China has found itself involved in another dustup in the South China Sea, as their current amphibious assault rehearsals and live-fire maritime exercises in the region have drawn Vietnam’s ire. Vietnamese authorities, believing that China’s presence in those waters violates their sovereignty, issued a statement demanding that the exercise be halted. On Tuesday, after Vietnam […]
Several developments in recent weeks point towards China’s efforts to expand the seaborne aviation capability of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The PLAN is seeking to procure amphibious assault ships with significant aviation capability, are finishing construction on the world’s largest aircraft carrier dock, while speculation is mounting over a possible new aircraft carrier […]
China has found itself involved in another dustup in the South China Sea, as their current amphibious assault rehearsals and live-fire maritime exercises in the region have drawn Vietnam’s ire. Vietnamese authorities, believing that China’s presence in those waters violates their sovereignty, issued a statement demanding that the exercise be halted. On Tuesday, after Vietnam […]
In late-2013, Asia-Pacific security watchers wrangled with what China’s then newly declared unilateral air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea would mean in practice for civil aviation in the region. Two powerful status quo states – the United States and Japan – immediately refused to recognize the ADIZ and reacted accordingly: The United States flew unarmed bombers […]
BEIJING – China’s Defense Ministry on Thursday accused the United States of “militarizing” the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) by staging patrols and joint military drills there, ramping up the rhetoric ahead of a key regional security meeting in Malaysia next week. China has repeatedly urged Washington not to take sides in the escalating […]
China is likely to deploy its newly designed WB-1 microwave directed energy weapon against Philippine and Vietnamese vessels in the contested South China Sea, according to the state run Reference News on July 27. The WB-1 was originally developed as millimeter-wave beam-projecting non-lethal anti-riot system by the China Poly Group Corporation based in Beijing. With […]
It’s increasingly clear that China intends to use its artificial islands in the South China Sea for military purposes. Admiral Harry Harris, commander of US Pacific Command, delivered this assessment on a panel that I was privileged to be part of at the Aspen Security Forum last week. Harris described the newly-created islands as potential […]
Last week, Cambodia’s foreign minister Hor Namhong suggested that Cambodia would continue to seek to be a mediator in South China Sea disputes between China and the claimant states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “Cambodia wants to mediate in order to reduce the tense atmosphere between ASEAN and China because we discern […]
China said it conducted air and sea drills in the South China Sea on Tuesday as it stakes an increasingly assertive claim to virtually the whole sea despite rival claims by neighbours. The live-ammunition drills involved more than 100 ships, dozens of aircraft, information warfare units as well as the nuclear force, the state-backed China […]
Your July 17 editorial “The South China Sea, in Court,” about the arbitration case raised by the Philippines over rights to the South China Sea, is not fair. China, a latecomer to land reclamation, has been exercising utmost restraint. But the status quo has long been broken by the Philippines and some other claimants, which […]