Monthly Archives: May 2019

“Dark storm clouds” threaten South China Sea, Ng Eng Hen urges common rules be adopted by countries in the region

  Singapore — At the opening of this year’s 12th International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEX) Asia on Tuesday, May 14, Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen warned of “dark storm clouds” over the region that could threaten its well being. He urged for common rules to be adopted for the seas and their […]

China keeps eye on PH-US coast guard drills in South China Sea

ABOARD BRP BATANGAS, West Philippine Sea — With Chinese government ships watching from a distance, one of the US Coast Guard’s biggest and most advanced vessels conducted drills with Philippine counterparts near the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). BRP Batangas and BRP Kalanggaman joined the USCGC Bertholf on Tuesday for capacity-building exercises […]

Chinese coast guard ships seen monitoring Philippine, US ships in South China Sea

MANILA, Philippines — A Chinese coast guard ships were spotted watching Philippine and United States ships conducting joint search and rescue exercise in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea. Photos taken by Agence France-Presse on May 14 showed a Chinese coast guard ship monitoring the activity from a distance. According to the report, […]

South China Sea: Beijing preparing to INVADE Taiwan, says US intelligence

CHINA is preparing to invade Taiwan after increasing its military power in the South China Sea, according to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). Tensions erupted between the two countries after both laid claims in the disputed seas. The bitter rivalry has seen Taiwan accusing Beijing of infiltrating the island and attempting to gain influence. […]

US naval chief says ‘freedom of navigation’ exercises in South China Sea get more attention than they deserve

  The head of United States naval operations said on Wednesday that its “freedom of navigation” exercises in the South China Sea are given more attention than they deserve. The US Navy said two of its warships sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Monday last week, a move that […]

China’s official party mouthpiece warns US it risks making ‘mistake after mistake’ in trade war

China’s official party mouthpiece has warned the United States not to miscalculate in their current trade dispute, saying it risks making “mistake after mistake”. While the 8,000-character, front-page editorial in People’s Dailyindicated the country wanted to avoid an antagonistic relationship, it said that the US could not “control” China, which would be able to weather […]

Australia struggles for clarity on the South China Sea

The Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor has noted the absence of China discussion in Australia’s current election campaign, a state of affairs which prompted his colleague Sam Roggeveen to observe that “Bipartisanship on China is becoming a form of collusion”. Given that the Coalition seems to have decided against participating in a debate on foreign affairs, […]