(Reuters) – China’s plans for islands it is creating in the South China Sea show for the first time the scale of civilian architecture it will extend across the disputed waterway, entrenching its reach in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia, experts say. China’s Foreign Ministry gave rare detail on Thursday, saying reclamation and building […]
Washington: The clusters of Chinese vessels busily dredge white sand and pump it onto partly submerged coral, aptly named Mischief Reef, transforming it into an island. Over a matter of weeks, satellite photographs show the island growing bigger, its few shacks on stilts replaced by buildings. What appears to be an amphibious warship, capable of […]
MANILA – The Department of National Defense (DND) on Thursday expressed deep concern over China’s reclamation project on Mischief Reef, one of the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea. “It’s a major or critical concern. They have to dismantle it. It’s a concern not only for our country and region but for the whole […]
In the waters of the Pacific lies the area known as the South China Sea. The area, which can generally be described as the waters south of Hong Kong between Vietnam and the Philippines, is a mishmash of tiny islands — some little more than rocks — and competing territorial claims. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, […]
(Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping told the visiting head of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party on Tuesday that the two countries must manage their dispute over the South China Sea well to maintain peace and stability, state media reported. Communist parties rule both countries and trade has swelled to $50 billion annually, but Vietnam has […]
WASHINGTON — The clusters of Chinese vessels busily dredge white sand and pump it onto partly submerged coral, aptly named Mischief Reef, transforming it into an island. Over a matter of weeks, satellite photographs show the island growing bigger, its few shacks on stilts replaced by buildings. What appears to be an amphibious warship, capable […]
(Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter kicked off his first Asian tour on Wednesday with a stern warning against the militarization of territorial rows in a region where China is at odds with several nations in the East and South China Seas. Carter’s visit to Japan coincides with growing U.S. concern over China’s […]
CHINA – Beijing reaffirmed its right to build on disputed islands in the South China Sea on Thursday after satellite imagery emerged of construction operations turning tropical reefs into concrete artificial islands. A series of satellite images posted on the website of the Center for Strategic and International Studies show a flotilla of Chinese vessels […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Thursday sketched out plans for the islands it is creating in the disputed South China Sea, saying they would be used for military defence as well as to provide civilian services that would benefit other countries. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing that the reclamation and […]
The South China Sea remains at the epicenter of one of the most volatile maritime areas in the world, with little or no agreement on sovereignty claims to the ownership of atolls, submerged banks, islands, reefs and rocks. Yet South China Sea fishermen, marine biologists, and policy shapers agree that without an end to unsustainable […]