News
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‘India’s refusal to bend showed the world how to deal with Chinese coercion’
The damage the 10-week troop Doklam standoff inflicted on the already frayed India-China relationship will not be easy to repair. Indeed, the China-India divide over border, water, trade, maritime and other issues, including transportation and economic corridors, may only widen. There is also the risk that the end of the face-off could […]
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The United States Has Not Lost the South China Sea
Despite some setbacks, the United States has not lost influence in the vital waterway. The last two months saw an uptick in tensions in the South China Sea (SCS) following a period of relative calm since the arbitral tribunal at the Hague handed down its historic and sweeping award on maritime entitlements in the SCS, […]
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Vietnam Protests at Chinese Military Drill in South China Sea
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam on Thursday opposed what it said was a Chinese announcement of military exercises in the disputed South China Sea, amid rising tension between the neighboring countries. Vietnam did not give any details of when it said the announcement was made or when any drill would take place. China’s […]
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China exploits the Philippines’ soft-pedalling in South China Sea
Duterte’s conciliatory stance on Beijing’s territorial claims is backfiring But Beijing’s blatant display of force risks undermining its newfound rapprochement with the Philippines, where the defense establishment and public are already highly critical of China. Suspicious movements Intelligence reports on suspicious movements of Chinese vessels near Thitu Island were leaked by […]
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COUNTERING CHINESE COERCION: THE CASE OF DOKLAM
Two nuclear-armed powers have stepped back from the brink — for now. Yesterday India and China announced they had agreed to end a two-month border confrontation, in which a few hundred troops had faced off in the Doklam area claimed by both China and Bhutan, and many thousands more had been placed on heightened […]
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Chinese boats stir Philippine anxieties
While Filipino leader Rodrigo Duterte plays down reports that China has occupied another contested land feature in the South China Sea, his defense establishment is calling for a tougher stance “Why should I defend a sandbar and kill Filipinos because of a sandbar?” declared Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte when asked about reports suggesting China […]
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Sharing resources could calm seas for China and Philippines
Richard Heydarian says China’s and the Philippines’ weighing of resource sharing marks an upward turn for two nations once awash in acrimony For the Filipino president, who is intent on improving strategic relations with Beijing, this is the best available modus vivendi to manage and eventually resolve territorial disputes among claimant states. While in theory […]
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Use it or lose it: Why Canada’s navy needs to be in the South China Sea
Canada’s diplomatic and strategic engagement in East Asia has been erratic over the past two decades. Successive governments have been incapable or unwilling to clearly articulate a regional strategy, remaining virtually silent on major geopolitical tensions. Some observers have advocated regular deployments of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) to create a visible, routine presence […]
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Yin and Yang: China’s Rise and the Future of the Pacific
Rise of China: China is a rising revisionist power, seeking to realign the status quo in the Pacific and assure its security via domination of its periphery regions, after a “century of humiliation.” In 1978, its GDP was a mere US$150 billion, while 39 years later, its economy stands at $11.2 trillion, with the […]
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Beijing runs circles around our Digong!
MANY concerned Filipinos are horrified seeing China’s leaders and diplomats running circles around our one-year-old President and his three-month-old sidekick of a Foreign Secretary. The diplomatic duo looks on helplessly as some of our outlying islets are being occupied, enlarged and armed with weapons disguised as navigational aids – with the artificial islands […]
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Leveraging US Military Power in South China Sea
The U.S. should leverage the prospect of new military balancing capabilities to establish an accommodation with China in the South China Sea. The South China Sea is the nexus of numerous disputes among China and its Southeast Asian neighbors, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia, and involving extra-regional powers like Japan and the […]
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China’s latest moves in the South China Sea have sparked fears of a new land grab
In 2012, China wrested control of Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea from the Philippines. With the shoal—reefs, rocks, and a vast lagoon—located just 220 km (137 miles) from the Philippines’ main island Luzon, the incident heightened tensions and embarrassed Manila, which the following year opened a case in an international tribunal challenging […]