Japan threatens to shoot down North Korean rocket

Kim Jong-un’s regime insists the rocket, which it says will fly south over the Philippines and Australia and into orbit, is carrying a communications satellite.Kim Jong-un’s regime insists the rocket, which it says will fly south over the Philippines and Australia and into orbit, is carrying a communications satellite.

But the United States, South Korea and Japan all say that the launch is really a ballistic missile test, with North Korea trying to master the technology to fire long-range missiles capable of one day carrying a nuclear warhead.

China launches naval war games

“According to our annual plan for exercises, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s navy will in the coming days hold exercise activities in the waters near the Zhoushan islands,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The ministry provided no other details on the war games.

But the China Daily said the live fire naval exercises would start on Tuesday and last for six days.

…

The exercises come after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Saturday that Japan was considering buying a chain of islands at the centre of its bitter territorial dispute with China and Taiwan.

Those islands in the East China Sea are called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, and are further to the east than the area where the imminent naval exercises are being planned.

…

China claims essentially all of the South China Sea, home to vital shipping lanes and believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits. Taiwan and Brunei and Malaysia also have claims in the waters.

Full article: China launches naval war games (Defence Talk)