UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson commits ‘colossal’ carriers to embarking on freedom of navigation exercises in pointed remarks Boris Johnson has committed the UK’s two brand new aircraft carriers to freedom of navigation exercises in the fiercely contested waters of the South China Sea. In a pointed declaration aimed squarely at China, whose island-building and […]

  In this July 18, 2017, file photo, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, left, talks with her Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj as they leave for a delegation level meeting in New Delhi, India. AP   Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said during a visit to India that her country continues to oppose China’s efforts to […]

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said during a visit to India that her country continues to oppose China’s efforts to reclaim and develop man-made islands in the South China Sea. However, in her speech Tuesday to a forum in New Delhi, Bishop appeared to discourage direct confrontation. “Our objective must be to encourage China to exercise its […]

South China Sea: Vietnam halts drilling after ‘China threats’ Vietnam and other neighbours contest China’s territorial claims in the area Vietnam has reportedly terminated a gas-drilling expedition in a disputed area of the South China Sea, following strong threats from China. A source in the south-east Asian oil industry has told the BBC that the […]

Vietnam stopped a company from exploring for energy in contested waters of the South China Sea after taking threats from Beijing, the BBC reported early on Monday. Talisman-Vietnam, a subsidiary of Spanish energy firm Repsol, commenced gas-drilling operations in an area about 400 kilometers off Vietnam’s coast earlier this month, but Hanoi has since ordered […]

A year after South China Sea ruling – threat to status A year has passed since the arbitration court in The Hague made a verdict on the South China Sea issue. The ruling completely denied the legality of China’s sovereignty claims and interests in the area. China rejected the ruling and is proceeding with “changing […]

July 12 marked the one-year anniversary of a United Nations tribunal ruling in a case brought by the Philippines against China over the latter’s claims and activities in the South China Sea. The ruling was a major victory for the Philippines, particularly the tribunal’s decision on China’s “nine-dash line,” through which Beijing attempts to lay […]

The cooling down some are playing up masks underlying tensions and broader strategic realities. A year after the supposedly game-changing arbitral tribunal ruling on the Philippines’ South China Sea case against China, the region appears to have entered another period of calm that some are happy to play up. But though a superficial glance might […]

This week, the Chinese navy and air force carried out extensive operations—some of them unprecedented—in and around Japanese, Taiwanese, and American territorial waters. Beijing took a defiant tone when the appropriateness of these operations was questioned. Last Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force flew six Xian H-6 bombers over the Miyako Strait, which […]

US FONOPs: Game on again in the South China Sea It seems to be widely agreed that Washington’s current policy of well-worn talking points and low-key FONOPS in the South China Sea [SCS] isn’t working. Ely Ratner and I have been debating how to do better. Ely has proposed a more robust approach. He suggests […]