China’s rapid construction of a string of artificial islands in the South China Sea has entered a more troubling phase. According to a major Pentagon report released last week, Beijing is shifting its focus from land reclamation to building deepwater ports, military-grade airstrips and other strategic infrastructure on top of its islands. While it’s unclear […]
China conducted large-scale air and sea exercises in the East China Sea on Thursday, state news agency Xinhua said, the third time in the last two months it has carried out such live-fire maritime drills. The training involved more than 100 ships, dozens of aircraft, information warfare units as well the firing of close to […]
BEIJING: China will unveil a refitted model of a long-range strategic bomber next week during the massive military parade here to commemorate the victory against Japan in WWII, the state media reported today. The aircraft, independently developed for long-distance precision strikes, was loosely based on a previous bomber model, but 90 per cent has been […]
China has undergone more than three decades of unprecedented rapid growth. Literally. The country is expanding. Hundreds of square kilometres are added onto China each year, as coastlines are extended farther and farther out to sea. Massive amounts of land are being reclaimed to build new cities, ports, resorts, and industrial zones. Dubbed by the […]
The Pentagon just released an “Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy.” The document articulates three regional maritime objectives heretofore insufficiently stressed and linked: “to safeguard the freedom of the seas; deter conflict and coercion; and promote adherence to international law and standards.” Long-overdue, the strategy represents a positive contribution, but remains far from sufficient. First, the strengths: […]
It has long been presumed that economic integration can and will mitigate U.S.-China security competition. But to put it bluntly, this does not seem to be happening. So when President Xi Jinping visits Washington next month, it is essential that the U.S. and China use his visit to confront, not tiptoe around, the underlying reasons […]
Since then, Taiwan, one of the six claimants in the South China Sea dispute along with China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, has moved to take additional positive steps, most notably, officially launching a South China Sea Peace Initiative. In a climate where much of the news on the South China Sea has been […]
WASHINGTON—A new Pentagon report says China’s reclamation of landmass among a string of artificial islands in the South China Sea has grown dramatically in recent months, and that Beijing is aggressively patrolling the waters there to assert its territorial claims. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-says-china-has-stepped-up-land-reclamation-in-south-china-sea-1440120837
WASHINGTON – China has reclaimed more land in the disputed Spratly islands of the South China Sea, including parts of the West Philippine Sea, than previously known, according to a new Pentagon report, which says Beijing is also completing construction of a runway on one of its seven man-made outposts. Once the airstrip on Fiery […]
The speed, maneuverability and shallow draft of the Navy’sLittoral Combat Ship makes the platform well suited for the South China Sea, Pentagon leaders said while releasing a new Asia-Pacific maritime strategy document. “The LCS is ideally suited for a role in the South China Sea. It is fast, light and flexible and it has a […]