China on Wednesday expressed its displeasure over reference in the India-US joint statement to tension in the South China Sea, saying no third party had the right to interfere in the region. China is locked in disputes with several of its maritime neighbours in the South China Sea over the ownership of islands and it […]
MANILA, Philippines – The United States has slammed the “wholesale reclamation” being undertaken by Beijing in the South China Sea, saying it is the “source of clear anxiety and instability” in the contested region. In a press conference at the New York Foreign Press Center on Sept. 26, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and […]
CHINA and South-east Asia are geographically contiguous. We have no choice but to live together. China and Asean have decided their relationship should be a “strategic partnership”, the 10th anniversary of which was celebrated last year. Today, Asean-China relations are indisputably one of the most crucial relationships in East Asia and an important pillar of […]
Last Friday, The Straits Times ran a commentary by Mark Valencia titled “Separating fact from fiction in South China Sea conundrum”. Mr Valencia, a maritime policy specialist, is an adjunct senior scholar at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Haikou, China. In the article, he highlighted several oft-repeated statements on the South […]
Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) The suggestion by a former director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan that Taiwan abandon its current approach to making territorial claims in the South China Sea represented his own views, the office said Monday. AIT spokesman Mark Zimmer told CNA that William A. Stanton, who was […]
The close encounter on Aug. 19 between a US Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft and a Chinese Air Force J-11 fighter-bomber over the South China Sea is a reminder of the growing clash of interests between the two great powers. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby accused the Chinese fighter pilot of flying within 20 […]
A quick addendum to Wednesday’s column about language and the law of the sea. We err if we place too much faith in the power of written documents such as constitutions, laws, and international covenants of various types. Putting the right words on the page constitutes part of the challenge. That’s what lawmakers and diplomats […]
The first half of 2014 witnessed a significant increase in aggressive behavior by China as it continues its maritime salami-slicing campaign in the South China Sea. Beijing seeks to change the status quo in the region in order to solidify its sovereignty claims over the disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands and their adjacent waters. In […]
BEIJING — If you want an insight into Chinese foreign policy, just look at its maps. Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, state-owned bookshops have begun selling vertical oblong maps that look rather different from previous ones. The new maps put the South China Sea in the center, rather than showing it in […]
BEIJING – China’s efforts to protect its submarine gateway to the South China Sea could broaden from stand-offs with US military planes to announcing an air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to two retired army officers. China could seek to restrict the air space around Hainan Island as the US routinely runs surveillance flights in […]