Introduction The arbitration case launched by the Philippines against China currently stands as the most significant, and most closely watched, development for specialists and observers of the maritime disputes in the South China Sea (SCS). To help observers navigate through this foggy proceeding, this article attempts to provide a focused overview of the arbitration case […]
Researchers at a key government-funded institute in China appear to have contradicted their director to lay out a moderate, or at least undecided, position for China on the so-called nine-dash line in a recent edition of Eurasia Review. This line, which was first drawn by the Nationalist government of China before 1949, appears to demarcate […]
The next stage in the Philippines’ closely-watched arbitration case against China’s maritime claims will come in March when Manila’s lawyers submit their answers to questions posed last month by the five judge panel overseeing the case. The Philippines has put together a clever case, one that seeks to skirt China’s exemptions to compulsory arbitration as […]
China’s land reclamation efforts in the disputed South China Sea may eventually become the nation’s first island chain, allowing the nation to contain the US military facilities in Australia according to the Japan Military Review, a defense magazine based in Tokyo. Saburo Tanaka, a Japanese expert in Chinese military development said that the US bases […]
Yesterday I set out the background to the Position Paper issued by the China, on December 7, 2014, “on the Matter of Jurisdiction in the South China Sea Arbitration initiated by the Republic of the Philippines” [hereafter, “China Position Paper”] and examined China’s first objection to the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal. In this post, […]
China’s official news agency on Friday likened the Philippines to a “crying baby” for seeking international support against island-building in disputed waters by Beijing, denouncing its efforts as “pathetic”. The caustic commentary by the Xinhua news agency came two days after foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) voiced concern over Beijing’s land […]
On December 7, 2014, China officially published its Position Paper “on the Matter of Jurisdiction in the South China Sea Arbitration initiated by the Republic of the Philippines” [hereafter, “China Position Paper”]. The China Position Paper was issued two days after the US State Department issued its December 5, 2014 Limits in the Seas No. […]
KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia — Southeast Asia will push for an early conclusion of a maritime pact to defuse tension in the South China Sea, Malaysia said Wednesday as the Philippines decried the grouping’s inaction over reclamation activities by China in disputed waters. Foreign ministers from 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations grappled […]
Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are concerned over China’s land reclamation projects in the South China Sea and have pledged to step up efforts to deal with what they see as a threat from China. Their statement came on Wednesday after the topic was brought up at a ministers’ retreat in […]
New satellite images have largely confirmed earlier reports that China is building a military base near the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands that Japan also claims and administers. Last week IHS Jane’s reported that satellite images from October 2014 show that China is building a heliport with 10 landing pads and wind turbines on Nanji Island, which is […]