BEIJING Dec 14 (Reuters) – Chinese oil major Sinopec is building a filling station on an island in the South China Sea, as China continues to expand its civilian infrastructure in the disputed waterway, entrenching its reach in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. The filling station and accompanying storage tank on Woody Island in […]
Why is China so bellicose in the South China Sea? I don’t believe it’s because it wants to hog all the wealth that lies under the waves. I think it has more to do with a historical trauma and a perceived geostrategic threat. The historical trauma is the “Century of Humiliation” that China suffered between […]
China wants to ramp up fuel supplies at a contested island outpost in the South China Sea, and it is enlisting one of the nation’s biggest state-owned enterprises to help. China Petrochemical Corp., commonly known as Sinopec, said Monday it had begun building a fueling station and storage depot at the Chinese settlement of Sansha […]
Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. REUTERS/U.S. Reuters/Reuters – Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in […]
A radio recording of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) surveillance plane conducting a freedom-of-navigation flight over the South China Sea has emerged for the first time. The audio has been published by the BBC following a reporting assignment in the disputed Spratly archipelago. In the scratchy radio recording, an RAAF pilot is heard speaking […]
Mischief reef, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, is shown in this handout Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative satellite image TOKYO: The U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander has warned of a possible arms race in the disputed South China Sea which could engulf the region, […]
The BBC records a Royal Australian Air Force surveillance plane conducting an air patrol over the fiercely contested South China Sea. Australia has stepped up military surveillance flights over the South China Sea in a signal to Beijing that it means to continue operating in the regional flashpoint area despite heightened tensions provoked by territorial […]
When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi early last month, he did so with understandable fanfare and scrutiny. His was the first visit to Vietnam by a Chinese president in a decade. It came just weeks before the annual ASEAN and East Asia Summits, and only a few months ahead of the Vietnamese Communist Party […]
The Chinese navy will continue to increase its forays and deployments around the globe. Beijing will put considerable effort into establishing a capable and expansive logistics network to support its increasingly global operations. Nevertheless, given limited onshore options, China will rely heavily on supply ships to replenish its warships while at sea. ON Nov. 26, […]
On Dec. 7, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen announced the first rotational deployment of a Poseidon 8 airplane to Singapore. The jet is the U.S. Navy’s next-generation long-range maritime patrol, anti-submarine, anti-shipping, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance asset. Some argue that this does not signify anything new and should […]