It has been two months since the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea arbitral tribunal issued its blockbuster award ruling against China’s maritime claims and activities in the South China Sea. Given all the buildup, it is remarkable how little has changed since the award was released. Was the award much ado about […]

Of all the potential flashpoints in the contested South China Sea, none is more nervously watched today than Scarborough Shoal, a large coral atoll with a reef-rimmed lagoon. It encompasses 58 sq mi (150 sq km) and lies less than 150 miles (241 km) from the Philippines’ coast. Observers have long suspected that China wants […]

Setting up an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea would be an ill-conceived step for Beijing. http://thediplomat.com/2016/09/south-china-sea-the-case-against-an-adiz/

South China Sea fish stocks put in jeopardy by China’s island building projects, is not a matter of economics but of starvation. Professor John McManus of the National Center for Coral Reef Research at the University of Miami, has called on China and other countries in the South China Sea to get past their disputes […]

Part I examined the military implications of China’s continued “military” actions versus Japan in the East China Sea or the United States and other countries in the South China Sea if China were to establish an ADIZ. Part II examines whether China has real economic or trade leverage to force other countries, including the United […]

BEIJING, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Chinese bombers, fighters and early warning and aerial refueling aircraft on Monday flew through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan and the Philippines to exercises in the Western Pacific, the air force said. The air force described the exercises are part of normal, annual, planned drills, which accord with international […]

In this March 29, 2014 file photo, a Chinese Coast Guard ship attempts to block a Philippine government vessel as the latter tries to enter Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea to relieve Philippine troops and resupply provisions. While the global economy will dominate at the summit of the Group of 20 industrialized […]

July 12, 2016, marked a turning point in the long-standing disputes over the South China Sea. After more than three years of proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international body in The Hague, a tribunal constituted under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) issued a widely anticipated decision in […]

China and Russia will launch eight days of joint naval drills in the South China Sea on Monday, a move observers said underlined the growing partnership between the countries amid rising military pressure from the United States. The exercise off Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, would involve surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters and marines from […]

As much as I want to refrain from criticizing China’s foreign policy, I feel I would be defaulting in my own little way if we let the bully destabilize the region because of aggressive action in the West Philippine Sea. Just because it’s more popularly known as the South China Sea does not give the […]