Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says unilateral actions are in nobody’s interest, urging China to avoid conflict in the South China Sea. Australia made no judgment on competing territorial claims but urged all parties to refrain from actions that were a threat to the ‘peace and good order’ of the region, he said. ‘We would hope […]

Japan should do more to enhance mutual trust with neighboring countries and promote regional stability, instead of sowing discord, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei at a routine press briefing. Hong made the remarks while commenting on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s latest interview with the Financial Times, in which he voiced Japan’s concerns about […]

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said China’s integration into the global economy paired with strong American involvement in the Asia-Pacific will reduce the risk of military conflict between the US and China. In the US to meet US President Barack Obama, Mr Turnbull made a shift in tone from predecessor Tony Abbott in his first major […]

Vietnam said on Tuesday that China had towed an oil-exploration rig into waters between the two countries, potentially leading to a reprise of a standoff that scarred relations between the two communist states in 2014. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/vietnam-claims-china-towed-oil-exploration-rig-into-disputed-waters-1453214761

Dozens of anti-China protesters in Vietnam have marked the anniversary of the Battle of the Paracel Islands amid growing tension between the countries. The demonstration on 19 January in Hanoi was to mark the 42nd anniversary of the conflict in which China took control of a cluster of around 40 islets, outcrops and reefs in […]

Chinese officials claim to be on “ high alert against Japan’s attempt to poke its nose in the issue of the South China Sea,” following an interview published Sunday in which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for the international community to “raise its voice” against Chinese encroachment. On Sunday, in a wide-ranging interview with […]

First, they drove away Filipino fishermen. Now the Chinese want to shoo away Philippine planes flying to an island in Palawan. The country’s aviation regulator on Monday claimed that China’s Navy harassed a Philippine-registered aircraft flying over Pagasa Island in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). The Cessna plane was carrying personnel of the […]

What steps should the U.S. take next? Realizing the strategic importance of the South China Sea (SCS) in its “rebalancing” policy, the United States in 2015 took several specific actions to challenge China’s maritime claims in the region. Doctrinally, the Defense Department released the Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy, which described China as the major source […]

  China has nearly completed construction of a runway and other facilities on Panganiban Reef, on the Philippine side of the Spratly archipelago in the heavily disputed South China Sea, a US-based think tank reported on Saturday. Also known as Mischief Reef, Panganiban Reef is 216 kilometers west of Palawan, well within the Philippines’ 370-km […]