MANILA — China is ramping up land reclamation and construction on the disputed Spratly Islands, aerial photographs by the Philippine military show, fueling concerns in Manila that the Asian giant soon may militarize in the South China Sea. The photos from January show several large facilities, such as a six-story building, being constructed on the […]
As if there aren’t enough territorial disputes the world over, China is — literally — manufacturing a new one in the South China Sea by transforming a series of lonely reefs into small islands. Where nautical charts once identified bumps in the sea as Mischief Reef, Gaven Reef and others, China is dredging massive amounts […]
MANILA, Philippines — China has created new artificial islets in two more reefs in the disputed South China Sea, which the Philippine military fears is meant to choke off its access to Ayungin shoal, where a crumbling Philippine Navy ship is beached. In an interview, former Air Force officer Rep. Francisco Acedillo, now partylist representative […]
Radar stations and lisening posts should be built on the islands China controls in the disputed South China Sea, Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo of the PLA Navy and a member of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference told the official China News Service on Mar. 9. A year after the disappearance […]
Despite opposition from the United States and the Philippines, China has begun to build an airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed South China Sea, according to a satellite image released recently, the Shanghai-based Guancha Syndicate reports. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the US Department of State, openly criticized China’s extensive land reclamation in South […]
China and several Southeast Asian nations are currently embroiled in a territorial and maritime dispute in the South China Sea over an area that includes a cluster of resource-rich islands and important trade routes. As China’s presence in the area becomes harder to ignore, Japan has quietly begun forging security ties with Chinese geopolitical adversaries. […]
Over the past two years, China has been methodically terraforming small reefs and shoals into islands in the highly contentious South China Sea (SCS). The SCS is important not only because of its strategic, trade, and resource potential but also because many of the claimants’ direct links with the U.S. such as the Philippines. China’s progressive […]
The ‘VIP’ Group of Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines all share both advantageous relations with and deep disagreements with China in the South China Sea. Working together, they could present a united front. This would include establishing Joint Development Areas allotted by auction and linked by a common-carrier open-access energy infrastructure. Each has a serious […]
Dramatic new satellite imagery demonstrating China’s efforts to reclaim land and construct facilities in the South China Sea has prompted concern among policy makers in Washington. This is as it should be—at stake is more than just a handful of isolated and obscure reefs and islands. Beijing’s bold moves are testament to its expansive claims […]
China’s construction of islands and reefs in the South China Sea is lawful and justified, as China is merely building facilities in its own yard, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday. [Special coverage] Wang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s top […]