As noted last week, the U.S. has lodged its objection to China’s “nine-dash-line” claim to the South China Sea. It is right to do so for two reasons. First, in contrast to what China claims, the U.S. clearly stating its position on the conflict will reduce the chance that the U.S. and China will come […]
Asia Weekly, a Hong Kong-based news outlet (Chinese controlled), is reporting that Japan is secretly developing a nuclear weapons program in response to increasing hostilities with China over the East China Sea dispute. According to the report, paraphrased by the Want China Times, “With the capability to build at least 2,000 nuclear warheads, Japan has recently […]
A senior U.S. military officer has accused China’s People Liberation Army of training for a “short sharp war” against Japan in the East China Sea aimed at seizing the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. According to the U.S. Naval Institute, Captain James Fanell, Director, Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said that the massive Mission […]
Indonesia has had a rocky couple of weeks in its relations with its neighbors. While Ted Piccone and Bimo Yusman wrote last week about Indonesia’s decade of qualified diplomatic successes, in a series of separate and mostly unrelated naval developments the archipelagic nation has in turn aggrieved, or been aggrieved by, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, […]
BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) — China on Wednesday urged the international community to be on alert for any comments which attempt to vindicate Japan’s invasion history and challenge post-war world order. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s comments came in response to a question regarding recent Japanese comments. Chairman of Japan’s public broadcaster NHK Katsuto […]
Over the last month and a half, seven significant developments indicate that tensions in the South China Sea are set to rise in both the short and long term. The five short-term trends include: Philippine defiance of China’s fishing ban; continued inaction by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the Chinese navy’s repeated assertions […]
TAIPEI – China has no plans of establishing an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea, a ranking Taiwanese official said Monday, citing an assurance from Beijing. Chu-Chia Lin, deputy minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), told an international group of reporters here that China’s assurance came after Taipei asked Beijing […]
MANILA – Marking the 35th anniversary of the short but bloody China-Vietnam border war, Vietnamese living in the Philippines linked arms Monday with Filipino activists in reminding Beijing to stop using force to assert its will on its neighbors in pushing its territorial claims. In a mass action outside the Chinese consulate in Makati City, […]
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) — Three China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels are patrolling in the waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands , the State Oceanic Administration said on Monday. The vessels are CCG 2151, 2113 and 2102. Read more: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-02/17/c_133121584.htm
Based on the DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile, China has recently developed a more advanced DF-25 medium-range ballistic missile. The advanement follows India’s completion of its Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile, capabile of carrying nuclear warheads, reports the Qingdao News website. The range of the DF-25 is estimated to be 3,200 kilometers. Even though it is still […]