Reports suggest China may seize Scarborough Shoal during the final weeks of the US presidential election as America’s gaze turns inward. President Obama has already warned China about the consequences and he should remind its leaders that such an attempt would constitute a challenge to the peace and stability of Asia and would force Washington […]
American movie star Leonardo DiCaprio has today (September 15) unveiled a new, free technology that allows users to spy on global fishing practices, in a bid to curb illegal activity in the oceans. The technology, known as Global Fishing Watch, was officially released to the public during the Our Oceans Conference hosted by US Secretary […]
BEIJING, China – In an article in the Want China Times that appeared on June 27, 2013, Admiral Liu Huaqing, the mastermind of China’s modern naval strategy, was quoted as saying in 1982 that it would be necessary for China to control the First and Second Island Chains by 2010 and 2020, respectively. “The PLA […]
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines once again roiled the region’s foreign policy establishment by suggesting a significant shift in Manila’s engagement with Washington. On Monday he said that U.S. Special Forces combatting terrorist groups in the southern island of Mindanao “have to go.” The next day he also announced that joint patrols with the […]
AUSTRALIAN Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Wednesday questioned President Rodrigo Duterte over his decision not to enforce the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration rejecting China’s claims over most of the South China Sea. She said that was despite the fact that it was the Philippines that initiated the case against China, which has […]
Chinese expansion in the South China Sea is bringing conflict between Beijing and its neighbours – Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam – closer than it has been for decades. Vietnam has fortified several islands it controls, while Japan has been publicly rebuked by Beijing over its ‘interference’ in the sea – most of […]
Just when some of China’s neighbors were seeking to curtail its expansionism, along came Rodrigo Duterte. In less than three months on the job, the 71 year-old Philippine leader has used expletives in talking about U.S. President Barack Obama and vowed to end cooperation with the U.S. military in both fighting terrorism and patrolling the […]
It has been two months since the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea arbitral tribunal issued its blockbuster award ruling against China’s maritime claims and activities in the South China Sea. Given all the buildup, it is remarkable how little has changed since the award was released. Was the award much ado about […]
Of all the potential flashpoints in the contested South China Sea, none is more nervously watched today than Scarborough Shoal, a large coral atoll with a reef-rimmed lagoon. It encompasses 58 sq mi (150 sq km) and lies less than 150 miles (241 km) from the Philippines’ coast. Observers have long suspected that China wants […]
Setting up an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea would be an ill-conceived step for Beijing. http://thediplomat.com/2016/09/south-china-sea-the-case-against-an-adiz/