Wading into choppy political waters, Taiwan’s outgoing president Thursday paid a visit to a disputed islet in the South China Sea and called for peace as China, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines vie more aggressively for territory and influence in the region. Ma Ying-jeou largely couched his visit to Taiping Island, also known as Itu […]

A US naval ship conducted a patrol Saturday around a disputed island in the South China Sea, in the second such maneuver in recent months. The island is one of many in the area subject to competing claims, in a saga that has raised tensions between China and its neighbors. The United States also has […]

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) is underway in the Philippine Sea in 2013. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Declan Barnes/Released) The U.S. Navy sent a ship near a contested island in the South China Sea on Saturday to challenge “excessive maritime claims that restrict the rights […]

WASHINGTON — The Navy challenged China and other countries’ “excessive” attempts to restrict navigation in the South China Sea on Saturday, sailing the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur near disputed islands there, according to the Pentagon. The “freedom of navigation operation” took the vessel within 12 miles of Triton Island, said Navy Capt. Jeff […]

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island Saturday, an island claimed by China in the Paracel Islands chain in the South China Sea. The Pentagon said the warship’s passage was a freedom of navigation operation intended to “challenge excessive maritime claims of parties that claim the Paracel Islands,” which are […]

BEIJING (AP) — China strongly condemned the United States after a U.S. warship deliberately sailed near one of the Beijing-controlled islands in the hotly contested South China Sea to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge China’s vast territorial claims. The missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Triton Island […]

Washington, Jan. 29 (CNA) The road map for peace in the South China Sea proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) shows a clear logic for Taiwan, and if adopted, would be in Taipei’s interests and would help Taipei get a seat at an international negotiations table to resolve regional disputes, the Tokyo-based Diplomat Magazine has […]

The Hague tribunal’s Philippines versus China arbitration could augur well – if complied with In the article, “South China Sea arbitration: What may follow”, in The Straits Times last Saturday, writers Kang Lin, Jiang Zongqiang and Hu Xin attempt to give grounds for China’s position that the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague does […]

When China’s Ambassador to ASEAN first wrote an article about China’s ill-advised position on the Philippine arbitration case (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 26), we did not bother to reply as the arguments presented were an old rehash of China’s so-called historic rights and were refutations of the rulings issued by the Arbitral Tribunal. Indeed, the […]

Calling freedom of navigation “a matter of fundamental principle” to the United States, the top military officer in the Pacific said that more operations in the South China Sea not only will continue but will become more complex. Adm. Harry Harris, commander of Pacific Command, said in answer to a question Wednesday, “I believe the […]