News
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Japan’s largest warship trains with US naval strike group in contested South China Sea
Japan’s newest helicopter carrier, Kaga, has trained with the USS Ronald Reagan Strike Group, showcasing its military might during a tour in the contested South China Sea, amid tensions between Beijing and US-backed Tokyo. The two navies practiced sailing in formation and joint maneuvering on Friday. The ships also trained in replenishment-at-sea procedures. The drill demonstrated how “seamlessly” the allied…
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Japanese helicopter destroyer trains with U.S. aircraft carrier in disputed South China Sea
In the latest sign of Japan’s increased activity in the disputed South China Sea, the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s largest vessel, the helicopter carrier Kaga, linked up Friday for bilateral exercises with the U.S. Navy’s Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group, both countries’ navies said. The bilateral training is part of a rare, monthlong tour by the Kaga and two guided-missile…
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Trade, War, and the South China Sea
When crossing the expanse of the Pearl River Delta, from Macau to Hong Kong, at one point you lose sight of the mainland; before you is nothing but the sea. On this day in August, during typhoon season, a veil of rain moves swiftly across the bay falsely suggesting a void, where in fact rests the most densely urbanized region…
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US and Japanese warships are drilling in the South China Sea in a show of force in China’s backyard
The US Navy’s Ronald Reagan Strike Group conducted drills in the South China Sea Friday with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Escort Flotilla 4 Battle Group, which is led by the Kaga, a helicopter destroyer. The drills followed US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress heavy long-range bomber flights through the contested region earlier in the week. China has bolstered its military…
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The Economic Showdown in the South China Sea
The Trump administration wants to mobilize private American capital for high-quality investments in the Asia-Pacific region. As China inches closer to imposing a de facto exclusion zone across the South China Sea, it has sought to box the United States out of Southeast Asia. Having deployed state-of-the-art weapons systems to artificially created islands in the area, a Chinese Air Defense…
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South China Sea: US, China Tussle Over Military Overflight
China continues to work to restrict access to the airspace above its South China Sea claims by U.S. and other military aircraft. Last week, a CNN crew documented communication by People’s Liberation Army ground crews on one of China’s artificial islands in the Spratly group warning a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft to leave the area. “Leave immediately…
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China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier gets brand new command centre
China’s only aircraft carrier in service is undergoing its first major revamp since it was commissioned in 2012, giving it a brand new “island” command centre. Pictures circulating on the internet show the radar above the Liaoning’s bridge is now gone, as is air traffic control at the island’s rear, with scaffolding around the command centre suggesting there are more…
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Neighbors square off with Beijing in South China Sea
A Vietnamese protester holds up a placard and shouts slogans along with dozens during a 2014 protest rally against China outside the Chinese Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Vietnam’s government stated its concerns to Ukraine over plastic globes being sold in the country that showed the Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh as Chinese territory. (AP) BEIJING — A…
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Largest China-made amphibious aircraft can operate in South China Sea
MANILA, Philippines — The world’s largest China-made amphibious aircraft is capable of landing on and taking off from Beijing’s outposts in the South China Sea. China’s independently-developed amphibious aircraft AG600 recently completed trial ground flights, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Huang Lingcai, chief designer of the large amphibious aircraft, said the Kunlong was designed to have a range of…
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South China Sea is ‘on low boil,’ analysts warn
While the situation in the South China Sea is not as tense as it has sometimes been before, China has kept consolidating its position. At the 51st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM 51) in Singapore earlier this month, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced that ASEAN and China have successfully adopted a single draft negotiating text on the Code of Conduct…
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Middle East’s Oil Depends on South China Sea to Reach Asian Customers
The South China Sea is a major trade route for crude oil, and in 2016, more than 30% of global maritime crude oil trade, or about 15 million barrels per day (b/d), passed through the South China Sea, according to a new report by the EIA. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Clipper Crude Data Service and IHS EDIN…
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‘Rock Solid’—history as film thriller
Marites D. Vitug’s new book, “Rock Solid: How the Philippines Won Its Maritime Case Against China,” tells the story like a film thriller. It begins in three time zones on July 12, 2016, the day of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision. Waiting for the 5 a.m. e-mail from The Hague was the law firm retained by the Philippines…