Australia will not bow to Chinese pressure to halt surveillance flights over disputed islands in the South China Sea at the center of territorial spats between China and its regional neighbors, Defense Minister Marise Payne said on Thursday. The Australian Defense Department said on Tuesday one of its aircraft had flown “a routine maritime patrol” […]
China has added another of its most advanced destroyers to the South Sea fleet, according to China Military Online. The guided missile destroyer Hefei (hull number 174), the third in the Type 052D class (also known as the Luyang-III class), was commissioned in a ceremony on Sunday at the naval port at Sanya, in China’s […]
When an international court ruled in late October that it had jurisdiction to hear a case filed by the Philippines against China over the disputed South China Sea, Beijing dismissed the decision, saying it would “lead to nothing”. Philippine officials as well as some foreign diplomats and experts disagree, saying China could come under intensified […]
MASINLOC, PHILIPPINES— China’s aggressive island-building in the South China Sea has drawn international attention to Beijing’s expansive maritime territorial claims. This week it also drew a caution from the head of the United States Pacific Fleet, Admiral Scott Swift who said, “ships and aircraft operating nearby these features, in accordance with international law, are subject […]
The Natuna archipelago, a remote part of Indonesia in the South China Sea, consists of about 280 sleepy islands. Inhabitants there survive mostly on fishing or farming. It seems an unlikely place for a military buildup, but this week Indonesian defense minister Ryamizard Ryacudu told Kyodo News that his military plans to send soldiers, three […]
China has set new rules on the distribution of maps amid heightened tensions over territorial disputes with its neighboring countries. China has tightened rules on the distribution of maps amid the country’s territorial dispute in the South China Sea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing the state news network. Beijing set up new regulations over maps that […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama toast during a State Dinner, Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Who wins a bar fight? The person with the most friends at the bar. Who wins a war? The country that fights alongside the most […]
JAKARTA – Indonesia plans to strengthen its capability to defend its land and waters in the South China Sea, namely the Natuna Islands around which the country has declared an exclusive economic zone that overlaps with China’s “nine-dash line” maritime claim, its defense minister said Tuesday. “The Natuna Islands are our outer islands. It is […]
China has called on other countries not to ‘complicate’ the issue in the South China Sea after an Australian plane flew over the disputed area. The Defence Department says one of its aircraft was involved in a routine maritime patrol over the South China Sea from November 25 to December 4. The Australian aircrew declared […]
Dozens of former high-ranking Vietnamese officials and prominent intellectuals continue to push for policy changes toward neighboring China as Hanoi makes final preparations for an upcoming party congress where personnel for the country’s top jobs will be selected. In an open letter to the Communist Party Politburo last week, more than 100 people — including […]