Making the resource-rich Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea open to fisherman from both Beijing and Manila could help reduce the growing tensions between the two nations brought about by maritime territorial dispute. This was the statement of Wu Schicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, after talks with Former […]

China will not carry out any reclamation work in the Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea before hosting the G20 summit next month, but it might begin construction before the US presidential election in November, a source familiar with the matter said. Beijing would also avoid taking any provocative action in the shoal […]

The push of domestic politics With so much at stake why does Indonesia’s policy position on the South China Sea seem so ambivalent? Muhamad Arif looks at the domestic factors in play. Under President Joko Widodo – commonly known as Jokowi – Indonesian foreign and security policy has been notable for its ambivalence when it […]

China’s infrastructure investors have had a tough two weeks, with plugs being pulled on at least $15 billion of potential deals in nuclear power and electricity distribution. Britain and Australia refused to sign off on investments where state-owned Chinese companies were ready to provide much-needed funding. In both cases, the long-term utility programs were halted […]

Of all the “strategic” challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific region, none is as underrated as the destruction of the marine ecosystem. The South China Sea’s status as a critical waterway draws attention away from the fact that littoral Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most diverse global marine bio-systems, hosting 76 percent of the world’s […]

Second, bilateral negotiations may increasingly be seen as a viable option. China’s ‘dual-track’ approach suggests that management of the South China Sea issue should be pursued at the multilateral level. It is the other track — the Chinese position of using the bilateral approach for resolving territorial disputes — that creates suspicions that China could […]

It seems if the People’s Republic of China is going to make a push to radically alter the status-quo in the South China Sea—by reclaiming the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal that is clearly within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines—we now have a good idea of when that might happen: sometime between early […]

A billboard featuring an image of an island in South China Sea on display that reads: “South China Sea, our beautiful motherland, we won’t let go an inch”. Credit CHINATOPIX, via Associated Press No one expected last month’s international arbitration court decision to be the last word on the tug-of-war over the South China Sea […]

Related news: According to one poll, more than 80% of the Chinese public think Rio’s judges have a sinister bias against China One week into the Olympic Games and Chinese patriots have a lot of complaints. A brief shortlist might start with judges biased against Chinese athletes. In all Rio venues, the points of the […]

One month has passed since the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague handed down its historic and sweeping award on maritime entitlements in the South China Sea (SCS), overwhelmingly favoring the Philippines over China. As expected, Beijing refused to accept the PCA ruling, hardened its legal and diplomatic positions, […]