WASHINGTON — China bluntly told the United States to stop sending ships and military aircraft close to islands claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea, during talks Friday that set the stage for a meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping later this month. The U.S. pushed back, insisting it will continue […]

The shock election of 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad for a second stint as Malaysia’s prime minister last May generated a sense of unease in the corridors of power in Beijing. In tough rhetoric on the campaign trail, Mahathir had accused his predecessor, Najib Razak, of ceding Malaysia’s sovereignty to China by accepting billions of dollars in […]

The recent close encounter between USS Decatur and the Chinese Luyang II–class guided-missile destroyer Lanzhou has attracted much attention in the media. There’s little doubt that the Chinese ship created a dangerous situation in breach of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, which requires a vessel that is overtaking another […]

Trade and oceans have always been integral parts in the struggle for global supremacy. In 1829, English adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh wrote: “For whosoever commands the sea commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.” It was the case for Great Britain […]

HONOLULU — From a distance, the Chinese warship warned the American destroyer that it was on a “dangerous course” in the South China Sea. Then it raced up alongside, getting perilously close. For a few tense minutes, a collision seemed imminent. The American vessel, the Decatur, blasted its whistle. The Chinese took no notice. Instead, […]

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines cannot claim Benham Rise as its own territory despite it being part of the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, Beijing said. In 2012, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the submission of the Philippines in 2009 with respect to the limits of its […]

China’s ongoing actions in the South China Sea belie its promises of the last five years. Its Foreign Ministry announced in 2013 that its suppression of non-Chinese fishermen was to protect the region’s sensitive marine environment. Since then, it has ripped up 2.4 million hectares of endangered coral reefs to enlarge atolls and islets into […]

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam has strongly protested China’s launch of weather stations in the disputed Spratly islands, saying they seriously violate Vietnam’s sovereignty and complicate the situation in the South China Sea. China last week announced it started operations of the stations on three islands to offer weather forecasts to fishermen. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman […]

Under peaceful circumstances, a giant seaplane would be more a matter of curiosity or commercial interest. But there’s nothing peaceful about the geopolitical situation in the South China Sea, where multiple nations—notably China—claim sovereignty over scattered islands and resource-rich waters China’s AG600—believed to be the world’s largest amphibious aircraft—may soon be operational. The transport plane—the […]

In a startling claim, Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday said China’s leaders intimated during top-level talks recently that “they do agree that those areas” in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) “are ours.” Without elaborating as he had no authority to speak for the President, Sotto said there were looming positive developments in confidential […]