Vietnam and Australia today called for “self-restraint” in the South China Sea and warned against the unilateral use of force – an obvious reference to China’s increasingly aggressive presence that has stirred concerns across the disputed region. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung – who met Australian counterpart Tony Abbott in Canberra to sign deals […]
As if there aren’t enough territorial disputes the world over, China is — literally — manufacturing a new one in the South China Sea by transforming a series of lonely reefs into small islands. Where nautical charts once identified bumps in the sea as Mischief Reef, Gaven Reef and others, China is dredging massive amounts […]
Philippine authorities have released satellite pictures of six reefs in the Spratly archipelago that indicate that the Chinese are building artificial structures in the disputed territories of the South China Sea. According to some observers, these features could allow China to extend the range of its navy, air force, coastguard and fishing fleets into the […]
South China Sea Manoeuvrings: More of the same in 2015? Sumathy Permal Centre for Maritime Security and Diplomacy, MIMA Events in 2014 further contributed to the turbulence in the South China Sea. These included the stronger presence of naval, fisheries, and law enforcement vessels in areas of overlapping maritime claims, the enactment of new laws […]
NAYPYITAW: The South China Sea territorial dispute continues to be a hot topic at the 25th Asean Summit that began here yesterday as leaders of the grouping are expected to address the issue in a statement to be issued by current Asean chair, Myanmar, today. The dispute is made more complex with China, one of […]
In the course of the dispute over the Spratly Islands, China’s extensive reclamation works do not necessarily act as a ticket to win sovereignty claims in accordance with the maritime provisions of international law. A Eurasia Review analysis cited China’s ongoing infrastructure projects on several of the seven reefs it occupies in Spratly. But according […]
James Shoal, a feature that is permanently 22 metres (66 feet) under water in the South China Sea, should not have attracted public attention regionally but for geopolitics and ignorance of international law. Malaysians have been alarmed by recent reports of vessels of the People’s Republic of China Liberation Army (Navy), gathering and celebrating above […]
(Reuters) – Territorial disputes over tiny islands and reefs in the South China Sea are poisoning relations between China and its neighbours in Southeast Asia. “In recent months, China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea,” U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told an audience in Singapore last month. “(China) […]
As China brings in a $1 billion oil exploration rig, parking it in a disputed region of the South China Sea and unleashing a deadly anti-China protest in Vietnam, nearby Southeast Asian neighbors appear relatively mute and impotent. Burma (also known as Myanmar), which hosted the meeting of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, […]
BEIJING—China, the United States, Japan and more than a dozen other Asia-Pacific countries have signed a naval agreement aimed at ensuring miscommunication between ships at sea does not escalate into conflict. The Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, which was agreed Tuesday in the eastern port city of Qingdao, would reduce the potential for “situations […]