After many months of taking increasingly bold actions at the expense of its neighbors in East Asia, there are recent indications that Beijing may be adopting more conciliatory policies. China has unexpectedly removed a controversial oil-drilling rig that it had deployed in waters near Vietnam. In late June, Chinese president Xi Jinping conducted a high-profile […]
The 18th Party Congress in November 2012 produced new leadership for China, but it did not produce much optimism for the future of China’s relationship with its East Asian neighbors or the United States. Chinese President Xi Jinping frequently refers to the “Chinese Dream,” or “the great resurgence of the Chinese nation.” Coinciding with this, […]
MANILA, Philippines – China is carrying out land reclamation operations in not just one but a total of five areas in the disputed Spratly Islands well within the Philippine maritime zone. A confidential Malacañang report detailed the land reclamation activities of China in five areas, namely Johnson South (Mabini) Reef, Cuarteron (Calderon) Reef, Hughes (Kennan) […]
In an article published by The Diplomat on May 29, Jerome Cohen makes an impassioned and well-reasoned argument for states in East Asia to utilize independent, third-party arbitration mechanisms wherever possible to challenge China’s maximalist claims. This was very much the theme of a question I asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his opening keynote […]
Fueled by China’s growing assertiveness as a rising global power, tensions over territorial disputes have mounted in the Asia-Pacific region. In November last year, Beijing unilaterally expanded its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) to cover most of the East China Sea, triggering a bitter dispute with Tokyo as the ADIZ also covers the airspace above […]
(Reuters) – Japan and China on Sunday accused each other’s air forces of dangerous behavior over the East China Sea, with Japan saying Chinese aircraft had come within a few dozen meters of its warplanes. Japan’s defense minister accused Beijing of going “over the top” in its approach to disputed territory. China’s defense ministry said […]
This is what China is planning to construct on our Mabini Reef. If they succeed in doing this, it would become an unsinkable aircraft carrier, a game changer. From there, Chinese fighter planes can reach in minutes all our vital military and economic installations, a clear and present danger, like the Cuban missile installations, to […]
Collisions between ships of Vietnam and China following the latter’s installation of a deep water oil rig in the disputed South China Sea mark a dangerous escalation of simmering tensions. Simultaneous to this fracas near the contested Paracel Islands, maritime authorities of the Philippines have arrested Chinese fishermen close to another coveted portion of the […]
Nations’ ties reshape through time. Each side’s expectation needs periodic reassuring. Leaders thus must restate exactly where they stand. Visiting Barack Obama reportedly will bring up today corruption and human rights issues. Noynoy Aquino is to table the strain Beijing is causing in the West Philippine (South China) Sea. Of concern to Filipinos is the […]
Over at the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog, M. Taylor Fravel and Alastair Iain Johnston performed a data analysis on the frequency of Chinese coast guard patrols near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. They found that since October 2013 there has been a remarkable drop in the frequency of Chinese patrols in the Senkaku/Diaoyu territorial waters, […]