KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia has rejected China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea in a rare public rebuke of its largest trading partner. The government made a submission to the United Nations two weeks ago on its rights over the remaining portion of a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the country’s […]

If this was any other ordinary, pandemic-free year, August would have heralded a blitz of parachute diplomacy inSoutheast Asia Regional Forum (ARF), which convenes foreign ministers of the 10-nation bloc and key global partners, is considered so important that it is highly irregular for a major power’s top diplomat to skip the security meeting, no […]

In his State of the Nation Address last July 27, President Duterte admitted to the nation that he is “inutile” in defending Philippine sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Duterte declared: “[China is] in possession. So what can we do? We have to go to war and I can’t afford it. xxx I’m […]

MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) to set aside a portion of Fuga Island in Cagayan province for use as a base by the Philippine Navy. On Monday (Aug. 10), Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, Navy chief, told INQUIRER.net that Duterte gave the order last Aug. 6 to allocate […]

Taipei [Taiwan], Aug 8 (ANI): Taiwan’s military has dispatched more of Marine Corps to China-claimed Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea after reports surfaced that Beijing is planning to carry out a simulated invasion in the atolls, according to Taiwan News. Earlier on Monday, Japan’s Kyodo News, cited PLA National Defense University professor Li […]

When US President Donald Trump was elected back in November 2016, it was already clear from his rhetoric that the relationship between China and the United States would never be the same again. In the years that followed, the war of words between Beijing and Washington gradually continued to escalate, until in 2018 the still […]

SOUTH CHINA SEA disputes have threatened global conflict as China and the US battle for supremacy in the region – and one expert claims violence is becoming an increasingly likely prospect. China has controversially seized control of much of the South China Sea due to its Nine Dash-Line claim, a demarcation for what the country […]

In July 2016, an international tribunal rejected China’s claims of sovereignty over the territory within a vaguely-defined nine-dash line in theSouth China Sea . ”.While the United States takes no position on the competing claims in the South China Sea, Washington does reject Beijing’s claim and has deployed two carrier strike groups in dual-carrier operations […]

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper expressed concerns about Beijing’s “destabilising” activity near Taiwan and the South China Sea in a call with Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, the Pentagon said on Thursday, the first time the two are believed to have spoken since March. The call came as US-China ties have rapidly deteriorated this year […]

CHINA has showcased missiles it dubs “aircraft carrier killers” in a chilling warning after the United States sent USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan to the disputed South China Sea – with one expert warning US President Donald Trump: “Don’t underestimate us.” The People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force recently launched a DF-26 intermediate-range anti-ship ballistic […]