Under the leadership of the Communist party, China is building what an American admiral, Harry Harris, calls a “great wall of sand” in the strategically important waterways of the South China Sea. The Chinese are dredging the sea bed to transform a few reefs and rocks in the Spratly group of islands and atolls – […]
The Boao Forum for Asia, an annual economic dialogue held in China’s Hainan Province, was an especially high-profile meeting this year; Chinese President Xi Jinping himself delivered the keynote address. The reason for the special emphasis was clear: Beijing selected the Boao Forum as the venue to deliver the first in-depth explanation of China’s vision […]
SINGAPORE: Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen has called for patience in solving disputes over the South China Sea, following the strong conflicting statements made by the United States and China about the longstanding territorial conflict. United States Defence Secretary Ashton Carter warned that China’s island building in disputed waters was undermining security in the region. […]
Beijing has hit back at US criticism of its land reclamation operations around the Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), saying, “No one has the right to instruct China (on) what to do.” Observers warned that Washington is playing with fire as it has adopted an increasingly high profile […]
U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke says China is “out of step with the regional consensus” over its actions in the South China Sea. The U.S. State Department on Thursday condemned China’s actions in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea0, saying it was “out of step with the regional consensus”. “First, we want […]
(Updated 9:21 a.m.) HONOLULU, Hawaii — As tensions in the South China Sea continue to escalate, the Philippines and the United States have begun negotiations for a new deal to ensure security in the region. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told members of the Philippine media in Honolulu on Thursday night that the two countries are […]
HA NOI (VNS) — Viet Nam demanded that China stop construction currently under way in the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh said. China has begun building two lighthouses on the Truong Sa islands. During a regular press conference yesterday, Binh stressed that Viet Nam had sufficient […]
SINGAPORE — The United States has spotted a pair of mobile artillery vehicles on an artificial island that China is building in the South China Sea, a resource-rich stretch of ocean crossed by vital shipping lanes, American officials said. China’s construction program on previously uninhabited atolls and reefs in the Spratly Islands has already raised […]
Last week one of the U.S. Navy’s newest patrol aircraft, a P-8A Poseidon, took off from an air base in the Philippines and flew due west. Over the shimmering blue green waters of the South China Sea, the plane was hailed by a voice warning the crew they were nearing Chinese territory and should immediately […]
“We continue to observe the situation in the East and South China Sea and are concerned by any unilateral actions that change the status quo and increase tensions,” said the statement issued after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and other EU leaders. “We urge all parties … to […]