Last week’s Fifth Xiangshan Forum in Beijing demonstrated just how difficult it will be to resolve disputes in the South China Sea as long as key parties believe history must arbitrate the veracity of claims to sovereignty over contested islands. Scholars, officials and military officers from all around Asia were present, including many from the […]
Between May and July 2014, China unilaterally deployed a giant drilling rig in waters claimed by Vietnam as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The move led to a fierce confrontation between Chinese and Vietnamese government vessels and saw relations between the two countries deteriorate to their lowest point since 1988. The standoff also served as […]
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario confirmed Tuesday night reclamation activities undertaken by China in Kagitingan Reef, one of the disputed territories in the South China Sea. In a chance interview before defending the DFA’s budget before the Senate, Del Rosario said the government has lodged a formal protest with China. “We have […]
Fiery Cross Reef, a tiny coral dot in the 1.4 million square miles of the South China Sea, wouldn’t seem the most obvious or ecologically sound location for a nearly two-mile-long airstrip. But based on satellite images released last week by Jane’s Defence Weekly, that’s exactly what China seems to be getting ready to build atop it. Such construction […]
Military leaders in China are known for their outlandish plots. Due to the nature of their strange proposals, which are often coupled with highly aggressive undertones, many China experts write their claims off as little more than internal propaganda to rally the Chinese people. According to Michael Pillsbury, a long-time adviser to the Pentagon, the […]
(Reuters) – Vietnam on Tuesday showed off its two most powerful warships in the first-ever port call to the Philippines but an official said it was not trying to challenge China’s superior naval forces amid tension in the South China Sea. Hanoi invited the diplomatic community to its Russian-built missile-guided frigates docked in Manila Bay […]
As has been the case with many confrontations in history, aggressive countries draw proverbial lines in the sand to mark their own expansion plans against the resolve of other countries whose territories they covet. In the present day People’s Republic of China [PRC], however, it’s not a line in the sand but a “10-dash line” […]
(Reuters) – China on Monday hit back at “irresponsible remarks” from the United States which has called on Beijing to stop a land reclamation project in the disputed South China Sea that could be large enough to accommodate an airstrip. China lays claim to almost all of the entire South China Sea, believed to be […]
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (the “Commission” or “USCC”) recently issued its 2014 Annual Report to Congress. The Commission’s mandate is ‘‘to monitor, investigate, and report to Congress on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.’’ In developing its […]
Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio of the Supreme Court of the Philippines will deliver a lecture entitled, “The South China Sea Dispute” on 24 November 2014 (Monday) at 0200H, Auditorium, National Defense College of the Philippines. He will also be the Guest of Honor during the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Cartographic Exhibit at […]