China has pressed Japan not to broach Beijing’s disputes with regional neighbors in the South China Sea at the upcoming Group of Seven summit to be held in Japan in May, arguing that touching on the issue would hamper efforts to improve bilateral relations, diplomatic sources said Saturday. China pressed the point to Japan at […]
KUMEJIMA (Okinawa) • Japan is growing an island in a bathtub as part of a struggle with China for control of Asia’s oceans, reported the Financial Times. The island is called Okinotorishima, or “distant bird island”; a remote, storm-wracked coral atoll 1,700km south-west of Tokyo in the Philippine Sea, where two small outcrops protrude at […]
BEIJING: China’s campaign of island building in the South China Sea might soon quadruple the number of airstrips available to the People’s Liberation Army in the highly contested and strategically vital region. That could be bad news for other regional contenders, especially the US, the Philippines and Vietnam. The island construction work that is creating […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a U.S.-China business roundtable, comprised of U.S. and Chinese CEOs, in Seattle, Washington September 23, 2015. Reuters/Elaine Thompson/Pool The United States and China have been challenging each other’s claims and moves in the South China Sea. As both countries maintain where they are within their jurisdictions and rights over […]
TOKYO – Shinjuku station at rush hour is like a highly organized ant colony, as 3.6-million commuters converge on the world’s busiest transport hub every day. Yet harmony, rather than chaos, reigns in a society that remains a remarkable consensus of politeness, co-operation and affinity. A train that arrives two minutes late is greeted by […]
The “historical sovereignty” China claims over the East Vietnam Sea is baseless and thus Beijing should comply with international law, according to a U.S. expert. Dr. Patrick M. Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, offered the remark when talking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, rejecting […]
President Park Geun-hye called on China Sunday to peacefully cooperate with neighboring countries in resolving territorial disputes in the South China Sea, noting during the annual East Asia Summit (EAS) that the issue is of “grave concern” to Seoul’s global trading. On a final leg of a three-nation tour, Park stressed that more than 90 […]
KUALA LUMPUR — Ongoing tensions over the South China Sea heightened over the weekend, with China reacting angrily to the latest indications of growing U.S.- Japanese co-operation over the disputed sea. Neither the U.S. nor Japan has a claim over the waters, unlike China, which claims around 80% of the sea. The Philippines, […]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told President Barack Obama he’ll consider sending the country’s maritime forces to back up U.S. operations in the South China Sea. The comments in a bilateral meeting Thursday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila came after the U.S. sparked an angry reaction from China last […]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to raise issues concerning the South China Sea at international meetings in coming weeks involving the Group of 20 major countries, and Southeast Asian nations and their dialogue partners. “The rule of law should be carried out to preserve the open, free and peaceful sea,” Abe said during a speech […]