IMOA
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China’s growing belligerence
What is China doing? In the past few months, Beijing has exploited the U.S.’s and the world’s preoccupation with the coronavirus pandemic to assert China’s hegemony throughout Asia. It has threatened or sunk boats from Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, and Malaysia, and flown fighter jets into Taiwanese airspace eight times. It instigated a skirmish with India in the Himalayas that…
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China: how the West can counter the rise of an authoritarian superpower
On November 8, 2017, Air Force One touched down in Beijing, marking the start of a state visit hosted by China’s president and Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping. From my first day on the job as President Trump’s national security adviser, China had been a top priority. The country figured prominently in what President Obama had identified for his successor…
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Senate report says US may lose ‘cyber domain’ to China
A new US Senate report warned that the US has not done nearly enough to challenge Beijing’s position as a leading tech superpower. “Three and a half years into the Trump administration, the United States is now on the precipice of losing the future of the cyber domain to China,” said the report, published on Tuesday. “If China continues…
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Scarborough Shoal – a redline
The core issue of the South China Sea dispute is China’s unlawful claim to maritime areas beyond what the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) allows. Under China’s nine-dash line, five Asean coastal states—the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia—will lose large areas of their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) guaranteed to them as their inherent right…
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Beijing Attempts To Change Global Thinking On South China Sea: Report
Washington: Beijing has not only attempted to change facts on the ground in the South China Sea but is also seeking to gradually change the world’s mind regarding its claims in the region, a Washington-based think tank has said. Nguyen Thuy Anh, who is a research fellow at the East Sea Institute of Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, has said in…
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Duterte says he is ‘inutile, cannot do anything’ against China sea aggression
MANILA (UPDATE) – President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he was “inutile” and “cannot do anything” against Beijing’s pursuit of territory and resources in the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by Manila. The Philippines should “just cool off” and pursue “diplomatic endeavors” to counter China’s sweeping claims to the area “unless we are prepared to go to…
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Duterte says Beijing is ‘in possession’ of South China Sea
MANILA — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said Beijing was already “in possession” of the disputed South China Sea and Washington’s return to a former naval base in the Southeast Asian country could raise the specter of war. In his fifth state of the nation address, Duterte went off script and discussed at length the maritime dispute, which is…
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How the cold war between China and US is intensifying
Tensions between China and the United States have reached the most acute levels since the countries normalized diplomatic relations more than four decades ago, with the U.S. government’s ordering that China close its Houston consulate being just the latest example. In defense, trade, technology, human rights and other categories, actions and reprisals by one side or the other have escalated…
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Beijing sends fighter jets to disputed island chain in South China Sea
Beijing has stationed eight warplanes on a strategic disputed island in the South China Sea, escalating tensions over territorial claims. Satellite images from July 15 showed at least four aircraft on Woody Island in the Paracels chain, believed to be J-11B air superiority fighters. More pictures the following day showed them in a different area of the island along with…
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South China Sea: Australian warships encounter Chinese navy in disputed waters
On July 13, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement contending that China’s claims in the South China Sea are “completely unlawful” and that there is “no coherent legal basis” for its nine-dash line map. This announcement was, of course, strongly opposed by China, which described it as completely unjustified.On July 13, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeoreleased…