When people ponder where the next major conflict might erupt, they often look to the South China Sea – the scene of the potentially most explosive, intractable, overlapping sovereignty claims in the world. What can the United States do to find a peaceful solution to tensions between China, the Philippines and Vietnam, and indirectly between […]
Not gone and not forgotten, China is ready to solidify its claim to the South China Sea (SCS). Recent satellite imagery confirms China is conducting significant land reclamation operations in the Spratly Islands in the SCS. The SCS is an important fishing ground and is believed to hold large amounts of oil and gas. Undermining […]
In what was the first ever port call between the countries, two Vietnamese frigates visited the Philippines on Tuesday. An unnamed Filipino naval officer said the two countries would hold peaceful joint patrols and operations in the Spratlys. But the timing of the maiden port call was clear. It coincides with the first anniversary of China’s declaration […]
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario confirmed Tuesday night reclamation activities undertaken by China in Kagitingan Reef, one of the disputed territories in the South China Sea. In a chance interview before defending the DFA’s budget before the Senate, Del Rosario said the government has lodged a formal protest with China. “We have […]
Fiery Cross Reef, a tiny coral dot in the 1.4 million square miles of the South China Sea, wouldn’t seem the most obvious or ecologically sound location for a nearly two-mile-long airstrip. But based on satellite images released last week by Jane’s Defence Weekly, that’s exactly what China seems to be getting ready to build atop it. Such construction […]
As has been the case with many confrontations in history, aggressive countries draw proverbial lines in the sand to mark their own expansion plans against the resolve of other countries whose territories they covet. In the present day People’s Republic of China [PRC], however, it’s not a line in the sand but a “10-dash line” […]
(Reuters) – China on Monday hit back at “irresponsible remarks” from the United States which has called on Beijing to stop a land reclamation project in the disputed South China Sea that could be large enough to accommodate an airstrip. China lays claim to almost all of the entire South China Sea, believed to be […]
“Stay out of it.” That appears to be the message of a general of China’s People’s Liberation Army, following reports the US urged China to halt land reclamation activities in the South China Sea. PLA Major General Luo Yuan told the Global Times that as China is constructing infrastructure on the reef, mainly to improve […]
WASHINGTON – Satellite images show China is building an island on a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands large enough to accommodate what could be its first offshore airstrip in the South China Sea, a leading defense publication said on Friday. The construction has stoked concern that China may be converting disputed territory in the […]
WASHINGTON: China is building a massive island in the South China Sea that could host an airfield in an area where Beijing is locked in bitter territorial disputes with neighbouring states, a US military spokesman said on Friday (Nov 21). The vast land reclamation project on the Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands is […]