News
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China defends its right to ‘ready slingshot’ in South China Sea
BEIJING – China defended its right on Thursday to put “necessary military installations” on artificial islands in the South China Sea, after a US think-tank said Beijing appeared to have deployed weapons such as anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said its findings, made available first to Reuters…
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PHL officials still verifying report on China’s weapons system in South China Sea
Philippine defense and military officials are still verifying reports that China has installed weapons system on the seven artificial islands it has built in the disputed South China Sea. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the issue, if true, is a matter of concern not just for the Philippines but other countries, as well. “We are verifying. But if true, it…
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Photos: How a “fishermen’s shelter” on stilts became a Chinese military base in the South China Sea
It started innocently enough, or so Beijing wanted the world to believe. In the mid-1990s, China built a small structure on stilts over a coral reef in the South China Sea, just 217 km (135 miles) from the coast of the Philippines’ Palawan island. At the time Beijing reassured Manila that the structure—a platform topped by four octagonal structures, with…
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South China Sea: Satellite photos ‘show weapons’ built on islands
New photographic evidence has emerged of “significant” Chinese military defences on artificial islands in the South China Sea, a think tank reports. China had previously committed to not militarising its controversial developments in the region. But satellite images published by a US group appear to show anti-aircraft guns and missile defence systems on the seven islands. Several countries claim territorial…
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Bishop issues warning over South China Sea
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned of tension and mistrust amid reports China has installed weapons on all seven of its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. A US think tank has been tracking developments with satellite images and is confident in its assessment Beijing has deployed anti- aircraft and anti-missiles systems on the islands. Ms Bishop, without…
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China says deployment of military equipment on Spratlys is legitimate
BEIJING (REUTERS, AFP) – China said Thursday (Dec 15) that the deployment of weapons in the South China Sea had “nothing to do with militarisation”, calling the construction of defensive facilities “normal”. Speaking at a regular press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told journalists that he was not aware of the report, but said that islands in the South…
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U.S. ready to confront Beijing on South China Sea: admiral
The United States is ready to confront China should it continue its overreaching maritime claims in the South China Sea, the head of the U.S. Pacific fleet said on Wednesday, comments that threaten to escalate tensions between the two global rivals. China claims most of the resource-rich South China Sea through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every…
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Narendra Modi, Joko Widodo meet: India, Indonesia agree to strengthen maritime cooperation
New Delhi: India and Indonesia on Monday affirmed their commitment to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). “Both leaders affirmed that India and Indonesia are maritime neighbours whose relations are rooted in civilisational contacts developed through the seas and who share similar perceptions of the evolving maritime environment in the region and the world at large,”…
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Taipei’s Name Game
First the phone call, then the bombshell. On December 2, Donald Trump reversed 37 years of American foreign policy by taking a ten-minute congratulatory phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Yesterday, he went further, announcing that he doesn’t know “why we [the United States] have to be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with…
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India and the South China Sea Dispute
The Hague’s Arbitration Tribunal on July 12 clearly backed the Philippines on the issue of the South China Sea (SCS) dispute. It also declared large parts of the South China Sea as international waters and a few as other countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). India stood in support of The Hague’s ruling as it believed that the international law should…
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Recent developments surrounding the South China Sea
The Philippines has again thumbed its nose at the U.S., its longtime defense ally, saying it won’t be used as a springboard for U.S. ships and planes conducting operations that challenge China in the South China Sea. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that the Philippines will not allow its territory to be used as a staging ground for U.S. patrols…
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Think tank calls views on Duterte’s pivot to China ‘too simplistic’
In this Sept. 23, 2015, file photo, Chinese Coast Guard members approach Filipino fishermen as they confront each other off Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, also called the West Philippine Sea. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has considerably reduced tensions with China over contested South China Sea waters, says he plans to declare a marine sanctuary at the…