Chinese warships have been circumnavigating Australia’s coastline for more than three weeks, passing within 200 miles of Sydney, and staging unprecedented live-fire drills on its doorstep with New Zealand.

China has revealed plans to construct a deep-sea research facility at a depth of 6,000 feet beneath the South China Sea, a move that could significantly advance marine exploration, resource extraction,

China says it will increase its defense budget 7.2% this year as it continues its campaign to build a larger, more modern military to assert its territorial claims and challenge the U.S. defense lead

The encounter followed Tuesday's near collision between an intercepting Chinese military helicopter and a Philippine turboprop.

This is the 10th straight year of single-digit growth in China’s military budget, which analysts say reflects the country’s long-term security objectives in balancing deterrence with modernisation.

As Washington retreats from the international stage, Beijing is advancing — militarily at least. China now has the world’s largest maritime fighting force, with 234 vessels compared to the US Navy’s 219. It’s also producing more warships at its shipyards at a faster pace; about 70% were launched after 2010, compared to 25% for the US Navy.

Beijing's increase in military spending reflects an overall slowdown in the economy but keeps pace with the fast-changing trend in defence spending across the world.

The Chinese parliament convenes amidst rising US-China tensions, with President Trump's tariff threats casting a shadow. Over 5,000 delegates will discuss economic challenges, including stagnant domestic growth and rising defense budgets.

In the early 2000s, Russia and China had heeded US preferences regarding the Korean Peninsula by engaging in multilateralism with the Six-Party Talks to deal

China is flexing its military muscle in the region to show that it will not wait for the Trump administration to decide how hard it wants to counter Beijing.