News
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U.S. Ambiguity Strengthens Beijing in the South China Sea
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAAre the United States and China collaborating to rewrite the international law of the sea? If so, it would be an odd but potent combination with ominous global implications. China is a member of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention, but regularly violates its provisions. The United States has not ratified UNCLOS, but has been its chief enforcer…
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Nurse first to register as Taiping Island resident
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Itu Aba, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, Taiwan, USATAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A female nurse has become the first citizen to register as an official resident of Taiping Island in a disputed part of the South China Sea, reports said Saturday. The island, also known as Itu Aba, saw its international profile rise significantly when President Ma Ying-jeou visited it last Thursday, to the displeasure of various parties…
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‘Nearly All’ Australian Patrols in South China Sea Are Challenged by China
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAAustralia’s air force chief said that China now challenges “nearly all” Australian surveillance flights over the South China Sea. Air Marshal Leo Davies told Sydney Morning Herald that the number of Chinese warnings to routine Australian patrols had increased, a byproduct of an increasing Chinese presence on disputed islands in the area. The nature of challenges – radio broadcasts warning…
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China stepping up Spratlys landgrab–Pentagon report
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USACANBERRA—A new Pentagon report saying that China’s reclamation activities and construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea increased dramatically during the past few months has aroused widespread fears that the landgrab would derail diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving rival claims through United Nations arbitration. The report, released last August, pointed out that as of last June, China had…
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India, China hold inaugural dialogue on maritime cooperation
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, India, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAThe dialogue here covered a range of issues of mutual interest, including exchange of perspectives on maritime security and prospects for maritime cooperation between the two countries, the External Affairs Ministry said. It said developments in international regimes such as UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) and IMO (International .. Read more : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/50855539.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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South China Sea Dispute Compels Washington to Ratify Sea Law
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAThe upcoming US-ASEAN summit on February 15-16 in Rancho Mirage, California provides an opportunity for the Obama administration to boldly demonstrate its rebalance towards Asia, and for the U.S. Senate to assert America’s national interests by ratifying the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Since the ten countries that make up ASEAN are home to 660 million…
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China’s ‘Sea Phantom’ Fleet Prowls the Open Waters
Not long before the destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur recently conducted freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) off the Chinese-occupied Paracel Islands, an interesting maritime exercise took place in waters off southern mainland China. The images released in the public domain are interesting to note; many of the ships have hull numbers that carry the prefix 湛渔, or Zhanyu (the prefix Zhan…
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Taiwan’s Itu Aba Claim In South China Sea Pains U.S., Philippines, And Opposing Taiwanese
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, Taiwan, USATaiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, asserted his country’s claim on Taiping, or Itu Aba, in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea, by taking a day trip to the mostly barren rock formation on January 28, 2016. United States and Philippine officials were quick to issue disapproving statements regarding Ma’s first visit to Itu Aba in his eight years as…
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US eyes joint maritime patrols with PH in disputed waters
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAThe United States is considering the possibility of holding joint maritime patrols with the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). “We do discuss that principle with the Philippines and so I am not discarding that possibility,” US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg said in a forum on Wednesday. He, however, said that he will not…
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Japan spends millions building structures on uninhabited rocks 1,740 km from Tokyo to mark its territory
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAThe Japanese government is to spend Y13 billion (HK$838.3 million) on rebuilding facilities on Okinotorishima, a tiny atoll 1,740 km south of Tokyo that helps to extend Japan’s exclusive economic zone into the Pacific Ocean. The tiny land mass is only above water because two parts of the coral reef have been protected by concrete embankments and blocks that are…
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How Close Was the Latest Close Call in the South China Sea?
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAChina claims the sailing of a U.S. Navy warship on Saturday into what it calls its territory was needless provocation and an attempt at causing trouble amongst China’s neighbors. What precedent is there for these close calls in disputed maritime territories to escalate? How close was this close call? Had things in fact calmed down in recent weeks as the…