China’s artificial islands are a symbol of its revisionism in the South China Sea, but they’re also militarily significant. Are China’s seven artificial islands in the Spratly Group in the South China Sea liable to complicate U.S. freedom of maneuver in a conflict in East Asia? In a recent article at War on the […]

  Although known to be fiercely nationalistic, Indonesia’s diminutive Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi hardly looks the part of a “bad cop.” But that was the role she was apparently called on to play in Indonesia’s recent stand-off with China in sovereign waters north of the Natuna Islands. The hard line taken by Marsudi, chief political […]

RUSSIA has been invited by the Philippines to explore for oil in a vast area of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. The development will frustrate China’s attempts to secure ownership of the lucrative zone within its nine dash line, the proportion of the sea bed that Beijing has allocated for itself. In October […]

  This week’s first-ever visit by a Chinese coastguard ship to Manila can be seen as a milestone in confidence building between two key claimants in theSouth China Sea came to power, the Philippines and China have done much work on their coastguard diplomacy, establishing a two-way consultation mechanism that has convened five times in […]

  Chinese delegates at an international summit in Canberra have successfully removed references to the disputed South China Sea in a resolution promoting freedom of navigation in the region. The wording was this week watered down in negotiations at Parliament House, where more than 300 representatives from about 30 countries gathered for the 28th Asia-Pacific […]

  The first Chinese coastguard ship ever to visit the Philippines was officially welcomed on Tuesday, as Manila called on Beijing to discuss ways of ensuring the safety of both countries’ fishermen at sea. The controversial visit, which is being led by Commandant General Wang Zhongca and lasts until Friday, comes amid growing anger in […]

  MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard on Tuesday came out in force to welcome the China Coast Guard, as it laid anchor in Manila. CCG director-general Maj. Gen. Wang Zhongcai was accorded arrival honors at the PCG headquarters, which was followed by a welcome ceremony for the visiting ship at the nearby Pier […]

  Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are the 2 biggest threats to global peace today. They’re both bullies—terrorizing their respective “schoolyards”—Latin America as well as the Middle East for Trump and Southeast Asia for Xi Jinping. Trump’s ignorance, malevolence and bigotry has always been there to see. It’s easy to dismiss his adventurism and bravado […]

  Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic nation. Encompassing much of the Malay archipelago, Indonesia has its share of maritime claims on the South China Sea within the area of the Natuna Islands. Indonesia has yet to resolve issues involving maritime boundary disputes with some of its neighbors, including Vietnam, Malaysia and China. In April […]

China’s seemingly unstoppable expansion through the South China Sea finally hit a wall last week, an unyielding, uncompromising wall named Indonesia. Unlike in the Philippines where Chinese fishing and coast guard vessels seemingly have almost free reign to plunder as much Philippines sea produce as they can harvest, Beijing’s attempt to steal fish from Indonesian […]