News
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South China Sea threat: Beijing building new military facilities in disputed region
CHINA is building new military facilities on disputed islands in the South China Sea amid fears it is stepping put its militarisation of the strategically important waterway, a US think-tank has warned. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, part of Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said new satellite images revealed missile shelters and […]
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DND chief unaware of telecom project in military camps
MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was not aware of the signing of an agreement that would allow a China-backed telecommunications firm to build its communication facilities inside Philippine military camps, Malacañang said yesterday. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Lorenzana would look into the agreement signed last Wednesday by the Armed Forces of […]
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Pentagon steps up efforts to counter China’s rising power
On Friday an American warship approached the Paracel Islands, an island chain claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea, to affirm international “freedom of navigation” in the region. The USS Wayne E. Meyer, a guided-missile destroyer, passed near the islands to contest Beijing’s sweeping claims to the seas around the archipelago, which is […]
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Lib senator calls out China on sea tension
A Liberal backbencher has urged Australia to use its navy to curtail China’s actions in the South China Sea with tensions high between the two nations. Former international development minister, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has taken aim at Beijing for flouting a 2016 international tribunal ruling on resource exploration in other countries’ economic zones. “Beijing […]
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Del Rosario urges PH gov’t to raise arbitral win to 74th UN General Assembly
MANILA—The country’s former top diplomat urged the Duterte government anew to bring up the Philippines’ legal victory against China over the South China Sea as world leaders gather at the 74th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Tuesday. “The UN General Assembly is an excellent venue because all countries will listen and […]
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Vietnam-Philippines South China Sea Interactions in the Headlines with Naval Activity
The latest interaction of the exchange highlighted the ongoing maritime collaboration between the two sides. Last week, Vietnam and the Philippines held another iteration of a bilateral naval exchange. The interaction underscored the ongoing maritime collaboration between the two South China Sea claimant states amid wider developments in their domestic and foreign policies. As […]
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China’s New Ship Helps Strengthen Claim in South China Sea
A new large supply transport ship will help China get supplies to the islands it controls in the disputed South China Sea. China is one of six governments with territorial claims to the 3.5 million-square-kilometer waterway. Since 2010, the others have expressed concern about Chinese efforts to build up islets, or small islands, for […]
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Why China’s Military Wants to Control These 2 Waterways in East Asia
The Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait constitute critical chokepoints for Chinese military operations both along and beyond the so-called first island chain. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over the past four years has been stepping up the operational tempo of military exercises around two strategically pivotal waterways—the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait—that guard the […]
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Pentagon steps up efforts to counter China’s rising power
WASHINGTON: Maritime operations, missile tests, landing exercises – the Pentagon has been sharply stepping up its efforts to counter China’s growing military power, seen increasingly as a threat. On Friday, an American warship approached the Paracel Islands, an island chain claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea, to affirm international “freedom of navigation” […]
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Duterte, Xi favor bilateral deal on sea dispute
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte frowns upon a “multilateral approach” to resolve the South China Sea dispute and will push for a deal with another claimant country, his spokesman said last week. Both Mr. Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping think involving other claimant-countries or a third party such as the United Nations won’t resolve […]
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Running Out Of Gas: Philippine Energy Security And The South China Sea – Analysis
(FPRI) — About 80 km off the northwest coast of Palawan Island in the South China Sea is the Malampaya natural gas field, the Philippines’ main domestic source of energy. Once piped ashore, its natural gas fuels five power plants, which provide half of the electricity supply for the Philippines’ most populous island of […]
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US Navy sails ship close to islands claimed by China
WASHINGTON, United States — The US Navy said that one of its destroyers had sailed close to the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Friday, asserting international freedom of navigation rights in the contested waters. The USS Wayne E. Meyer guided-missile destroyer passed through the area of the Paracels east of […]