NEW DELHI/BEIJING: After it stunned the world last year with its own disclosure that it had sent submarines into the Indian Ocean, China has thrown the Asia-Pacific another curve ball with the revelation that it is looking to set up a naval base in the strategically located Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. This time […]
MANILA – The Philippines is staying on the diplomatic track in the South China Sea issue even with tensions heightened by reports the Chinese military shooed away US personnel flying a surveillance plane over Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef last Wednesday. ”Habang kinikilala natin na mayroong tensyon, pursigido pa rin tayo at determinado pa rin tayong […]
China’s air force sent a group of strategic bombers through the Miyako Strait south of Okinawa in a long-range drill for the first time yesterday as part of military exercises in the western Pacific. The manoeuvre came as US-based CNN reported that the Chinese navy repeatedly warned a US surveillance plane to leave airspace over […]
MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers urged the House of Representatives committee on foreign affairs and national defense to look into the necessary actions to counter China’s massive reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea. Bayan Muna Partylist Reps. Neri Colmenares and Carlos Isagani Zarate on Wednesday filed House Resolution 2031, citing that the Philippines cannot rely […]
The Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan are beefing up their military in the face of increasingly bold incursions in the region by China. But most of that spending is not going to weapons makers in the United States. Getty Images An Indonesian naval vessel. China has over recent years declared increasing levels of […]
JAKARTA – China’s land reclamation around reefs in the disputed South China Sea is undermining freedom and stability, and risks provoking tension that could even lead to conflict, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a conference in Jakarta. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich […]
THE main theme of Mr Mark Valencia’s commentary published in The Straits Times last Saturday is that if the United States Navy exercises rights of navigation and overflight in the waters surrounding the reefs on which China is constructing artificial islands through reclamation, the US will be engaging in “gunboat diplomacy”. He also argues that […]
Some analysts argue that China’s new artificial land formations in the South China Sea are not worth worrying about as they could be easily “taken out” if war broke out. But those who take that view are failing to see how these islands fit into China’s slow motion strategy to achieve regional hegemony in the […]
SINGAPORE—The U.S.Navy’s second-most senior commander called on China to explain its land-reclamation works in the South China Sea and offered to support Southeast Asian countries if they choose to adopt a unified stance against Beijing. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-admiral-calls-on-china-to-explain-south-china-sea-land-reclamation-1432033393
Last month, Thailand’s navy requested funding for a submarine program which, when finalized, will make it the region’s eighth submarine-equipped nation—joining Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, and Australia. The Philippines, Thailand, and Bangladesh, meanwhile, have all expressed interest in acquiring submarine fleets. As tensions in the South China Sea continue to escalate, this arms race […]