We do not know exactly how many billions because China is not a transparent liberal democracy with independent budget accountability, but any number of Google Earth photographs reveal extensive work. It stands to reason, that China is not going to let this go to waste. And as China goes about its business of spreading its […]

China-Asean and China-US relations in the South China Sea have trended in opposite directions since July 12, 2016. On that day the Philippines and Asean set aside the near-term implementation of the South China Sea arbitration award supporting the case against China’s maritime infringements and opened a new chapter in relations with China. China-Asean ties […]

An air defense zone declared by Beijing, or any effort to stop civilian ship traffic, would raise the risk of conflict in the disputed South China Sea after years of calm, because either move would inconvenience day-to-day operations, scholars who follow the region say. Five other militarily weaker maritime claimants have watched without major protest […]

US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress heavy long-range bombers, powerful weapons of war, have made multiple flights through the East and South China Seas this month. These flights are part of US Indo-Pacific Command’s Continuous Bomber Presence mission, which aims to strengthen America’s deterrence in the face of emerging threats. News of these flights comes on […]

The British Royal Navy’s HMS Albion, a 22,000-ton amphibious transport dock, conducted a freedom of navigation patrol (FON) in waters near the Paracel islands (Xisha Qundao in Chinese) in the South China Sea in late August. The HMS Albion’s patrol was a traditional assertion of freedom of navigation on the high seas unlike the freedom […]

LAST month, President Duterte said outright: America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) planned to assassinate him. He didn’t give any reason why the CIA would want to do so, but not a few analysts think it is because of his getting close to Russia, the US’ arch-enemy even after the Cold War ended in the 1990s. […]

Nong Hong says the quick extraction of the Philippine navy ship from Half Moon Shoal indicates that, even though China-Philippines relations may face troubled political waters, economic considerations could provide an anchor. The Philippine navy frigate, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, ran aground on Half Moon Shoal in waters off the disputed Spratly Islands on […]

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — An air defense zone declared by Beijing, or any effort to stop civilian ship traffic, would raise the risk of conflict in the disputed South China Sea after years of calm, because either move would inconvenience day-to-day operations, scholars who follow the region say. Five other militarily weaker maritime claimants have watched […]

MANILA, Philippines — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stressed his position on the South China Sea dispute amid Beijing’s expanding militarization of artificial islands in the region. In an interview with The Associated Press, the 93-year-old Malaysian leader called on China to respect the free movement of ships throughout the South China Sea. Malaysia to […]

SEMATAN: Luconia Shoals, which is located in the South China Sea and lies over Sunda Continental Shelf in the Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) within Sarawak’s territorial waters, has been gazetted as a marine national park. Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, in disclosing this, said the park is the biggest in the […]