This weekend, President Obama will travel to Vietnam, making the third U.S. presidential visit to the country since the end of the Vietnam War. Obama’s trip, which will also include a stop in Japan, will encompass several priorities. He will try to reassure allies that the United States remains committed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, even […]
(UPDATED) TAIPEI–Taiwan swore in Tsai Ing-wen as its first female president Friday ahead of a grand ceremony celebrating the island’s unique identity, likely to raise hackles in Beijing as ties with China rapidly cool. Tsai took office after winning a landslide victory in January to defeat the ruling Kuomintang, ending an eight-year rapprochement with Beijing […]
PHNOM PENH — On the thorny issue of Southeast Asia’s territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Cambodia finds itself caught in the middle. On one side, its fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) say the regional bloc should be central to dealing with the disputes. On the other, China—the world’s […]
JAKARTA: Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines may conduct joint patrols in parts of the disputed South China Sea, said Indonesia’s military chief General Gatot Nurmantyo. At a meeting in Yogyakarta on May 5, foreign ministers of the three ASEAN countries had agreed to conduct patrols to combat piracy in the Sulu and Sulawesi Sea. However, […]
On Tuesday, in international airspace over the South China Sea, two Chinese fighter jets flew dangerously close to a U.S. EP-3 Aries signals reconnaissance aircraft. Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, confirmed on Wednesday to NBC News that “two tactical aircraft from the People’s Republic of China” had attempted […]
Two Chinese military aircraft intercepted a U.S. military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea Tuesday. Defense Department spokeswoman Lt. Col. Michelle Baldanza said that the U.S. maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft was flying in a “routine patrol” in international airspace on May 17 when “two tactical aircraft from the People’s Republic of China” intercepted the […]
WASHINGTON — Russia is set to finalize an agreement with Asean countries including controversial references to maritime navigation and militarization of the South China Sea, a draft of the accord obtained by VOA Khmer shows. According to a draft of the Sochi Declaration, which is dated May 7 and marked as the agreed text, Russia […]
WASHINGTON – China is willing to tolerate higher levels of tension in the South China Sea in pursuit of its interests but seeks to avoid direct conflict with the United States, the Pentagon said. China is using coercive tactics short of armed conflict – such as the use of law enforcement vessels to enforce maritime […]
Pedestrians walk past a Philippine flag tarpaulin bearing the image of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte along a main road in Davao City yesterday. Miguel de Guzman Rody eyes bilateral talks with China DAVAO CITY, Philippines – US President Barack Obama became the first head of government to congratulate Rodrigo Duterte, relaying at the same time […]
President Ma Ying-jeou urged May 16 The Hague to recognize the status of Taiping Island as a bona fide island with requisite rights to a continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, adding that the international community should not turn a blind eye to any violation of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. […]