Tensions in the South China Sea are rising, pitting China against smaller and weaker neighbors who all lay claim to islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters rich in fish and potential gas and oil reserves. China’s recent construction of artificial islands complete with airstrips and radar stations, and U.S. patrols challenging Beijing’s vast territorial […]

An interview with Bill Hayton, author of The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia. This interview was previously published on the Young China Watchers’ blog and is reprinted here with kind permission. Young China Watchers is a global network of China-focused young professionals across nine chapter cities, engaging with the most pressing […]

The South China Sea has been at the center of tensions since Beijing decided to push its initiatives in the region. With more nations stepping up their claims and defenses, analysts say that China is working on a more robust strategy to claim the region. Will South China Sea eventually belong to China? Beijing has […]

China’s HYSY 981 is once again operating near the Gulf of Tonkin, to Vietnam’s dismay. In what has become something of a yearly ritual, Vietnam and China are once again trading diplomatic barbs over a Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea. In May 2014, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s Haiyang Shiyou 981 […]

China’s militarized fishing fleet is Beijing’s analogue to Russia’s ‘little green men’. The protection of ‘innocent actors’ from local authorities (for instance, the Indonesian Coast Guard lawfully defending its EEZ) is only the latest event in which Chinese coast guard vessels were empowered to conduct acts of war. Article 62 of the United Nations Convention […]

SAN FERNANDO CITY—The Philippines on Thursday slammed China for operating a lighthouse on Zamora (Subi) Reef in the Spratly archipelago, charging that Beijing’s move undermines peace and stability in the region. Zamora Reef is claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam, but controlled by China, which built an artificial island there and on six other reefs […]

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou discusses the finer points of overlapping EEZs with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs April 8 in Taipei City. (Staff photo/Chin Hung-hao) President Ma Ying-jeou conducted a South China Sea seminar for Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials at MOFA headquarters April 8 in Taipei City, sharing his extensive knowledge and […]

Officers aboard a Soryu submarine of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force during a fleet review at Sagami Bay, off Yokosuka, south of Tokyo in this Oct. 15, 2015 file photo. © Reuters With tensions rising daily in the South China Sea, Russia modernizing its Pacific naval fleet, an increasingly unpredictable nuclear-armed North Korea next door, […]

If it were up to Admiral Harry Harris, U.S. response to China’s aggressive island building just 140 miles from Manila, Philippines will be as equally aggressive. However, he is encountering the biggest obstacle in the form of the White House. Recent evidence has shown that China is now building another island on top of Scarborough […]

Australia should warn the Chinese the Americans “aren’t going away” when it comes to the dispute over the South China Sea, former ambassador to the US Kim Beazley believes. Mr Beazley says it’s time for the Chinese to understand the US is capable of creating an “urgent” situation and won’t run away from the territorial […]