Tag Archives: Military Presence

No more Chinese ‘restraint’ in South China Sea under Xi: expert

Taipei, Nov. 14 (CNA) Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China no longer adopts a “strategy of restraint” in South China Sea disputes, a Taiwan-based expert said Friday. Lin Cheng-yi, a researcher with Academic Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, said at a Taipei seminar on the wrestling in the East and South […]

Showing off to the world

THE factories have closed down for a few days, and millions of cars have been ordered off the roads. Clear blue skies appearing over a usually smog-choked Beijing always mean one thing: a big event is about to get under way. From November 10th President Xi Jinping will welcome world leaders to this year’s Asia-Pacific […]

David vs. Goliath in the South China Sea: The Philippines vs. China

In a dramatic display of strategic naiveté, the Philippines decided (early-October) to suspend the repair and upgrade of its age-old airstrip on the Spratly island of Thitu (Pagasa to the Filipinos), among the biggest and most prized land features in the South China Sea, which can generate its own 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The […]

US helped PH Navy in Ayungin mission

MANILA, Philippines – The US assisted the Philippine Navy in the tense mission to rotate troops trapped for 5 months in the disputed Ayungin Shoal following China’s “blockade,” Philippine Ambassador to US Jose Cuisia Jr. said Friday, April 11. (READ: China harasses ship before pleading day and Ayungin trip ‘betrays’ PH intent) “I don’t specifically […]

China planning permanent structures on Bajo de Masinloc?

MANILA, Philippines – China has maintained a continued naval presence on Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, which is widely seen as a preparation for the establishment of a permanent structure well within Philippine territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). A confidential Philippine government report acknowledged that Beijing will use its […]