The government of Indonesia inaugurated a military base in the Natuna Islands on Tuesday, in the South China Sea and near disputed territory that China has increasingly colonized using the manufacture of artificial islands and illegal coast guard patrols. The Natuna Islands are part of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone and not claimed by China. China […]
The stage is set for a major conflict igniting in the hotly disputed maritime region which policy makers and observers fear may end up spiralling out of control WAR between the US and Chinese forces in the South China Sea could break out in 2019, leading experts fear. Concerns are mounting the two superpowers could […]
A Philippine lawmaker has proposed a bill to honour an international court’s ruling in favour of Manila in its maritime dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, saying the move would boost national pride. Gary C. Alejano, of the Magdalo Party-List, wants a working holiday to commemorate a verdict in The Hague on July […]
At first it seemed a mystery to rank alongside that of the Marie Celeste or other ghost ships. Earlier this month a Chinese fishing crew came across a completely deserted ferry floating in the East China Sea. Wang Weiping, the skipper of the fishing boat that found the liner early on Thursday 300 nautical miles […]
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – 2018/12/16: A protester seen holding a burning flare during the protest against the new labour law approved by the right wing conservative government lead by Viktor Orban. A US Navy ship had an “unsafe” interaction with a Chinese warship September 30 while the US vessel was conducting a freedom of navigation operation […]
Anyone betting that Chinese President Xi Jinping would back down quickly in a trade war with Donald Trump better think again. Xi told a Beijing crowd including some of China’s most influential political, military and business figures on Tuesday that the country’s growing wealth and power had validated the Communist Party’s — and thus his […]
Beijing appeasing Donald Trump or waiting him out will no longer work, says Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman LONDON: Tell me how this ends? was the despairing question attributed to American generals as they contemplated the quagmires in Vietnam and Iraq. The same question needs to be asked by US policymakers now, as they consider the […]
MANILA – The US envoy to the Philippines has admitted that the early months of the Duterte administration brought challenges to the relationship between Washington and Manila. US Ambassador Sung Kim said he put a lot of effort in building a constructive relationship with President Rodrigo Duterte. Kim and the President met in Malacañang last […]
It is time for Southeast Asian states and ASEAN to think, act and speak consistently and clearly for its own interests—or else court irrelevance and ruin of its own strategic objectives. THE 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS) describes China as a revisionist power seeking to displace the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. It is […]
MANILA – The United States envoy to the Philippines has dismissed President Rodrigo Duterte’s accusations that Washington failed to stop Beijing from militarizing islands in the South China Sea. Ambassador Sung Kim said the US has been consistent in its calls against aggressive unilateral actions. “China has obviously taken unilateral measures and in fact they […]