India says it wants to create a satellite tracking and imaging center in Vietnam for civilian purposes. The facility will give Hanoi access to data from Indian satellites in the region, which also cover China and the South China Sea. Security experts say the pictures developed from the Earth observation satellites could be used for […]

Moscow – US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has stated that Beijing is taking steps which will lead to international isolation amid ongoing tensions over disputed territories in the South China Sea. The comment by the Pentagon top official was made on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Carter offered that the US is […]

After: Fiery Cross Reef, Jun 28, 2015 After: Fiery Cross Reef, Jun 28, 2015 The president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Wu Shicun, said strict ecological protection measures were guiding the construction China is carrying out on seven reefs. The “green construction ethos” of the project “ensures the affected area is […]

China is currently commissioning two of the world’s largest coast guard cutters, ships that could alter the balance of power in the South and East China Seas (one ship is to be stationed in both seas). Known only by their hull numbers, in this case Haijing 2901 and Haijing 3901 (the first digit denotes which […]

“We urge all parties, not just China, to refrain from further construction on those islands or reefs, and to refrain from militarization,” Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a speech during the Martin Luther King Day in the United States. Turnbull clarified that Australia does not have claims in the disputed sea and does […]

The number of military facilities China builds on its South China Sea islands will depend upon the level of threat it faces, People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) chief told his US counterpart on Wednesday in a video teleconference. Admiral Wu Shengli, PLAN commander, stressed that Beijing does not seek militarization. This month, Beijing landed three […]

The head of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy told his U.S. counterpart the installations China has constructed in the South China Sea aren’t a sign of an increased militarization in the region, but said China will protect its installations depending on the threat level, according to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. The defense […]

BEIJING – The amount of military facilities China builds on islands in the South China Sea depends on the level of threat it faces although China does not seek militarisation, the navy chief told his US counterpart on Wednesday. Every year more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped through the South China Sea, […]

MANILA – Beijing has called ”illegal” Manila’s plan to install a $1-million satellite-based system on Pag-asa Island to track commercial flights over the disputed South China Sea. ”China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands including Zhongye Dao,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei, referring to the Chinese name for Pag-Asa Island. ”Any activity […]

SOMETIME in February 1995, it was reported that China had built a number of octagonal huts on Mischief Reef in the Spratly islands group. The report was confirmed by Philippine Air Force air intelligence photographs taken by aerial reconnaissance missions that were sent to Mischief Reef by then Col. Melchor Rosales who was A-2 (Air […]