Tag Archives: President Barack Obama

INTERVIEW/ Kurt Campbell: China should think carefully about provoking South China Sea tensions

Despite difficult issues facing the United States in East Asia, the former top U.S. diplomat for Asian affairs remains confident that America can, and will, continue to lead in the region. However, Kurt Campbell, the former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, expressed concern regarding a setback in Congress on trade […]

A Plan for Peace in the South China Sea

One of the objectives set by President Barack Obama in his proposed “pivot to Asia” was improved integration of the Asia-Pacific Region. As tensions continue to mount in the South China Sea, however, that goal is becoming increasingly unlikely. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-plan-for-peace-in-the-south-china-sea-1434040267

Obama: land reclamation projects in South China Sea ‘counterproductive’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Monday that land reclamation projects in the South China Sea are unproductive and called for an end to aggressive action in the region. “We think that land reclamation, aggressive actions by any party in that area are counterproductive,” Obama said in a town-hall discussion at the White […]

Obama: S. China Sea Land Reclamation ‘Counterproductive’

WASHINGTON— President Barack Obama warned that Southeast Asia risks becoming less prosperous as countries in the region undertake land reclamation and assert sovereignty over parts of the disputed South China Sea. Obama said that while some of China’s claims may turn out to be legitimate, it should stop “throwing elbows and pushing people out of […]

South China Sea: The tiny islands that could lead to war

The territorial dispute in the South China Sea is building towards a flash point.  There is a persistent idea that it’s about nothing more than tiny islands and useless reefs. If that’s all it is, then it’s not worth a big argument between the US and China. And it’s certainly not worth risking a war […]

Pushing Back Against a Chinese Lake in the South China Sea

China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea are prompting a soul-searching query from Hanoi to Washington: At what point does a sliced-up salami cease being a salami at all? In a short space of time, China’s unilateral and incremental efforts to carve out a greater presence in the South China Sea — by, for […]

China takes steps to control South China Sea

Beijing’s new land-reclamation strategy in the South China Sea has been ringing alarm bells in the region and has prompted the U.S. to accuse China of attempting to force its way to de facto control of disputed waters. Several high-definition satellite images surfaced this month of China’s land reclamation and construction on Mischief Reef in […]

China dismisses Aquino’s call to fear Beijing over reclamation frenzy

BEIJING – China on Wednesday dismissed as “groundless” Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s warning to AFP that the Asian giant’s actions in the South China Sea should “engender fear for the rest of the world”. Aquino made his remarks in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, saying that China’s increasing bold assertions of its territorial claims could […]

China is taking the Pacific, one fake island at a time

The Obama administration has been very busy dealing with nuclear negotiations with Iran, a war against the Islamic State, a new conflict in Yemen and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Yet the understandable focus on these other crises has obscured China’s efforts to speed up its militarization of the South China Sea. Now, Chinese […]

New National Strategy Addresses Pacific Rebalance, Navigation, Law of Sea

ARLINGTON, Va. — President Barack Obama’s new National Security Strategy, released Feb. 6, is an all-encompassing document but one that specifically addresses some maritime issues such as the Asia-Pacific rebalance, air and maritime freedom-of-navigation tensions that have arisen in recent years, the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, counterpiracy and Arctic access. “The […]