Vietnamese fishermen say they are being attacked by China with increasing regularity. Their boats have been rammed, equipment broken and crewmen beaten up. Vietnam accuses Beijing of trying to force them out of waters in the South China Sea where their families have fished for generations. As the breaking dawn casts a red-orange rim around […]
Taipei, Nov. 19 (CNA) Taiwan and the Philippines have concluded a fisheries agreement, which will take effect immediately after an official announcement has been made, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release Thursday. The Agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters, concluded Nov. 5, contains seven articles […]
THE Philippines and Taiwan have signed a fisheries agreement that is envisioned to prevent a repeat of the 2013 Balintang Channel incident where a Taiwanese fisherman was fatally shot by a Philippine Coast Guard patrol. Taiwan, China and the Philippines have overlapping claims to the channel, which is both within the 200 nautical mile exclusive […]
WASHINGTON – What has been largely overlooked in the conversation to date around China’s campaign of dredging and construction in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea is the necessary synthesis between the geopolitical and environmental aspects of the issue. In recent months, U.S. Navy patrols in the South China Sea and denouncements […]
President Obama’s visit to the Philippines this week will train a spotlight on the fiercely contested South China Sea. Both he and his hosts will likely call on China and other claimants to maintain the status quo in the region until their various differences can be resolved. Yet while that may be the best one […]
China is building a new South China Sea fishing fleet for its maritime militia in a move that could intensify regional disputes, an expert told a conference at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) Wednesday. China’s maritime militia – one of the more understudied agencies in the exercise of Chinese maritime power – typically uses […]
MANILA/SINGAPORE – On a clear night, the Filipinos who live on Pagasa Island — a speck in the vast South China Sea — can see the floodlights from giant Chinese cranes working around the clock, dredging sand to build up a nearby reef. Life on the atoll with its clutch of buildings was for decades […]
China is reportedly proceeding with the construction of artificial islands on at least two reefs, which are claimed by the Philippines, despite Beijing promising to end some work soon. Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon of Kalayaan Islands, which falls under Philippine’s control, said that he saw Chinese land reclamation activity going on in ‘full swing,’ with many […]
The phrase ‘game changer’ is often overused in international affairs. However, China’s terraforming in the Spratlys—transforming submerged or semi-submerged features and rocks into artificial islands—may well prove to be a genuine game changer in the long-running and increasingly contentious dispute. Since mid-2013, China has been undertaking large-scale reclamation work on seven features under its control […]
HONG KONG – Concern is mounting among some scientists that China’s reclamation work in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has done severe harm to one of the most important coral reef systems in Southeast Asia. China’s use of dredged sand and coral to build artificial islands on seven reefs had also […]