Monthly Archives: September 2017

China drags Indonesia into South China Sea morass

  Beijing’s rebuke of Jakarta’s decision to rename its natural gas-rich Natuna Island region has agitated what had been a quiescent territorial dispute   What’s in a name? Quite a lot it seems, particularly when it comes to China’s expansive claims to the South China Sea, which Beijing has increasingly come to regard as its […]

US will send more navy patrols to disputed South China Sea amid tensions with Beijing

THE US will be increasing its navy patrols in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the Pentagon has confirmed – a decision that is likely to outrage Beijing.   Pentagon officials have confirmed that US Pacific Command will be executing “freedom-of-navigation operations” approximately two or three times each month in a bid to […]

Report: China poised to achieve air supremacy over ‘first island chain’

The “first island chain” refers to the first major archipelagos off the East Asian continental mainland, including the Japanese archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and the northern Philippines. Wikimedia Commons/Suid-Afrikaanse   MANILA, Philippines — China has demonstrated its ability to gain air supremacy over areas of the “first island chain” as it continues its military buildup […]

‘India’s refusal to bend showed the world how to deal with Chinese coercion’

  The damage the 10-week troop Doklam standoff inflicted on the already frayed India-China relationship will not be easy to repair.   Indeed, the China-India divide over border, water, trade, maritime and other issues, including transportation and economic corridors, may only widen.   There is also the risk that the end of the face-off could […]