WHILE the United States, with the pivot to Asia, is testing China’s capability to handle diplomatic challenges in ties with its neighbourhood, it is carrying out the strategy increasingly at the expense of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by driving wider the rifts among members of the regional bloc. Should the ASEAN nations […]
As China brings in a $1 billion oil exploration rig, parking it in a disputed region of the South China Sea and unleashing a deadly anti-China protest in Vietnam, nearby Southeast Asian neighbors appear relatively mute and impotent. Burma (also known as Myanmar), which hosted the meeting of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, […]
BEIJING—China, the United States, Japan and more than a dozen other Asia-Pacific countries have signed a naval agreement aimed at ensuring miscommunication between ships at sea does not escalate into conflict. The Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, which was agreed Tuesday in the eastern port city of Qingdao, would reduce the potential for “situations […]
In his April 14 Forbes Magazine column, former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew seems to justify China’s territorial expansionism in the South China Sea. “Much more is at stake than rocks and resources. China sees the South China Sea as one of its key interests. A rising China is asserting its position by claiming […]
TAIPEI — In much of Southeast Asia, budgets are smaller and ambitions more limited compared with neighbors to the north, and many countries are trying to rid themselves of much older equipment. But Singapore and Vietnam are generally better equipped and have more extensive plans. Malaysia: Shifting Plans Tight budgets are forcing Kuala Lumpur to […]
MANILA, Philippines – China’s territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) does not give it the right to the hotly contested territory because they are “just mere claims” and do not adhere to international laws. “There is a fundamental difference between entitlements and claims under international law,” Assistant Secretary Henry Bensurto Jr. […]