In January 2013, senior US Navy intelligence officer Captain James Fanell described China’s maritime strategy and ambitions as ‘hegemonic’ and aggressive, and said China ‘bullies adversaries’. This unusually blunt assessment made news around the world. Sam Roggeveen, who broke the story for The Interpreter, described Fanell’s comments as ‘bracing.’ While it did not receive quite […]
Unsettled war memories are once again stirring up tension in Northeast Asia. According to a recent report, Beijing would like to make World War II reconciliation a centerpiece of Xi Jinping’s visit to Germany next month. According to the article, diplomatic sources say that the Chinese government wants to highlight German contrition over its wartime […]
KUALA LUMPUR: The submerged reef would be easy to miss, under turquoise seas about 80 km (50 miles) off Malaysia’s Borneo island state of Sarawak. But two Chinese naval exercises in less than a year around the James Shoal have shocked Malaysia and led to a significant shift in its approach to China’s claims to […]
MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has summoned the charge d’affaires of China to protest the firing of water cannons at Filipino fishermen in a disputed shoal last January 27. In a press conference on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Spokesman Raul Hernandez said the incident involving a China Coast Guard vessel is only one […]
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government will ask the People’s Republic of China to explain why the Chinese coast guard fired water cannons at the Filipino fishermen who were at the disputed Scarborough Shoal on January 27. President Benigno Aquino III said both the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of National Defense are now […]
MANILA – The water cannon incident at Scarborough Shoal won’t merit any military response since the goal of the Philippines is to resolve the sea dispute in a peaceful manner, an official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said. In a press conference, AFP Spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said: “We have to […]
Manila: The Philippines lodged a strong protest against China on Tuesday over allegations by Filipino fishermen that the Chinese coastguard had attacked them with water cannon near a disputed shoal. The foreign department summoned the Chinese charge d’affaires to receive the formal protest over the January 27 incident at the Scarborough Shoal, said department spokesman […]
The current dispute focuses on the Senkakus (known by China as the Diaoyus), a group of small uninhabited islands approximately equidistant between mainland China and the Japanese island of Okinawa. Beijing and Tokyo both claim sovereignty over the islands. But Japan has exercised continuous administrative control over the islands since the U.S. returned control to […]
Chinese ships used water cannons to drive Filipino fishermen from the Panatag Shoal, a disputed territory, the military reported on Monday, even as the commander of the US Navy Pacific Fleet arrived in Manila to discuss with government officials, among others, the country’s territorial dispute with China as well as the “implications” of the US’ […]
China’s increased military and maritime surveillance activities in the South China Sea have been well-documented, both by foreign and Chinese media outlets. But China’s push to assert its claims over islands within the South China Sea is not simply unfolding in the military realm — the increased naval activities are backed by a renewed focus […]