The naval clash between Vietnam and China over Johnson South Reef aka Gac Ma Island was the last battle between the two communist neighbors.It occurred on March 14 1988 when Chinese forces launched an attack on the island that was formerly under Vietnamese control. This resulted in the deaths of 64 Vietnamese soldiers the sinking […]
FOR years China has sought to divide and rule in the South China Sea. It worked hard to prevent the countries challenging it over some or all of its absurdly aggrandising territorial claims in the sea from ganging up against it. So when tensions with one rival claimant were high, it tended not to provoke […]
KUALA LUMPUR – About 100 China-registered boats and vessels were detected in Malaysia’s waters near Beting Patinggi Ali in the South China Sea on Thursday (March 24), said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim amid rising regional tensions over the contested waters. Shahidan was quoted by state news agency Bernama as saying that […]
In future conflicts, America’s merchant fleet could find itself outnumbered and outmaneuvered on the high seas, say the authors of a new paper on U.S. maritime security. The paper, released November 19 and entitled “Sea Strangulation: How the United States Has Become Vulnerable to Chinese Maritime Coercion,” highlights the defense risks of a reduced American […]
A panel of experts on Asian and maritime issues predicted to a March 21 National Press Club Newsmaker audience that tension in the South China Sea will increase after an international court ruling expected in the next few months. China has claimed large areas of the South Chinese Sea, including the Spratly Islands also claimed […]
Foreign policy, while not usually an electoral issue in the Philippines, now looms large in the country’s politics. All five aspiring candidates for the May 9 presidential election have stressed their determination to improve the country’s international relations. There are some immediate challenges: A forthcoming ruling on the Philippines’ territorial dispute with China in the […]
China has pressed Japan not to broach Beijing’s disputes with regional neighbors in the South China Sea at the upcoming Group of Seven summit to be held in Japan in May, arguing that touching on the issue would hamper efforts to improve bilateral relations, diplomatic sources said Saturday. China pressed the point to Japan at […]
The article, which was published on March 16 under the title “ U-shaped line is not China’s baseline”, said China has never given any explanation for the legality of the line under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), which has also been ratified by China. The way to […]
The top U.S. naval officer has expressed concerns that China may be expanding its presence at Scarborough Shoal. Back in 2012, Scarborough Shoal was at the center of a major stand-off between China and the Philippines that presaged the current period of instability in the South China Sea. Though Beijing’s assertiveness, as demonstrated through its […]
Observers of Asian geopolitics are by now familiar with the legal challenge brought by the Philippines challenging China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea. Last year, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that it had jurisdiction over the main claims brought by the Philippines, rejecting China’s argument that the case presented a territorial dispute […]