BANGKOK— Asia’s spending on military hardware is quickening at a time of increasing focus over maritime territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas, as well as growing concern over China’s expanding military. Earlier this year London-based Strategic Defense Intelligence (DSI) reported that Asia led the world in rising defense spending, and countries’ spending […]
It is said that every crisis presents an opportunity, and the turn of events in the South China Sea represents both — a crisis and an opportunity. The crisis is China’s development of islands and shoals within the Spratlys group, followed by last week’s US navy trip through the area. The opportunity is one that […]
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 […]
MANILA, Philippines – China’s territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) does not give it the right to the hotly contested territory because they are “just mere claims” and do not adhere to international laws. “There is a fundamental difference between entitlements and claims under international law,” Assistant Secretary Henry Bensurto Jr. […]
BANGKOK – Southeast Asian nations on Wednesday vowed unity in pressing China to accept a binding code of conduct for handling disputes in the South China Sea, the Thai foreign ministry said. Competing claims to the sea have for decades stirred tension in the region and the waterway, which is believed to sit atop vast […]