China’s aggressive policy to build small islands on the South China Sea, ignoring territorial claims of fellow nations in the region, is hitting Pacific nations at a more visceral level, bringing anxiety over security. Asia-pacific region remains a flashpoint as China is gradually trying to expand its control over the common sea territories in South […]
SINGAPORE: The US appears to be moving toward a military test of China’s claims of sovereignty in disputed areas of the South China Sea, and officials here seem pleased that President Obama is prepared to put more muscle into his famous “pivot” to Asia. The US has been briefing Asian allies about its new readiness […]
U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift speaks during an interview in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. Swift says it’s up to policymakers in Washington whether his sailors patrol within 12 nautical miles of newly constructed islands claimed by China in the South China Sea, but they are ready to do so if […]
The Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Scott Swift says that it is up to the policymakers in Washington whether to give orders to the country’s sailors to patrol within 12 nautical miles of the newly constructed islands claimed by China in the controversial South China Sea. While speaking during an interview on Thursday, the […]
It is widely expected that in the next several days, the United States will conduct a freedom of navigation exercise near China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea. The Obama Administration has been debating the use of freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) in the Spratly Islands for several months, and a public debate on […]
Hanoi’s claims of sovereignty in the East Vietnam Sea are consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), while Beijing has tried to change the status quo in the maritime area, a U.S. expert has said. There is no evidence showing that Vietnam is conducting island construction activities in the […]
An aerial photo shows China’s efforts to fill in Mischief Reef to create land in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. I was speaking to a leading academic about Canada’s efforts to engage Asian countries when the topic of “track II diplomacy” came up. The term describes informal contacts between people representing different […]
Once they are completed, China plans to deploy its first two domestically built aircraft carriers to the southern island province of Hainan in anticipation of potential conflict over the disputed South China Sea, the nationalistic tabloid Global Times writes. Liu Huaqing, former commander and strategist of the PLA Navy, said as early as the 1980s […]
Beijing’s land reclamation in the South China Sea has prompted reports that the U.S. Navy will soon conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the area. If they pass within 12 nautical miles of China’s artificial islands, American vessels will directly challenge Beijing’s expansive maritime claims. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/projecting-power-in-the-south-china-sea-1445533018
In May 2015, China began construction of lighthouses on two of the features it occupies in the Spratlys, Cuarteron Reef and Johnson South Reef. The lighthouses, employing cylindrical and cone-cylindrical designs, respectively, are 50-meter-high towers constructed of reinforced concrete that officially began operation on October 9. Each tower has been designed to cast its white […]