News
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Asean backs Manila on sea row
JAKARTA: The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) supports the Philippines’ bid for a peaceful resolution of its own territorial dispute with China, as well as the stance of other claimant countries that reject Bejing’s “dotted line” policy in asserting its sovereignty over rocks and islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). […]
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US voices concern over China’s ‘dramatic’ tactics in South China Sea
NEW DELHI: The US today expressed concern over China’s “provocative” and “dramatic” tactics in the South China Sea and said the American navy will shift 60 per cent of its maritime assets to the Pacific by 2020. However, it underlined that the “rebalance” to the Asia and Pacific was not aimed at China but for […]
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PHL stops oil and gas drilling in Reed Bank, cites dispute with China
(Updated 4:47 p.m.) The Department of Energy (DOE) has suspended all drilling and exploration works in the West Philippine Sea, particularly in the area covered by Service Contract (SC) 72 in the Reed Bank, citing a force majeure as the site is the subject a territorial dispute between the Philippines and China. Philex Petroleum Corp., […]
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Seeking arbitration of West PH Sea conflict proves PH’s commitment to UN Charter – envoy
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ recourse to arbitration to settle disputes in the West Philippine Sea is proof of its commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, a diplomat told a Security Council debate convened by China, with whom the country is locked in a bitter row over contested territory. “The Philippines believes that […]
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Doomsday: Preparing for China’s Collapse
A couple of weeks ago, AEI scholar Michael Auslin published a column for the Wall Street Journal about a quiet dinner in Washington where a senior China scholar declared the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had reached the final stage before collapse. The political collapse of the world’s second-largest economy and a nuclear power is no […]
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China’s Menacing Sandcastles in the South China Sea
Analysis, Artificial Islands, China, Defense, Militarization, Philippines, Reclamation, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, SustainabilityChina didn’t open “Pandora’s Sandbox.” It isn’t the first claimant to transform reefs by padding them with sand. But China’s superior economic and military capacity enables it to outpace other claimants. It is rapidly building the greatest “sandcastles,” which support multiple military and paramilitary functions. Beijing views Spratly and Paracel Islands augmentation as justified in […]
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China defends its South China Sea activities as restrained
BEIJING (AP) — China defended its activities in the South China Sea as restrained and responsible Friday after the U.S. intelligence chief called its expansion of outposts in the region an “aggressive” effort to assert sovereignty. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the country’s activities on shoals and in surrounding waters it claims are […]
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Japan’s defense capability should not be underestimated: expert
Japanese military expert Kazuhiko Inoue said that Japan’s self defense force is capable of taking on China’s People’s Liberation Army even without the assistance of the United States, Tokyo’s Sapio Magazine reports. Inoue said that the ability of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force to resist a potential PLA invasion should not be underestimated. He […]
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Countering China’s Maritime Coercion
Is China-U.S. competition for primacy in Asia this century’s greatest threat to peace? Some analysts think so. But in leaping from Sino-American competition to potential world war, they miss the obvious: Chinese leaders probe, seize opportunities, and challenge the international system with creeping assertions of sovereignty in the East and South China Seas. Yet they […]
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Aquino, Hollande renew call for maritime stability amid China aggression
China, Fishing Rights, France, Hollande, Philippines, Scarorough Shoal, South China Sea Dispute, UNCLOSMANILA, Philippines – Amid China’s continuing maritime aggression, President Benigno Aquino III and visiting French President Francois Hollande on Thursday renewed their call for peace in Southeast Asia. “We reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability in Southeast Asia and promoting maritime security, freedom of navigation and the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance […]
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China Rebuffs U.S. Request to Halt S. China Sea Island Work
China rejected an appeal from the Obama administration earlier this month to halt “destabilizing” construction on disputed islets in the South China Sea, according to U.S. officials. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel urged Chinese officials to halt rapidly expanding island construction over the past several years in the disputed Spratly Islands during a visit […]
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U.S. flies surveillance plane over South China Sea
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Diaoyu, Japan, Reclamation, Senkaku, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, Surveiilance, USAWorld Bulletin / News Desk The United States has begun flying its most advanced surveillance aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon, out of the Philippines for patrols over the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy said on Thursday, acknowledging the flights for the first time. The United States, the Philippines’ oldest and closest ally, has promised to […]