South China Sea is a flashpoint in military buildup as China asserts control. This story is part of an ongoing series on U.S.-China relations, jointly produced by the South China Morning Post and POLITICO, with reporting from Asia and the United States. Rising tensions over Beijing’s accelerating military buildup in the South China Sea are […]

Over the last five years, China has turned its contrived historical claims to the South China Sea into reality and gained strategic depth far from its shores. China’s leaders did not leave that outcome to chance. MANILA – It has been just five years since China initiated its major land reclamation in the South China […]

MANILA, Philippines — China should follow international law and recognize an international court ruling stating that its historic claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis, according to a senior US defense official. Dr. Joseph Felter, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, told a small group of journalists […]

MANILA, Philippines — Despite close encounters at sea, the United States will not stop confronting China over its massive territorial claims in the South China Sea, as it presses to maintain freedom of navigation under international law. Backing down in the South China Sea is tantamount to rewarding China’s aggressive behavior, said US Deputy Assistant […]

CHINA has threatened to ramp up its aggression towards the US in the South China Sea, after military and government officials discussed the tensions and relations between the world’s two largest economies on Saturday. Chinese media has reported the situation in the contested South China Sea is on the brink of escalation. The claim was […]

At a conference hosted by the Chinese communist party-affiliated Global Times in Beijing on December 8, Chinese government and military officials discussed conflicts in the South China Sea and the state of relations between the United States and China. The Global Times quoted People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force Colonel Commandant Dai Xu, who is […]

Beijing is setting up a new aircraft unit that will be crucial to its new southern bastion. There has been significant press attention to some of China’s shiny, new military toys, such as the DF-26 “carrier killer” anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), the much-discussed J-20 fighter program , not to mention Beijing’s aircraft carrier program. Lately, […]

Tensions in the South China Sea have been rising steadily in recent years, thanks to China’s declared sovereignty over the entirety of the massive waterway, despite competing claims from no fewer than five other nations with established international norms on their side. The United States, in particular, has taken issue with China’s claimed ownership of […]

A 2018 DigitalGlobe overview imagery of the Fiery Cross Reef, in the western part of the Spratly islands group in the South China Sea. It has undergone large-scale reclamation by China. OPINION: The dispute over maritime claims in the South China Sea appears to be intensifying. This raises two questions: first, whether the tensions will […]

Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Eufracia Taylor and Hugo Brennan – Senior Asia Analysts at risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft – explores the motives of China’s push for joint oil and gas exploration in […]