating the changing security picture in this increasingly connected super-region.
- Japan is set to stage a military exercise on an uninhabited island in the Ryukyu island chain this month, coinciding with the China-Russia's Joint-Sea 2014 drill in the East China Sea.
- Former US State Department official Wenchi Yu looks at Obama's effort to win hearts and minds as part of the 'rebalance'.
- Some things can't be tackled alone: why the Commander of the US Pacific fleet welcomes the growth of China as a military power.
- 'Vietnam won't fire unless China fires first.' So says a Vietnamese official while patrol boats keep an eye on the South China Sea, where the US and Vietnam are protesting Chinese moves to establish an oil rig in disputed waters.
- Meanwhile, China has protested the armed seizure of one of its fishing vessels off the Spratly Islands by Philippine maritime police.
- Beijing has refuted the credibility of plans 'leaked' to the Japanese media for what China may do if North Korea collapses.
- PACAF commander General Herbert Carlisle said recently that Russian air and sea patrols have significantly increased in the Indo-Pacific, as a US F-15 intercepts a strategic bomber near Guam:
The Lowy Institute International Security Program's work on Indo-Pacific security is supported by two grants from the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation.
