WASHINGTON — There are no islands in the Spratly Islands. Only rocks. At least, that’s according to an international tribunal’s ruling earlier this year that said, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, Taiwan’s “Itu Aba” island is in fact, just a rock. Itu Aba, also known as […]

Air Force Secretary Deborah James said the service will likely conduct new freedom of navigation flights in the skies above the South China Sea in response to China’s continued militarization and artificial “island-building” in the area. “We will exercise our freedom of navigation in the air,’ James told reporters. Calling China’s behavior “worrisome,” James addressed […]

At the G20 Hangzhou summit earlier this month, China made clear that Russian president Vladimir Putin was a top guest. Both China and Russia claim that their bilateral relations are the “best ever’ and demonstrate an “unprecedentedly high level of trust.” Putin described the relationships as a “comprehensive partnership and strategic collaboration.” The China–Russia relationship […]

The U.S. military’s top commander in the Pacific is arguing behind closed doors for a more confrontational approach to counter and reverse China’s strategic gains in the South China Sea, appeals that have met resistance from the White House at nearly every turn. Adm. Harry Harris is proposing a muscular U.S. response to China’s island-building […]

The situation surrounding the South China Sea has started to change, as the positions of such relevant players as the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are wavering in regard to the Chinese buildup of military bases. The governments of Japan and the United States, which have called for China to exercise self-restraint, […]

Singapore’s ambassador to China on Tuesday accused a major state-run Chinese newspaper of fabricating a report about Singapore’s position on the South China Sea, but the paper stuck by its story. The Global Times said on Sept. 21 that at a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela, Singapore had raised the issue of the […]

Following the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) unanimous ruling undermining the legal basis for China’s “nine-dash line” claim, Beijing repeated its prior threat to establish an aircraft defense identification zone (ADIZ) above the South China Sea (SCS). An ADIZ is an area of airspace, adjacent to but beyond the national airspace and territory of the […]

AN official of the Department of National Defense told a recent Japan-Asean Vice-Ministerial Meeting that the Philippines needs the support of the international community as Beijing remained recalcitrant in not recognizing and abiding by an international tribunal ruling against its sweeping claims to the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). At the same meeting, Defense […]