In September last year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), then the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, told a diplomatic reception: “A future DPP administration will be committed to following…the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and respecting freedom of navigation. We are ready to engage in dialogue with different parties […]
NEW DELHI: Asean Unity can challenge Beijing on its claims over the South China Sea, noted an expert on the subject. “If anybody can challenge China, it is the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations),” said Baladas Ghoshal, ex JNU professor and Secretary General of the Society for Indian Ocean Studies (SIOS), which organised the […]
The South China Sea has become the flashpoint between the ambitions of rising superpower China and a decades-long regional status quo upheld by the United States. The Spratly Islands, a small group of reefs and shoals off the eastern coast of the Philippine island of Palawan, has become the focal point of that struggle. Tensions […]
One of the United States’ most senior ex-military officers has warned that China and the US risk open conflict over the South China Sea because of basic misunderstandings between the two nations. The former head of National Intelligence and US Pacific Command, retired Admiral Dennis Blair, told Four Corners he does not believe either America […]
Although the July 2016 verdicts by the Permanent Court of Arbitration weighed heavily against China’s claims in the South China Sea, Marc Lanteigne knows that the court’s decision is hardly the last word on the subject. At the moment, a cooling-off period would be ideal, but there are several variables which may or may not […]
The risk of a clash in the South China Sea lies with non-military ships, Singapore’s defense minister said, as China deploys more heavily armed coast guard vessels in the disputed waters. Singapore has joined other nations in the region and the U.S. in warning the reliance on fishing boats and coast guards to assert territorial […]
WHY IS President Duterte bent on sleeping with the wrong “enemy” (China), and insulting an old ally (America) which can help us deal more effectively with our big northern neighbor that reportedly undermines human societies through the dangerous drugs it manufactures and smuggles worldwide? He himself has told the media a number of times that […]
Since the arbitral tribunal formed pursuant to the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) handed China a stunning legal defeat in July, China has loudly proclaimed its intention to ignore the arbitral award. For most analysts of the region, it has been a working assumption that China has not and will not […]
In less than two weeks, the situation in the South China Sea has deteriorated at an accelerated pace: a joint Sino-Russian naval exercise; plans for Japan-U.S. joint patrols in the same area; Taiwan building anti-craft gun towers on Itu Aba; Jakarta trying to get U.S. help to upgrade its naval bases. In all of these […]
“China should first renounce its claims on our Exclusive Economic Zone and withdraw their forces and dismantle their facilities within our EEZ before the Philippines can even consider China a good faith friend.” While in Vietnam, I am sure the President will see how Vietnam has stood up for centuries against giant neighbor China, engaging […]