Monthly Archives: March 2015

China’s ‘Great Wall of Sand’ Raises U.S. Concerns

CANBERRA, Australia—Unprecedented land reclamation by China in contested islands of the South China Sea is raising serious questions over whether Beijing intends confrontation or cooperation with other regional powers, America’s top Pacific Commander Said. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-move-stealth-destroyers-to-pacific-region-1427784315

China’s Air Force Conducts First Training Exercise in West Pacific

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has conducted its first training exercise above the western Pacific Ocean on Monday, the country’s Defence Ministry said, in a move that could heighten tensions with neighboring countries in the South China Sea. PLA Air Force spokesman Shen Jinke told Reuters on Monday that PLA aircraft flew to […]

China wants to control South China Sea: Philippines

MANILA – The Philippines accused China on Thursday of seeking to take control of nearly the entire South China Sea with an expansionist agenda dominated by “massive reclamation” works. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said China’s efforts were aimed at undermining a United Nations tribunal that is due to rule early next year on […]

Does ASEAN Have a South China Sea Position?

On March 25, Xinhua reported that Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen had reiterated that the South China Sea dispute is an issue between claimant states and China, not between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China. “It is not the issue of the whole of ASEAN, but the issue between claimant countries and […]

Chinese South China Sea Reclamation Projects Hamper Philippines, Others’ Claims

MANILA— China is forging ahead with reclamation projects on at least seven tiny but hotly contested features in the South China Sea, posing what could be a major challenge in the Philippines’ international arbitration case against China. Surveys of the disputed outcroppings will be key. Since the beginning of the year, various satellite images of […]

China looks to up ‘soft control’ of Myanmar: report

China must increase its “soft control” of Myanmar to fulfill its dream of building a new Pacific Fleet and an Indian Ocean Fleet, according to a commentary from the Beijing-based Sina Military. According to China’s state broadcaster CCTV, the 14th Army Corps of the People’s Liberation Army recently began a large-scale military exercise in the […]

Checkmate: PH has lost West PH Sea to China, analysts say

MANILA – It’s a checkmate. The Philippines has lost the West Philippine Sea to China, according to analysts. In light of recent intelligence photographs that show massive and extensive construction and reclamation activities by China in the West Philippine Sea, Congressman Ashley Acedillo and military historian Jose Custodio both believe that it is a veritable […]

Philippines is not backing down in disputed South China Sea waters

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines said on Thursday it would resume repair and reconstruction works in the disputed South China Sea after halting activities last year over concerns about the effect on an arbitration complaint filed against China. Manila had called on all countries last October to stop construction work on small islands and reefs […]

China’s scrappiest enemy is a familiar foe

For the fifth time in 100 years, Vietnam is facing the prospect of being involved in a war with a larger, more powerful country. The country that took on the Central Powers, Japan, France, the United States, and China is facing the possibility of conflict with a familiar foe: China. As Beijing presses territorial claims […]

China invokes ‘cabbage tactics’ in South China Sea

China is conducting ‘cabbage’ or a militarily overwhelming strategy and ‘salami-slicing’ – insidious land-grabbing tactics to strengthen its power in the South China Sea By Huseyin Erdogan China is following a long-term strategy with its so called “Cabbage Tactic” to increase its power in the South China Sea, said an expert from China’s Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, on Tuesday. “At […]