BEIJING: A 3,000-metre (9,800-foot) airstrip Beijing is building on a reef in disputed waters in the South China Sea, where tensions are mounting with its neighbours, is “nearly complete”, a US think-tank said. A satellite picture taken on Sunday showed that China was paving and marking the runway on Fiery Cross Reef and an apron […]
China has almost finished building a 3,000-meter-long (10,000-foot) airstrip on one of its artificial islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, new satellite photographs of the area show. A U.S. military commander had said in May that the airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef could be operational by year-end, although the June […]
STRONG world opinion against China’s occupation and reclamation of areas in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) may have softened Beijing’s hardline stance on its maritime and territorial disputes with neighboring countries, including the Philippines. “The most glaring reality is that we are not alone, and because of that, the options are increasing from […]
The fourth of six Kilo-class submarines Vietnam bought from Russia arrived on Tuesday amid continued tensions in the South China Sea, local media sources reported. According to Thanh Nien News, the submarine, codenamed HQ-185 Da Nang, arrived at Cam Ranh Port in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa on Tuesday morning transported by the Dutch-registered […]
A Russian-made submarine arrived in Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Port Tuesday, the fourth of six Kil0-class submarines that Russia is delivering as part of a $2.6 billion deal the two countries signed in 2009, Thanh Nien News reported. The submarines are part of a Vietnamese effort to deter China’s military amid an ongoing dispute over the […]
The past few months have been a strategic roll coaster for Asia. Earlier this year, China dealt a huge blow to the United States’ leadership in the region when it managed to enlist leading European economies as well as American allies in Asia as founding members of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which will […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has completed some of its land reclamation on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, raising the stakes in Beijing’s territorial dispute with its Asian neighbors. China stepped up its creation of artificial islands last year, alarming several countries in Asia and drawing criticism […]
Japanese sea patrols in the South China Sea are unacceptable, but U.S. patrols there will be tolerated, a prominent Chinese general declared, according to a new NBC news report. The ongoing military dispute between China and Japan that will change the strategic make-up of the region centers on territorial claims over a group of islands that could have […]
PALAWAN ISLAND, Philippines–Tokyo’s growing partner in the field of security appeared impressed by the equipment of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force. “We have radar, but they (MSDF) have advanced radar for search and rescue,” said Niccaben Ogoc, 37, a second petty officer of the Philippine Navy, during the countries’ first joint exercise using the MSDF’s P-3C […]
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has delivered a blunt warning to China that Australia “deplores” any unilateral action that would alter the status quo in the South China Sea, a clear reference to China’s ambitious reclamation and island-building projects that are designed to position its military hardware in the disputed Spratly Islands chain. Mr Abbott and […]