As far as Malaysia is concerned, the presence of Chinese Coast Guard vessels may potentially encourage it to respond aggressively by posturing and deploying military assets, which may in turn bring the two maritime forces close enough to cause a naval incident. Malaysia has preferred ‘quiet diplomacy’ to prevent any escalation in its relationship with […]
Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario on Tuesday gave a statement before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands explaining why the Philippines filed the case against China. The full text of his speech, as it was delivered, was released by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday with the subtitle “Why the […]
Chinese authorities, as well as sympathetic writers, have in recent months sought to deflect criticism of China’s island-building campaign in the Spratlys by insisting that Beijing is merely copying what other claimants have done for years. According to this narrative, every claimant is as guilty as Beijing of altering the status of features in the […]
China has almost finished building a 3,000-meter-long (10,000-foot) airstrip on one of its artificial islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, new satellite photographs of the area show. A U.S. military commander had told Reuters in May that the airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef could be operational by year-end, although the […]
MANILA, Philippines – China appears to be building military bases on reclaimed reefs in the Spratlys, The Washington Post reported yesterday. The report cited new images of Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef taken as recently as June 28 by Digital Globe and supplied to The Post by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) and Center for […]
China’s man-made islands and military constructions in the South China Sea would be nothing more than a “sitting duck” for US armed forces in the event of a naval conflict, say both American and Chinese experts. In interviews with the US-based outlet Defense News, Ian Easton, a China defense specialist at the Project 2049 Institute […]
BEIJING: A 3,000-metre (9,800-foot) airstrip Beijing is building on a reef in disputed waters in the South China Sea, where tensions are mounting with its neighbours, is “nearly complete”, a US think-tank said. A satellite picture taken on Sunday showed that China was paving and marking the runway on Fiery Cross Reef and an apron […]
China has almost finished building a 3,000-meter-long (10,000-foot) airstrip on one of its artificial islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, new satellite photographs of the area show. A U.S. military commander had said in May that the airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef could be operational by year-end, although the June […]
STRONG world opinion against China’s occupation and reclamation of areas in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) may have softened Beijing’s hardline stance on its maritime and territorial disputes with neighboring countries, including the Philippines. “The most glaring reality is that we are not alone, and because of that, the options are increasing from […]
The fourth of six Kilo-class submarines Vietnam bought from Russia arrived on Tuesday amid continued tensions in the South China Sea, local media sources reported. According to Thanh Nien News, the submarine, codenamed HQ-185 Da Nang, arrived at Cam Ranh Port in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa on Tuesday morning transported by the Dutch-registered […]