MANILA—The Philippines cried foul this week when China announced plans to begin regular patrols of the South China Sea, known here as the West Philippines Sea. The two countries have been engaged in a tense dispute over the region since 2012, when Chinese ships took control of Scarborough Shoal, which is just one of the […]
On January 16, 1974, the Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVN) discovered the presence of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Crescent Group in the western Paracel Islands, which was held by South Vietnam. This was an unexpected development, because notwithstanding the reduced U.S. military assistance to Saigon after the signing of the Paris […]
Recent comments by U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel Locklear III set the internet afire (well, at least for strategic studies followers) in suggesting that the United States was losing dominance in the Pacific Ocean. While no news to those of us who follow events closely in this part of the world, such remarks are a stark […]
WASHINGTON – China’s maritime claims in the East and South China Seas are dubious and its grand designs must be opposed by the free world if peace in the region is to be preserved, Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of the US House subcommittee on foreign affairs, said. At a subcommittee hearing on China’s maritime and other […]
BEIJING — Chinese naval vessels including an island landing ship began drills Monday in the South China Sea, where China and several other nations are locked in territorial disputes. Two destroyers and China’s largest amphibious landing craft started the exercises after sailing from the naval base on the southern island province of Hainan, the official […]
(Reuters) – China is building its second aircraft carrier, which is expected to take six years, and the country aims to have at least four such ships, Chinese and Hong Kong media reports said on Sunday. After two decades of double-digit increases in the military budget, China’s admirals plan to develop a full blue-water navy […]
WASHINGTON — Escalating disputes between Japan and China are spilling onto newspaper opinion pages around the globe as the rivals try to sway attitudes abroad and placate nationalist fervor at home. Japan’s ambassador to the US, in the latest salvo, accused China of a propaganda campaign that portrays Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as glorifying Japan’s […]
MANILA, Philippines – Joining a United Nations arbitration process to resolve territorial disputes is the course of action China should take and not just meeting Manila “halfway” on a controversial fisheries regulation in disputed waters, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday. “The nine-dash line claim is in gross violation of international law. It […]
Reuters says in its report today that China is stepping up its propaganda against Japan in the West. The following is the full text of its report: China took reporters on Thursday on an unusual trip to a camp which housed Western prisoners of the Japanese in World War Two, a further sign of Beijing […]
The Philippine navy hopes to add two more warships to its fleet as Southeast Asian countries continue to expand their militaries in response to the Chinese government’s increasingly assertive territorial ambitions in the South China Sea, also known as the West Philippine Sea. Armed forces chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista said the new acquisitions […]