But there are a few obvious actions that Beijing could take that would constitute overt militarization of its Spratly Islands. First, China could station or provide for the regular rotation of military aircraft through Fiery Cross, Subi, or Mischief Reefs. Second, it could station or regularly rotate PLAN vessels through its new island port facilities. […]
China has ticked off Malcolm Turnbull over his comments on the South China Sea, saying Australia should maintain a neutral position over the contested area. “We hope that Australia will stay committed to not taking sides on issues concerning disputes over sovereignty,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters in Beijing. On Monday the new […]
As Chinese president Xi Jinping kicks off his first state visit to the United States, the US military has chosen to reveal another confrontation between a Chinese interceptor jet and a US reconnaissance plane. On Tuesday, as Xi spoke in Seattle of his desire to “build a new model of major-country relationship of no-conflict, no-confrontation, […]
The target of China’s expansion work at the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) is the Scarborough Shoal, according to former Parañaque City (Metro Manila) Rep. Roilo Golez. Golez, also a former national security adviser, said China is eyeing Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal because it will complete the “strategic triangle” it wants to establish in the […]
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) says Subi Reef is China’s northern-most outpost in the Spratly Island group and is just 25 kilometres from civilian populations of the Philippines. It says China has reclaimed almost 4 million square metres of land and is possibly preparing to build a landing strip. It has already built a […]
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) says Subi Reef is China’s northern-most outpost in the Spratly Island group and is just 25 kilometres from civilian populations of the Philippines. It says China has reclaimed almost 4 million square metres of land and is possibly preparing to build a landing strip. It has already built a […]
Amost 20 years ago, when China used missile tests to intimidate Taiwan ahead of key elections there, the United States responded by dispatching not one but two aircraft carrier strike groups to the area. The unabashed U.S. show of force set off howls of protest in Beijing, which deemed it a “hostile act,” yet America […]
Despite claims in August that it would stop reclaiming land in the South China Sea, Beijing is continuing to pursue construction of man-made islands flush with military equipment. Citing the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), The Washington Post reports that China is planning large-scale construction on the recently dredged Subi Reef and Mischief […]
Tokyo (dpa) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that his country will provide more patrol ships to Vietnam amid growing tensions in the South China Sea. The premier made the announcement at a meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, the visiting general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party, who arrived in Tokyo Tuesday for a […]
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 […]