Jonas Grätz: Resource estimates differ widely as the contested status of many areas in the South China Sea inhibits exploration. Based on known fields, proven and probable reserves have been estimated by the US Energy Information Administration at 11.2 billion barrels of oil and 5.3 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. About half of it […]
MANILA, Philippines—China is turning the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) into “one country’s lake,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Tuesday, pressing Manila’s effort to roll back Beijing’s expansive claims in the strategic waterway. Speaking before an experts’ roundtable on maritime security in Brussels, Belgium, Del Rosario said China’s assertion of ownership over […]
STATE DEPARTMENT — U.S. and Chinese diplomats meet in Washington Wednesday for a security and economic dialogue expected to include rival territorial claims to the South China Sea. China is modernizing its navy and increasing patrols in the disputed waters of the South China Sea – where Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan are all […]
Two Chinese vessels have been spotted again in the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal off northern Philippines, days after it was reported that the ships have left the area, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. “Yesterday [Sunday], we received a report from the Philippine Navy confirming that Chinese ships are back in Bajo de Masinloc,” […]
A verbal tussle in a Regional Security Forum in Brunei earlier this week did not stop Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario from inviting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Manila for “consultations.” “I indicated to him that that perhaps it’s timely for him to do this because I have been to Beijing three times […]
(Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping told his visiting Vietnamese counterpart of Wednesday that maintaining peace and stability in the contested South China Sea was vital for both countries, who should remember their traditional friendship. Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty over a vast stretch of the South China Sea has set it directly against Vietnam and […]
Amid its continuing territorial dispute with its neighbors in South East Asia, China has updated its old map by including 130 islands and islets in the South China Sea. Sinomaps Press chief editor Xu Gencai told Xinhua News Agency on Saturday that Beijing decided to come with a new official map to inform Chinese nationals […]
The Chinese are taught from grade school that the entire South China Sea is theirs. Textbooks carry an “ancient map” with nine dashes in a U-shape denoting the outer limits of the sea, skirting the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, some islands of Indonesia, and Vietnam. Thirteenth-century-old, the Chinese map purportedly proves that “we were there first.” […]
A Chinese naval task force, including its most modern amphibious ship, a guided-missile destroyer, and two frigates, was recently sighted operating off James Shoal, 50 miles off the coast of Malaysia. James Shoal is claimed by Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as well as Taiwan. The appearance of the Chinese task force in these […]
BEIJING – The appearance of a Chinese navy flotilla at an island chain 1,120 miles from its home shores is a clear sign that the new Communist regime is moving to enforce its claims to the entire South China Sea, experts said Wednesday. James Shoal is 50 miles from the coast of Malaysia, one of […]