HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) – From listening posts to jet fighter deployments and now surface-to-air missiles, China’s expanding facilities in the Paracel Islands are a signal of long-term plans to strengthen its military reach across the disputed South China Sea. Diplomats and security experts in contact with Chinese military strategists say Beijing’s moves to arm and […]
This promises to be a landmark year for the claimant countries and other interested parties in the South China Sea disputes. Developments that have been under way for several years, especially China’s island-building campaign in the Spratlys and Manila’s arbitration case against Beijing, will come to fruition. These and other developments will draw outside players, […]
Widely published satellite imagery from Feb. 14 shows the presence of new Chinese air defense systems on Woody Island in the South China Sea, highlighting continuing maritime frictions in the area. But new imagery obtained by Stratfor provides a higher-resolution view of the deployment and activities taking place across the island. Specialists at AllSource Analysis […]
MOSCOW – The US has declared that they will push China on the issue of disputed islands, promising to “test” China while accusing them of abusing their “might.” President Barack Obama said in an interview with Channel News Asia that his administration will “continue to test” Beijing’s pledge to not militarize the disputed South China […]
China’s foreign ministry has urged concerned countries to study and get clear understanding of the history and basic facts of South China Sea. “The Yongxing Island is an inherent territory of China. From 1959 on, the Chinese government set up administrative offices and related government facilities on the Yongxing Island. For years, China has been […]
FORT DEL PILAR, BAGUIO CITY – Western Command Chief Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez said on Saturday the Philippines has already incorporated plans for the “worst case scenario” in connection with China’s decision to install surface-to-air missiles in the disputed Woody Island of the Paracels Group. This was disclosed by Lopez in an interview with journalists […]
An assessment of how the issue was dealt with at the summit needs to take into account limitations and realities. Following the end of the historic U.S.-ASEAN summit at Sunnylands, a number of accounts have criticized Washington and Southeast Asian states for their weak stance on the South China Sea issue. In particular, much has […]
Facilities on Xisha Islands have nothing to do with code of conduct, ministry says Deploying national defense facilities on the Xisha Islands has nothing to do with negotiations over a code of conduct on the South China Sea, China said on Thursday. The comment was made as Beijing emphasized the efforts made by the country […]
MANILA – Youth groups led by the Kabataan Party-list stormed the Chinese Consulate along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati City on Friday morning to denounce what they deem an “orchestrated move” by Beijing to escalate tensions in disputed waters of the South China Sea. Protesters burned mock missiles in front of the Chinese Consulate. […]
It is hard to say that China’s President Xi Jinping isn’t consistent. Since he took office in 2013, President Xi has actively and aggressively asserted Chinese territorial claims, especially maritime ones. And while China’s construction of airfields on disputed islands in the South China Sea—over U.S. and Southeast Asian nations’ objections—was a step in the […]