News
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Indonesian corvette opens fire on Chinese fishing ships in South China Sea
An Indonesian warship has opened fire on a group of Chinese vessels, injuring one fisherman Incident threatens to further escalate tensions between Beijing and Jakarta over the disputed waters An Indonesian navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL) Kapitan Pattimura (Parchim I)-class corvette has fired upon a group of 12 Chinese fishing ships after the vessels were detected in…
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Indonesia Confirms Seizing Fishing Boat in South China Sea, Defying Beijing
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia is holding the crew of a Chinese fishing boat it says was fishing illegally last week in the South China Sea, an official confirmed on Monday. It was the third maritime skirmish — all involving warning shots — between the two countries in the past three months. The latest episode occurred on Friday when Indonesian warships…
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Favorable ruling on PH-China sea dispute can be enforced – Carpio
‘NOT HELPLESS.’ SC senior associate justice Antonio Carpio (left) says the Philippines won’t be helpless in trying to enforce a possible favorable ruling in its maritime dispute with China. Photo by Katerina Francisco/Rappler MANILA, Philippines – If the international tribunal hearing the case over the disputed South China Sea decides in favor of the Philippines, the ruling can still be…
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How China can benefit from the S. China Sea arbitration
As we get closer to the decision in the arbitration on the South China Sea, we hear numerous arguments from all sides, including the article by Ambassador Xie Feng in The Jakarta Post on June 8. Now, it is important to view the arbitration from an objective standpoint. First, regarding the formation of the arbitration, it is indeed the case…
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China condemns Indonesia’s use of force in South China Sea
BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) — Chinese foreign ministry on Sunday strongly protested over Indonesia navy warships’ harassment of Chinese fishermen in the South China Sea. Chinese fishing boats were harassed and shot at by several Indonesian navy warships in a disputed fishing ground in the South China Sea on Friday. One crew member was injured. Another fishing boat and seven…
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South China Sea: The mystery of missing books and maritime claims
Neighbours accuse China of militarising its fishing fleet If you want to understand the way China really feels about its controversial claim to huge swathes of the sea off its southern shore, then the island of Hainan is a good place to start. This is a place where everything is bent towards justifying and upholding that assertion of sovereignty, from…
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U.S. sails carriers near South China Sea in bid to reassure Asian allies
In a massive show of strength that analysts said was meant to reassure nervous allies in the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. Navy deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups for an exercise in the Philippine Sea on Saturday. The exercises, which came ahead of a key international court ruling on China’s claims in the disputed South China Sea, brought together the…
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U.S. ‘hypocrisy’ and Chinese cash strengthen Beijing’s hand in South China Sea
The list of countries backing Beijing’s stance in the South China Sea just keeps growing — China’s Foreign Ministry boasted last week that nearly 60 had swung behind the country’s rejection of international arbitration in a case brought by the Philippines. The numbers are questionable, and the idea of gaining the support of distant, landlocked Niger in a dispute about…
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US superforce patrolling PH Sea
TWO US supercarrier groups have started operations in the Philippine Sea, in what the Philippine government said was a demonstration of Washington’s “ironclad commitment” as the world awaits a ruling by a United Nations tribunal on Manila’s petition to invalidate China’s so-called nine-dash line in the South China Sea. “It is a show of how invested they are to the…
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Why arbitration matters
Soon, the Arbitral Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will issue its decision concerning the case filed by the Philippines over its maritime entitlements in the South China Sea. Despite China opting not to formally participate in the court’s proceedings, the tribunal’s decision will be legally binding for all concerned. Once a ruling is issued, the…
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Indonesia conducts major naval drills in South China Sea
The TNI-AL’s CN-235-220 maritime patrol aircraft while it was on a visit at the Singapore Airshow 2016. A similar aircraft has been deployed to the Natuna islands region for a naval drill in 2016. Source: IHS/Ridzwan Rahmat Key Points Indonesia has increased the complexity of an annual naval exercise and staging it near disputed waters Exercise is being conducted against…
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Beijing’s Claims of South China Sea Support May Not Hold Water
China says 60 countries back stance on international tribunal; Only 8 have publicly stated support BEIJING—The landlocked African kingdom of Lesotho doesn’t have an obvious stake in the South China Sea, but it is among some 60 countries that China says stand behind it as it faces potential censure by an international tribunal over its territorial claims there. http://www.wsj.com/articles/beijings-claims-of-south-china-sea-support-may-not-hold-water-1466138014