China said on Monday that coast guard ships had driven away two Philippine vessels which had tried to approach a shoal in the South China Sea in the latest flare-up of a long-running territorial dispute. The Chinese ships were patrolling waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as the Ren’ai reef, when they spotted […]
South Korea and Japan held vice ministerial-level talks Wednesday in Seoul to discuss improving strained relations. The meeting between Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki and his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yong is the countries’ highest-level diplomatic interaction in months. Relations between the two Asian powers have plummeted over what Seoul considers Tokyo’s unapologetic stance […]
MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese coast guard prevented delivery of supplies to Filipino soldiers guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea and an envoy rejected a Philippine protest over the interference, officials said Tuesday. Chinese ships prevented two Filipino civilian vessels hired by the Philippine navy from reaching Second Thomas Shoal on Sunday, […]
BEIJING – China said on Monday that its coast guard ships had driven away two Philippine that which had tried to approach a shoal in the South China Sea in the latest flare-up of a long-running territorial dispute. The Chinese ships were patrolling waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as the Ren’ai reef, […]
When President Obama came to office in January 2009, some hailed him as the first Asia-Pacific president, given his upbringing in Hawaii. Indeed, during his first term, President Obama emphasized a U.S. “rebalance toward Asia” in word and action, traveling extensively within the region in 2011. However, with a full set of domestic policy demands and with […]
MANILA, Philippines – Malaysia wants to establish a “hotline” between its security forces and that of the Philippines to prevent a repeat of the standoff in Lahad Datu, Sabah last year between over 200 Filipino militants and Malaysian troops. The Filipino militants, who called themselves the royal security forces of the sultanate of Sulu and […]
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 the disputed […]
Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak is seeking a security hotline with the Philippines, a year after clashes between authorities and Filipino Muslims claiming sovereignty over Sabah state resulted to the death of at least 62 people. Najib met with President Benigno Aquino III in Putrajaya south of Kuala Lumpur on Friday, where they discussed the […]
For the past two years China has dispatched a flotilla of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships to the farthest reaches of the South China Sea to assert Beijing’s claim to “indisputable sovereignty” over the waters and features lying within its nine-dashed line. Beijing’s ambitious claim covers an estimated eighty percent of the South China […]
With China-Japan tensions showing no signs of abating, the Chinese government is continuing its plan to gain the moral high ground. China’s strategy centers around reminding the world about Japanese atrocities during its invasion of China. As such, Nanjing has become a focal point in China’s battle for popular international opinion. Nanjing (romanized as Nanking […]