WASHINGTON – China will be able to project “substantial offensive military power” from artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly Islands within months, the director of U.S. national intelligence said. In a Feb. 23 letter to John McCain, chair of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, James Clapper said Chinese […]
The news that China deployed surface-to-air missiles and fighter jets to the disputed Paracel Islands is only the latest example of Beijing’s increasingly aggressive posture over its claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea. China’s island-building and subsequent militarization efforts are part of a broader strategy to reduce American influence in the region, but […]
China will be able to project “substantial offensive military power” from artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) within months, the director of US national intelligence said. In a Feb. 23 letter to US Seantor John McCain, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, US Director […]
In the sleepy days between Christmas and New Year, an intrepid flotilla of young activists set out from Palawan Island in the Philippines for a tiny island in the Spratlys, to protest China’s activities in the South China Sea. A creative approach, but it was successful, in its way. The Philippines government, while it noted […]
Candidates struggle to balance tough stance on sovereignty with desire to mend ties with China MANILA—China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea is putting Philippine presidential candidates in a tricky situation, as they struggle to balance tough talk on national sovereignty with a desire to improve ties and boost trade with their country’s powerful […]
Taipei, March 7 (CNA) China is carrying out a landfill project to increase the size of Qilianyu in the Paracel (Xisha) Islands and then build a bridge linking it to the PRC-occupied Woody (Yongxing) Island, a Hong Kong media reported Monday. The Qilianyu sub-group of the Paracels is composed of North Island, Middle Island, South […]
In rare public comment on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Taiwan’s defense ministry warned on Wednesday that countries in the region were spending more on bolstering their military strength as tension in the area increased. Taiwan’s claim to the South China Sea reflects that of mainland China, with both staking their territorial assertions […]
The following is an unclassified Feb. 23, 2016 letter from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to Sen. John McCain answering questions on Chinese reclamation and militarization of its disputed holdings in the South China Sea. The Honorable John McCain Chairman Senate Committee on Armed Services Washington, DC 20510-6050 Feb. 23, 2016 Dear Chairman McCain: […]
HONG KONG — When the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and four other American warships sailed into the South China Sea last week for what were described as routine exercises, the message was clear: The United States is the dominant military power in the region and plans to keep it that way. But numerous Chinese […]
Three powers with concerns in the region — the US, ASEAN and China — are now entangled in the South China Sea issue one way or another. Some ASEAN members have overlapping sovereignty claims among themselves and also with China. The claims cover hundreds of tiny islands, islets, rocks and even reefs and sandbanks as […]