News
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Election 2016: Federal Labor would green-light South China Sea military exercise: Conroy
The United States has recently angered China by sending military ships and aircraft into the region including flying two B-52 bombers over the disputed islands. Stephen Conroy says the regional security challenge posed by China building artificial islands in the South China Sea needs to be directly addressed. “We believe our Defence Force should be authorised to conduct freedom of…
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South China Sea: A Legal Analysis of China’s Maritime Claims
How China seeks to shape maritime law to legitimize its claims. A year and a half ago, the contested South China Sea (SCS) was awash in international intrigues and legal maneuverings. On December 7, 2014, two days after the U.S. State Department released Washington’s legal views on Beijing’s disputed nine-dash line (NDL) claim in the SCS, China’s Ministry of Foreign…
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Is there a way for Beijing to save face after the South China Sea arbitration ruling?
China and the Philippines, after the arbitration decision, could settle the issues by taking account of the decision without formally mentioning it. Illustration: Craig Stephens International tensions are rising rapidly as D-Day approaches in the Philippines arbitration case against China. Increasingly anxious, Beijing is resorting to a full-court press in the propaganda realm, seeking to justify its refusal to participate…
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China blamed for ASEAN U-turn on South China Sea
MANILA, Philippines – Chinese pressure was blamed Thursday for a stunning diplomatic U-turn by Southeast Asian Nations that saw them retract a statement sounding alarm over Beijing’s island building in the South China Sea. The chaotic events at the end of a meeting of foreign ministers from China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday have…
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Indonesia Moving Toward Tougher Stance On Contested South China Sea
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Indonesian President Joko Widodo called a strategically important meeting with his security and political affairs minister this week over how the normally neutral Asian archipelago should handle increasing foreign pressure on its maritime claims. The minister, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, learned from the Monday meeting that government leaders will “formulate an Indonesia stance…
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Southeast Asian countries retract statement expressing concerns on South China Sea
KUALA LUMPUR – Southeast Asian countries withdrew a statement that expressed the region’s deep concerns over tension in the South China Sea, where China is involved in protracted territorial disputes with some of its neighbors. The strongly-worded statement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), released by the Malaysian foreign ministry, did not name China directly but warned against…
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South China Sea: China willing to pay the price of defiance
BEIJING — Even before a ruling, China may have lost by refusing to cooperate with a UN arbitration tribunal over its South China Sea claims. Yet Beijing seems prepared to absorb the cost to its reputation, confident that in terms of territory and resources, it won’t lose a thing. Despite pressure from Washington and elsewhere, China appears determined to avoid…
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For First Time Since 2004, Chinese Warship Enters Japanese Territorial Sea in East China Sea
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy Type 815 Dongdiao-class spy ship entered Japanese territorial waters on Wednesday, according to Japan’s defense ministry. The move is the first of its kind since 2004, when a Chinese nuclear submarine entered Japan’s 12 nautical mile territorial sea near Sakishima Islands, in Okinawa prefecture. According to a Kyodo News report of the Wednesday’s incident, a…
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Ruling on sea row to bring peace – Roque
The looming ruling of the International Tribunal in The Hague on the complaint filed by the Philippines against China concerning islands in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) will bring peace between countries, incoming Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque said. Roque made the prediction in his speech at the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) Regional Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.…
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Dear Digong: Let’s leverage our West Philippine Sea arbitration case
During the latest edition of Shangri-La Dialogue, which gathers defense ministers and leading experts from around the world in Singapore annually, I couldn’t but not notice that the Philippines’ arbitration case against China was a major theme in formal and informal exchanges among participants. Though we got among the weakest armed forces in Southeast Asia, and feature among the poorer…
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South China Sea Talks End in Disarray as China Lobbies Laos
A meeting in China of foreign ministers from Southeast Asian nations over the South China Sea ended in confusion after Malaysia released and then retracted a joint statement expressing “serious concerns” over developments in the disputed waterway. The disarray raises fresh questions about unity within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ahead of an international court ruling on a…
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China thanks countries for supporting it over South China Sea
BEIJING – China expressed thanks on Tuesday for the dozens of countries it says have offered support for its position on a case brought by the Philippines over Chinese claims in the South China Sea, saying they are speaking out to uphold justice. China has stepped up its rhetoric ahead of an expected ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration…