Amost 20 years ago, when China used missile tests to intimidate Taiwan ahead of key elections there, the United States responded by dispatching not one but two aircraft carrier strike groups to the area. The unabashed U.S. show of force set off howls of protest in Beijing, which deemed it a “hostile act,” yet America […]
As China races to extend its military reach, it is turning pristine habitats into permanent islands. Satellite images of the South China Sea show rapid destruction of some of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world. The reclamation of land in the contested Spratly archipelago to build runways, military outposts and even small towns […]
Despite claims in August that it would stop reclaiming land in the South China Sea, Beijing is continuing to pursue construction of man-made islands flush with military equipment. Citing the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), The Washington Post reports that China is planning large-scale construction on the recently dredged Subi Reef and Mischief […]
Tokyo (dpa) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that his country will provide more patrol ships to Vietnam amid growing tensions in the South China Sea. The premier made the announcement at a meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, the visiting general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party, who arrived in Tokyo Tuesday for a […]
SUBIC BAY, Philippines — In a flash of anticolonialist fervor nearly a quarter-century ago, lawmakers in the Philippines expelled the United States from an enormous naval base here, then the largest overseas outpost of the American military. Promising to break free from the “shackles of dictatorship,” they declared that foreign troops would never return. But […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Friday it was “extremely concerned” about a suggestion from a top U.S. commander that U.S. ships and aircraft should challenge China’s claims in the South China Sea by patrolling close to artificial islands it has built. China’s increasingly assertive action to back up its sovereignty claims in the South […]
The world’s two most powerful countries are involved in an escalating dispute over territory in the South China Sea. China has nearly finished developing artificial islands in an area the US-allied Philippines has also claimed. It is feared the new islands will be used as military and naval bases to intimidate other countries and dominate […]
The commander of US forces in the Pacific said ahead of a visit by President Xi Jinping to Washington that America should challenge China’s claim to territory in the South China Sea by patrolling close to artificial islands built by Beijing. Admiral Harry Harris told a Senate hearing on Thursday that China’s building of three […]
The Obama administration has restricted the U.S. Pacific Command from sending ships and aircraft within 12 miles of disputed Chinese-built islands in the South China Sea, bolstering Beijing’s illegal claims over the vital seaway, Pentagon leaders revealed to Congress on Thursday. “The administration has continued to restrict our Navy ships from operating within 12 nautical […]
THE Palace reiterated on Wednesday that the government will abide by its policy of arbitration and diplomacy in dealing with issues involving the South China Sea even as a United States think-tank said Beijing may be building its third airstrip on artificial islands in disputed waters. “The situation there primarily deals with, again, our approach […]