Asia | Deterring China

America’s new ship-killer missiles come to the Philippines

US Marines are training to defend Taiwan in a new way

U.S. Marines during joint Balaikatan exercises on Basco, Philippines
Island hoppingPhotograph: US Marine Corps/Cpl Grace Gerlac
|Basco|5 min read

On April 22nd a Chinese aircraft-carrier strike group sailed within three nautical miles of the Philippines’ northernmost islands. It was an unusual show of force. China’s reason for sabre-rattling was clear: in late April, America flew a new short-range missile system to Basco, in the Batanes island chain, for the first time.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Unseen marines”

From the May 24th 2025 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

How to ease pollution, gridlock and honking on India’s roads

The country’s elites won’t like it

Protestors rally in front of Vicory Monument in Bangkok demanding the resignation of the Thai prime minister

Is Thailand heading for another coup?

The generals would be mad to try


A Death Cap mushroom

Australia’s mushroom murderess is found guilty

The trial, with a plot stranger than detective fiction, has gripped the country


The Economist is hiring a Seoul-based researcher/reporter

We’re looking for a fluent speaker of Korean and English

Central Asia still has a complex relationship with Russia

But countries know their neighbour is a crucial partner

Welcome to North Korea’s Benidorm

The hermit kingdom’s new resort is for its own enjoyment, not foreigners’