Tag Archives: Spratlys

Does ASEAN Have a South China Sea Position?

On March 25, Xinhua reported that Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen had reiterated that the South China Sea dispute is an issue between claimant states and China, not between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China. “It is not the issue of the whole of ASEAN, but the issue between claimant countries and […]

Chinese South China Sea Reclamation Projects Hamper Philippines, Others’ Claims

MANILA— China is forging ahead with reclamation projects on at least seven tiny but hotly contested features in the South China Sea, posing what could be a major challenge in the Philippines’ international arbitration case against China. Surveys of the disputed outcroppings will be key. Since the beginning of the year, various satellite images of […]

Philippines is not backing down in disputed South China Sea waters

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines said on Thursday it would resume repair and reconstruction works in the disputed South China Sea after halting activities last year over concerns about the effect on an arbitration complaint filed against China. Manila had called on all countries last October to stop construction work on small islands and reefs […]

Can Congress Stop China in the South China Sea?

A bipartisan effort is emerging to highlight dangerous trends in Asia—and specifically in the South China Sea. But will Obama listen? The balance of power in Asia is changing—and not in Washington’s favor. No longer can the United States count on simply massing forces Gulf War I style and quickly coming to the aid of […]

Senators seek U.S. strategy to stop China’s South China Sea reclamation

(Reuters) – Leading U.S. senators expressed alarm on Thursday at the scale and speed of China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea and said a formal U.S. strategy was needed to slow or stop the work. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Republican Senators […]

India backs peaceful resolution of sea row

MANILA, Philippines–India has assured the Philippines that it will promote the peaceful resolution of the South China Sea territorial and jurisdictional disputes after Manila called anew for the global community’s assistance in helping put a stop to China’s massive reclamation activities. India has its own territorial issues with China. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) […]

In photos: China’s construction of military bases in Spratlys

MANILA, Philippines – Recently published satellite images of China’s land reclamation in the Spratly Islands show that they are constructing large, multi-story buildings as well as a possible airstrip and harbor that can accommodate military planes and ships. The satellite image analysis published on Medium.com by Victor Robert Lee March 16 show the ongoing construction […]

South China Sea Dispute Heats Up

China’s recent construction on disputed atolls in the South China Sea has accelerated the stop-start cycle of dispute there. This series of surveillance photographs from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative gives some idea of the expanding scope of the effort. Only last July the decision of the Chinese authorities to withdraw the HYSY-981 oil rig a month early from Vietnamese-claimed waters diffused ongoing physical […]

PH losing about 60 hectares to China’s land grabbing

China’s land reclamation in four of the Philippine-claimed atolls and reefs in the West Philippine Sea area of the South China Sea, estimated to have reached more than 60 hectares, may have already changed the physical features of these disputed areas, which one lawmaker warned could indicate that the Philippines was starting to lose its […]