(Reuters) – China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang proposed a friendship treaty with Southeast Asian countries and offered $20 billion in loans on Thursday but held firm on the line that Beijing will only settle South China Sea disputes directly with other claimants. China, Taiwan and four members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) […]
Without causing much of a stir, China has been quietly dumping sand onto reefs and rocks in waters claimed by Vietnam. In addition to altering the geography of the Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelago, China’s land reclamation work on Johnson South, Cuarteron, Fiery Cross, Gaven, and Kennan reefs could be used as a clever legal leverage […]
President Obama’s second daylong summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping will be the best chance this year to clarify some fuzzy lines on Asia’s biggest potential flash point: the South China Sea. This is the time to further clarify U.S. interests, including whether the United States cares about possible outcomes to the region’s many territorial […]
THE factories have closed down for a few days, and millions of cars have been ordered off the roads. Clear blue skies appearing over a usually smog-choked Beijing always mean one thing: a big event is about to get under way. From November 10th President Xi Jinping will welcome world leaders to this year’s Asia-Pacific […]
Three books published this year contemplate Asia’s most vexing problem. Taken together, they provide a thorough understanding of the contest in the South China Sea. Still, they leave the reader with one large puzzle. Asia’s Cauldron recounts, in Robert Kaplan’s readable travelogue style, the fascinating political and economic trajectories of the nations surrounding the South […]
If a country cites international law to justify its position while avoiding having that position tested in court, such use of international law is just rhetoric, and does not deserve support from scholars. In the article “Separating fact from fiction in South China Sea conundrum”,[1] Dr Mark Valencia decries “a veritable fountain of government pronouncements, propaganda, […]
MANILA, Philippines – The United States wants stronger ties with China but is committed to defending allies in the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday. Kerry said he and US President Barack Obama would be working for the interests of their allies in the South China Sea when they meet leaders of […]
MANILA, Philippines — Washington continues to take a strong position against the conduct of Beijing in the South and East China Seas despite its effort to deepen bilateral ties, the top American diplomat said. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a much-awaited statement on Wednesday that while the United States and China try to […]
It is no secret that the South China Sea is an area of conflict and controversy, but understanding the interests and role of the United States in that region is not intuitive. The situation centers on competing territorial claims by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, the Philippines and Malaysia over several sets of islands. Attempts by […]
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario had a press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry prior to their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. Different state representtives are in Indonesia for the inauguration of Joko Widodo, new President of Indonesia, yesterday, October 20. Kerry also used the opportunity to hold meetings with state leaders to strengthen […]