New satellite photography from the South China Sea confirms a nightmare for the US and champions of free navigation everywhere — Beijing has reinforced surface-to-air missiles sites in the Spratly Islands. For years now, China has been building artificial islands in the South China Sea and militarizing them with radar outposts and missiles. The latest […]
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Recent satellite imagery appears to show China is completing structures intended to house surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) on a series of artificial islands in the South China Sea, a Washington think-tank said Thursday. According to images published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, the structures are being installed on Fiery Cross Reef, Mischief Reef […]
All eyes on Taiwan, America’s ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ China has once again raised the stakes in one of the world’s most fiercely contested waterways — this time, for the first time, on Donald Trump’s presidential watch. New satellite photos have revealed that China is building surface-to-air missile (SAM) facilities on Subi, Mischief, and Fiery Cross […]
China is getting noisier and noisier in the South China Sea, sending warnings to every nation that challenges its ambitious agenda—to write the navigation rules for the world’ busiest sea trade route. Like a warning Beijing sent to Taiwan and the US last December in the form of a naval force demonstration, as a group […]
THE PRIMER is an initiative of independent researchers. The facts and analyses presented herein represent the authors’ own appreciation of published material and primary sources that were accessible to them during the course of the research. They do not represent any position of the government of the Republic of the Philippines, unless stated otherwise, nor […]
BEIJING, China yesterday said it opposed action by other countries, under the pretext of freedom of navigation, that undermined its sovereignty, after a US aircraft carrier strike group began patrols in the contested South China Sea. The US Navy last Saturday said the strike group, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson, had […]
The aircraft-carrier strike group led by USS Carl Vinson conducting naval and air operations in the South China Sea this week is the first challenge to Beijing’s expansive maritime claims to the waters since Donald Trump took office. The US Navy announced that the operations began on February 18, describing them as “routine,” while Chinese […]
Last week, Reuters reported that China is “considering revisions to its maritime safety law which would make foreign submersibles travel on the surface and report their movements to authorities when in China’s waters.” The news bulletin also reported that draft provisions would allow maritime authorities “to stop foreign ships entering Chinese waters if the ships […]
China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned Washington against challenging its sovereignty in the South China Sea. The U.S. navy said the force, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, began routine operations in the South China Sea on Saturday. The announcement was posted on the Vinson’s Facebook page. The strike group’s commander, Rear Admiral James […]
China continued to react critically to the Trump administration’s emerging position on the South China Sea. Responding to a joint statement by President Trump and Prime Minister Abe that confirmed American support for Japanese administration of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said that “Diaoyu [Island] and its affiliated islands are China’s […]