SUBIC BAY, Philippines — In a flash of anticolonialist fervor nearly a quarter-century ago, lawmakers in the Philippines expelled the United States from an enormous naval base here, then the largest overseas outpost of the American military. Promising to break free from the “shackles of dictatorship,” they declared that foreign troops would never return. But […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Friday it was “extremely concerned” about a suggestion from a top U.S. commander that U.S. ships and aircraft should challenge China’s claims in the South China Sea by patrolling close to artificial islands it has built. China’s increasingly assertive action to back up its sovereignty claims in the South […]
The world’s two most powerful countries are involved in an escalating dispute over territory in the South China Sea. China has nearly finished developing artificial islands in an area the US-allied Philippines has also claimed. It is feared the new islands will be used as military and naval bases to intimidate other countries and dominate […]
The commander of US forces in the Pacific said ahead of a visit by President Xi Jinping to Washington that America should challenge China’s claim to territory in the South China Sea by patrolling close to artificial islands built by Beijing. Admiral Harry Harris told a Senate hearing on Thursday that China’s building of three […]
The Obama administration has restricted the U.S. Pacific Command from sending ships and aircraft within 12 miles of disputed Chinese-built islands in the South China Sea, bolstering Beijing’s illegal claims over the vital seaway, Pentagon leaders revealed to Congress on Thursday. “The administration has continued to restrict our Navy ships from operating within 12 nautical […]
THE Palace reiterated on Wednesday that the government will abide by its policy of arbitration and diplomacy in dealing with issues involving the South China Sea even as a United States think-tank said Beijing may be building its third airstrip on artificial islands in disputed waters. “The situation there primarily deals with, again, our approach […]
The Japanese government has lodged a protest over China’s gas field development in the East China Sea after confirming the presence of flares suggesting gas production is under way at two more facilities, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday. The flares, Suga said, were confirmed in mid-September and add to those already observed at […]
Beijing will never give up its claims to South China Sea islands, its foreign minister insisted Wednesday ahead of a state visit to the US by President Xi Jinping, after a Washington think-tank said it may be building its third airstrip in the area. China claims almost the whole of the sea and over the […]
Recent satellite imagery of Fiery Cross in the Spratly Islands reveals that China’s construction of facilities on the reef is more ambitious than previously appreciated, with one of its building complexes on track to rival the Pentagon in size. The complex, located in the midsection of the manufactured island a thousand kilometers off China’s coast, […]
China appears to be taking new steps to build airfields on two reefs in a disputed area of the South China Sea on the eve of President Xi Jinping’s arrival in Washington for a state visit on 24 September. Commercial satellite photos taken on 8 September for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) […]