News

  • Vietnam’s Crucial ASEAN Leadership Role in South China Sea

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      In 2020, the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations falls to Vietnam. For Hanoi, the immediacy of the South China Sea problem was underscored this year when a Chinese oil survey ship and its escort vessels roamed for months inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. This prompted a rebuke from Vietnamese deputy foreign minister, Nguyen Quoc Dung, in…

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  • South China Sea joint energy deals will fail in face of maritime disputes, study finds

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      The peer-reviewed qualitative study by Song Xue of Fudan University in Shanghai found that in 19 joint development projects worldwide between 1958 and 2008, the “necessary condition” for failure was a deterioration of bilateral ties between the partner countries – often overtheir maritime disputes. In contrast, there were no consistent correlations between failure of such bilateral pacts and five…

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  • South China Sea joint energy deals will fail in face of maritime disputes, study finds

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      Joint development of oil and gas resources in the disputed South China Sea between claimant states that simultaneously are seeking maritime delimitation with one another are likely to end in failure, a new study based on historical analysis of similar projects indicates. The peer-reviewed qualitative study by Song Xue of Fudan University in Shanghai found that in 19 joint…

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  • Palace sees stronger PH-China ties­

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      Three years after President Rodrigo Duterte boldly promised that he would ride a jet ski to stick the Philippine flag in the Spratly Islands and assert the country’s sovereignty amid China’s encroachment, what did he achieve to protect the country’s interest in the maritime dispute? Palace sees stronger PH-China ties­ His strongman’s pledge during the 2016 presidential campaign was…

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  • Australia must abandon China criticism to improve ties: envoy

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      Relations between the two nations have soured recently amid Australian concern that China is meddling in its affairs. Record heat heightens Australia’s fire hazard3 days ago Australia must abandon criticism of China and see the development of its largest trading partner as an opportunity if bilateral relations are to improve, Beijing’s ambassador to Canberra said on Thursday.Relations between Australia…

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  • A South China Sea cauldron in 2020?

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      A Vietnamese policeman approaches anti-China protesters as they hold placards during a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam on Aug 6, 2019. If events in the South China Sea (SCS) in 2019 provide any indication of what is in store for the coming new year, there seems to be little to be sanguine about. One…

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  • South China Sea: China unleashes new colossal warship amid US naval row

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      SOUTH CHINA SEA militarisation has been accelerated by China in recent years as they look to seize complete control of the oil-rich waters, and the unveiling of their new aircraft carrier – Shandong – indicates Beijing’s growing military tussle with the US. China President Xi Jinping formally commissioned the colossal warship on Tuesday, yet another statement on Beijing’s unrelenting…

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  • Japan should beware of the deep US-China undercurrents in the South China Sea

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      In recent years, Japan has engaged in naval exercises with the US, Canada, France, India and several Southeast Asian states with South China Sea claims that rival China’s. Earlier this year, Japan sent its helicopter carrier Izumo on a tour of the South China Sea, calling at Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka before joining a naval exercise…

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  • Heroic defenders of real Philippine sovereignty

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    “If the Filipino people have been looking for the heroes of 2019, let them look no further. They have Antonio Carpio and Albert del Rosario staring them in the face.” At this time of year, with the present 12-month calendar period about to become a part of history, a thoughtful person scans the horizon in an effort to identify the…

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  • Maritime defense pact with France still non-binding — Lorenzana

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      MANILA, Philippines — The signed letter of intent for the maritime defense pact between the Philippines and France will be non-binding until the forging of a formal agreement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday. Lorenzana himself signed the letter of intent during his trip last month to France, which was in line with the Philippine Navy’s submarine acquisition project.…

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  • China’s new domestically built Shandong aircraft carrier deployed in the South China Sea

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      Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier has entered into service following a commissioning ceremony at a South China Sea naval base. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the ceremony in the southern island province of Hainan, inspecting equipment and guards…

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  • Beijing censures Malaysia over fresh South China Sea claim

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      KUALA LUMPUR/BEIJING — Beijing said on Tuesday it had protested against Kuala Lumpur filing a submission with the United Nations last week seeking to establish the limits of Malaysia’s continental shelf in the northern part of the disputed South China Sea. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, any country can claim an exclusive economic…

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