News
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Tensions in South China Sea Set to Rise Further
Ambient tension in the South China Sea is high as Beijing continues to assertively push its claim for sovereignty over 3 million square kilometres, or 90 per cent of the South China Sea. Tension is set to rise further around April-end and early May when the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea delivers its judgment on the case…
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War in the South China Sea: Not Worth It
The latest in tensions between the United States and China is the landing of a Chinese military aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef, one of several man-made islands built by China in the Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea. The Chinese claim the landing was for a humanitarian operation to evacuate three ill workers, but the Pentagon is troubled…
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US to sail submarine drones in South China Sea
As it watches China build up its presence in the South China Sea, one reclaimed island at a time, the US military is betting on a new technology to help retain its edge — submarine drones. During the past six months, the Pentagon has started to talk publicly about a once-secret program to develop unmanned undersea vehicles, the term given…
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China rejects US query on military flight to disputed South China Sea island
BEIJING – China’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday rejected queries by the US military as to why China had used a military aircraft to evacuate sick workers from a new airport on an island China has built in the disputed South China Sea. CNN quoted Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis as saying it was unclear why China had used a military…
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South China Sea arbitration ruling must be binding: Britain
A ruling expected in the next few months in an international arbitration case the Philippines has brought against Beijing’s South China Sea claims must be binding, Britain said on Monday. British Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire also said that he sees the ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague as an opportunity for China and the Philippines…
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How China Sees World Order
CHINA’S RAPID ascent to great-power status has, more than any other international development, raised concerns about the future of the liberal international order. Forged in the ashes of the Second World War, that order has enabled a seven-decade period of great-power peace, the expansion of democratic rule and a massive increase in global prosperity. Now, it seems, world order is…
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Indian footprints in the South China Sea
An interesting piece of trivia came up recently, with the Philippines Navy planning to buy Indian Kamorta class of corvettes. Although officially a corvette, this class of warship is comparable to a frigate in its full displacement and weighs 3400 tons with a length of 109 meters. It also comes with 90 percent Indian indigenous tech and weaponry, including Oto…
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South China Sea: Reconciling Washington’s policy debate with effective responses
According to a recent Navy Times article, at a National Security Council meeting on 18 March, National Security Advisor Susan Rice ‘imposed a gag order on military leaders over the disputed South China Sea’. Its alleged aim was to “give Presidents Obama and Xi Jinping ‘maximum political maneuvering space’…during the Global Nuclear Summit,” held earlier this month. Yet, the White…
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U.S. to give Philippines eye in sky to track South China Sea activity
The United States will transfer an observation blimp to the Philippines to help it track maritime activity and guard its borders amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, a U.S. diplomat said on Monday. Philip Goldberg, U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, said Washington would give Manila, its oldest Asia-Pacific security ally, $42 million worth of sensors, radar and communications…
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Growing Militarization of the South China Sea, US-China Confrontation
The South China Sea Dispute or Crisis as it has come to be known, is a rather complicated dispute involving many different parties, both directly and indirectly, and that concerns a number of key issues. These concerns include national sovereignty, control of oil and natural gas, fishing rights, and the freedom of navigation on the high seas. It is a…
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Hanoi says bilateral settlement alone won’t solve East Vietnam Sea disputes
Vietnam has said that disputes in the East Vietnam Sea cannot be resolved only by bilateral settlement but also require the effort of all relevant parties and the international community. The statement was announced by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Le Hai Binh during a regular press meeting in Hanoi on Thursday, in response to the viewpoint of Russian Foreign…
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Chinese general visits man-made South China Sea islands
BEIJING (AP) — China’s second-ranking general recently visited the country’s man-made islands in the South China Sea, the Defense Ministry said Friday, underscoring China’s defiance in the face of calls by the U.S. and others to cease construction work that they say is raising tensions in the region. According to the brief statement, Gen. Fan Changlong led a group of…