WASHINGTON — The Navy challenged China and other countries’ “excessive” attempts to restrict navigation in the South China Sea on Saturday, sailing the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur near disputed islands there, according to the Pentagon. The “freedom of navigation operation” took the vessel within 12 miles of Triton Island, said Navy Capt. Jeff […]

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island Saturday, an island claimed by China in the Paracel Islands chain in the South China Sea. The Pentagon said the warship’s passage was a freedom of navigation operation intended to “challenge excessive maritime claims of parties that claim the Paracel Islands,” which are […]

BEIJING (AP) — China strongly condemned the United States after a U.S. warship deliberately sailed near one of the Beijing-controlled islands in the hotly contested South China Sea to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge China’s vast territorial claims. The missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Triton Island […]

Washington, Jan. 29 (CNA) The road map for peace in the South China Sea proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) shows a clear logic for Taiwan, and if adopted, would be in Taipei’s interests and would help Taipei get a seat at an international negotiations table to resolve regional disputes, the Tokyo-based Diplomat Magazine has […]

The Hague tribunal’s Philippines versus China arbitration could augur well – if complied with In the article, “South China Sea arbitration: What may follow”, in The Straits Times last Saturday, writers Kang Lin, Jiang Zongqiang and Hu Xin attempt to give grounds for China’s position that the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague does […]

When China’s Ambassador to ASEAN first wrote an article about China’s ill-advised position on the Philippine arbitration case (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 26), we did not bother to reply as the arguments presented were an old rehash of China’s so-called historic rights and were refutations of the rulings issued by the Arbitral Tribunal. Indeed, the […]

Calling freedom of navigation “a matter of fundamental principle” to the United States, the top military officer in the Pacific said that more operations in the South China Sea not only will continue but will become more complex. Adm. Harry Harris, commander of Pacific Command, said in answer to a question Wednesday, “I believe the […]

Washington: An international arbitration case over the disputed South China Sea that has been boycotted by China will “settle once and for all” whether artificial reefs are entitled to territorial waters, Australia’s top diplomat said. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the ruling by the tribunal in the Hague in the case brought by the Philippines […]

BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday rejected U.S. criticism of China’s reef construction in the South China Sea and urged the U.S. side to stop “groundless” accusations. “China will never take such unreasonable criticism,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said when responding to a question at a regular news briefing. She said China […]

STUDENT VOLUNTEERS of the Kalayaan Atin Ito (KAI) movement are poised to make a second trip to the Kalayaan group of islands. This time, they intend to spend at least a month visiting the islands that the Philippines currently occupies in the Spratlys. Last December, 48 student-members of the movement visited Pagasa Island in defiance […]