News
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How Close Is China to Another South China Sea Airstrip?
Airtrips, Arms build-up, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Paracels, Philippines, Reclamation, South China Sea Dispute, SpratlysOn January 8, the Philippine news outlet Rappler quoted an informed defense source as saying that China is likely to finish constructing its second airstrip in the South China Sea by the end of 2015. Separately, the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, General Gregorio Catapang Jr., also revealed that Beijing was about […]
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PH’s arbitration case vs China shows options in sea row
MANILA, Philippines – By turning to international arbitration to define its maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, Manila has shown there are options to resolve territorial disputes other than lopsided negotiations where mighty nations lord over small ones. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr. voiced the observation in a speech during […]
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‘Timing good’ to take Senkaku issue to ICJ, U.S. law professor says
NEW YORK – Japan should take its disagreements with China over the Senkaku Islands to the International Court of Justice, Jerome Cohen, a New York University law professor and expert in Chinese law, said in an interview. “I want Japan to use international law,” Cohen said, stressing that Japan should follow in the steps of […]
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New President in Sri Lanka Puts China’s Plans in Check
NEW DELHI — On a Sunday four months ago, a vessel pulled unannounced into Sri Lanka’s Colombo harbor: the Chinese Navy submarine Great Wall No. 329, which is designed to carry torpedoes, a cruise missile and a 360-pound warhead. Sri Lanka’s defense minister shrugged it off as an “operational good-will visit.” But anxiety was already […]
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Int’l law the great equalizer in dispute resolution: PH envoy
MANILA – International law will be the “great equalizer” in the Philippines’ ongoing territorial row with China, a Philippine envoy said during a reception. Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia said the country’s move to seek arbitration before an international tribunal underscores its desire to define its maritime entitlements in the South […]
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Face-Off: China vs. ASEAN in the South China Sea and Beyond
By all possible measures, 2014 was a roller-coaster year for East Asia, particularly for the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which have anxiously watched Beijing’s widening shadow of influence and territorial assertiveness across the region. China kicked off the year with a bang, introducing a second amendment to its fisheries law […]
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Chance for Malaysia to calm Asean’s choppy waters
This year, Malaysia, a claimant state to disputed islands in the South China Sea, is taking over as chairman of Asean. Given Malaysia’s long tradition of constructive and stable relations with China, this is an unprecedented opportunity to step up the anaemic negotiations over a Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea. The […]
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China Is Building A New Fleet Of Guided Missile Destroyers
On Dec. 22, 2014, China commissioned its latest guided missile destroyer, the Jinan 052C, the semi-official China Military Online reported. The Jinan was commissioned at a naval port in eastern China. From there, the vessel will join the East China Sea Fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Part of a new generation […]
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Why reduced South China Sea tension is possible in 2015
MANILA, Philippines — The long-standing rivalry over maritime zones in the South China Sea will not be settled but may simmer down this year, analysts say. Robert Farley, professor at University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, believes that the import-oriented trend in the oil industry can affect how rival claimants China […]
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Maginot Line in the South China Sea
Airstrips, Artificial Islands, China, Maginot Line, Militarization, Paracels, Philippines, Reclamation, South China Sea Dispute, SpratlysThe Maginot Line was a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapons installations that France constructed just before the border with Switzerland and the borders with Germany and Luxembourg during the 1930s. A mature network of military facilities in the Spratlys, including an expanded Fiery Cross presence, would effectively extend China’s ability to project power […]
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China and Japan’s Abandoned Senkaku/Diaoyu Agreement
Recently released British government files attest to a prior agreement between Japan and China to shelve their territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. The files record a 1982 conversation between Zenko Suzuki and Margaret Thatcher, then the prime ministers of Japan and the U.K., respectively. In that conversation, Suzuki told Thatcher that he had reached […]
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China says new strategic nuclear submarine will be able to attack anywhere in America
The Russian Military Observation website published an article titled “China’s Nuclear Potential” on December 30, 2014. It says that China is upgrading and improving its strategic bombers, but the H-6K, the upgraded version of the H-6 bomber imported from Russia has a range of only 3,000km, and does not constitute nuclear deterrence against the US. […]