This is the second installment of a series that focuses on recent changes to Japan’s national security and the background of the government’s intentions. “Gray-zone situations” are states of increased military tension that do not involve actual armed attacks on Japan. The security-related bills that have been submitted to the Diet would enable the Self-Defense […]
This week the annual report to the US Congress on China’s Military Power was released. It noted Beijing’s use of ‘low-intensity coercion’ across the South China Sea and East China Sea. Its assessment stated that: China often uses a progression of small, incremental steps to increase its effective control over disputed territories and avoid escalation to military […]
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines’ military chief flew to a Filipino-occupied island in the South China Sea on Monday and vowed to defend the territory and help develop tourism and marine resources there amid disputes with China. Related Stories Pentagon weighs sending planes, ships near disputed South China Sea reefs Reuters South China Sea […]
Australia urged China not to create a proprietary air zone over the disputed South China Sea, with defusing tensions in the waters a priority, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. “The Asean countries have been discussing this and I believe they’ve made their position quite plain that they would be deeply concerned if there was any […]
THITU ISLAND, South China Sea (Reuters) – As the Philippine military C-130 transport plane made its approach to the country’s most precious outpost in the disputed South China Sea on Monday, it flew past a reef which China is quickly turning into an island. At least two cranes and two dredgers were visible on Subi […]
China reserves the right to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone over the South China Sea, a move that would raise tensions in a region wracked by territorial disputes. “China is entitled to set up ADIZs,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday. “A decision in this regard depends on whether the air safety […]
Beijing’s new land-reclamation strategy in the South China Sea has been ringing alarm bells in the region and has prompted the U.S. to accuse China of attempting to force its way to de facto control of disputed waters. Several high-definition satellite images surfaced this month of China’s land reclamation and construction on Mischief Reef in […]
ABOVE THE EAST CHINA SEA — The crew of Pelican One keeps a watchful eye as the U.S. Navy patrol plane swoops low to identify a ship operating near waters off southwestern Japan that China now claims as its territory. After a radio check and a close look confirms the ship is a harmless Panama-flagged […]
Never underestimate Chinese engineering. First the Great Wall, then the Grand Canal, and now the Great Wall of Sand. China is rapidly augmenting features in the South China Sea (SCS) on industrial scale—hundreds of acres (more than 4 square km)—that even its neighbors combined cannot match. “Features,” is the key word here, because many were previously […]
Beijing’s new land-reclamation strategy in the South China Sea has been ringing alarm bells in the region and has prompted the U.S. to accuse China of attempting to force its way to de facto control of disputed waters. Several high-definition satellite images surfaced this month of China’s land reclamation and construction on Mischief Reef in […]