China’s seizure of a U.S. underwater drone is consistent with Beijing’s strategy, policy, and actions. China’s recent actions in the South China Sea (SCS), from the expansion of its military defenses on the disputed Spratlys to the seizure and return of an American unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) off Subic Bay, should not come as a […]
President-elect Donald Trump told China to keep the US drone which China retrieved which has resulted in another debate on Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, an important geo-political water body and the second busiest sea route in the world, comprising over one-third of world trade. Along with the trade route, the presence of […]
Part 1 of this three-part series argued that the South China Sea Dispute poses an existential threat to ASEAN as a regional organization. The South China Sea Dispute challenges ASEAN’s ability to deal with regional militarization, guarantee member states’ economic benefits, ensure ASEAN citizens’ safety when fishing, and protect Southeast Asia’s marine environment. Part 2, […]
China’s recent seizure of a U.S Navy underwater drone may have been an early political test for U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. On Saturday, China’s Defense Ministry released a statement announcing that its military had come across an unmanned American device in the South China Sea on Dec. 15 and said it would transfer the drone […]
Plus, Vietnam gets to reclaiming land in the Spratly Islands and Taiwan celebrates 70 years of Taiping Island. A few South China Sea stories that you may have missed over the past week: The British are coming. The United Kingdom is set to grow more involved in the South China Sea. Speaking last week in […]
China’s recent seizure of a U.S Navy underwater drone may have been an early political test for U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. On Saturday, China’s Defense Ministry released a statement announcing that its military had come across an unmanned American device in the South China Sea on Dec. 15 and said it would transfer the drone […]
Some international observers minimize the importance of military facilities and operational capabilities on the People’s Republic of China’s various claimed features, rocks, and islands in the South China Sea. They should reconsider. Each location in isolation is not that potent. However, in the aggregate, this island base network poses a more resilient capability (geographically dispersed […]
On a map of the world, the South China Sea appears as a scrap of blue amid the tangle of islands and peninsulas that make up Southeast Asia between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Its 1.4 million-square-mile expanse, so modest next to its aquatic neighbors, is nonetheless economically vital to the countries that border it […]
Malaysia’s Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein yesterday urged the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) to band together on the South China Sea issue so as to prevent major powers from dictating regional politics. “Alone, we cannot face them, but as a coalition of 10 countries, I am confident that even China cannot take us lightly […]
With its controversial seizure and return of a U.S. underwater drone, Beijing may have inadvertently thrust into the spotlight one of the main motivations behind its ramped-up moves in the South China Sea: the quest to create a safe-haven for its sea-based nuclear deterrent. Submarines, in particular ballistic missile subs, have long figured prominently in […]