News
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Rule of law ‘common denominator’ in maritime security
The rule of law will keep the playing field level when it comes to debating maritime security in an Asia-Pacific region charged with competing interests, international maritime law experts argue. As Asia is increasingly becoming the center of global economic growth, the region’s existing maritime security architecture needs to be improved, says Deputy Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Arief Havas…
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The F-35 ‘will absolutely thrive’ in the most militarized region on the planet
An F-35C Lightning II on USS George Washington during F-35C Development Test III. Lockheed Martin As tensions mount in the troubled waters of the South China Sea, US might is considered crucial, and a weapon considered well suited for the region is almost ready for deployment: the F-35 Lightning II. “It will absolutely thrive in that environment,” retired Air Force…
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Don’t Mention South China Sea, Government Tells Asean
The National Assembly will petition Asean officials to remove a reference to the South China Sea maritime dispute from an upcoming joint statement, officials confirmed on Tuesday, a move some analysts and diplomats say will again threaten regional cohesion. The request marks just the latest such intervention dating back to 2012. Cambodia has refused to join other Asean members in…
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Chinese Threaten Japan, Australia Over South China Sea; Time For US FON Ops?
WASHINGTON: What are China’s intentions in the South China Sea? It’s a question intelligence analysts, diplomats and the senior leadership of the United States and its Pacific allies are all asking in the wake of a range of increasingly belligerent and threatening comments and actions by the rising global power. Perhaps most worrying is that the Kyodo News Agency and…
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The Misnomer of the South China Sea
In a challenge to China’s claim to almost the entire so-called South China Sea, Indonesia announced last week that it will designate the waters off its northern coast, around the Natuna and Anambas islands, as the “Natuna Sea.” This is more than just petty nationalism. It’s a helpful marker that the term “South China Sea” is a recent invention with…
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NDR 2016: On China and other foreign relations
SAY you have investments in China. And your Chinese partners start weighing in on how Singapore should be more supportive of China because any tension will affect business, what should you say to them? Singaporeans here have raised such concerns, said PM Lee during the National Day Rally speech last night (Aug 21), especially in the wake of the South…
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Seafloor gold rush could have alarming impact
SHANGHAI – While commodities traders still work their way out of a historic slump, Japan is looking ahead to the next boom. According to Bloomberg News, next year a group of Japanese companies and government agencies will start mining minerals at a site 1,600 km southwest of Tokyo — and 1.6 km beneath the ocean’s surface. It will be the…
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China strongly warns Japan not to send SDF to South China Sea
TOKYO — China strongly warned a high-level Japanese official around late June that Tokyo should not send its Self-Defense Forces to join U.S. operations that test the freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea, diplomatic sources said Saturday. Japan will “cross a red line” if SDF vessels take part in U.S. freedom of navigation operations, Chinese Ambassador to…
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‘Sea ruling just first step in struggle to last for generations’
THE Philippines should now muster the support of the international community in changing the mind-set of the Chinese people over their “ownership” of the South China Sea before their government would comply with the recent arbitration ruling in the Philippines’s favor, the architect of the Manila’s arbitration case said. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio said Beijing is…
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Vietnam’s South China Sea Challenge
The July 12 judgement of the tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding Manila’s case against Beijing’s South China Sea claims has reshaped the geostrategic landscape in Southeast Asia. But surprisingly, Vietnam has only issued a brief statement on the verdict, with Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Hai Binh saying that “Vietnam welcomes the arbitration court issuing its…
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Why Xi Jinping is fanning the South China Sea crisis
TOKYO — Chinese President Xi Jinping has continued to up the ante in the South China Sea dispute in a bid to overhaul a military whose dominant army has vehemently resisted change. “To put it simply, Xi Jinping’s major reforms of the People’s Liberation Army are a form of ‘army bashing,’” said an old cadre of the Chinese Communist Party.…
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Bracing for a Long Road in the South China Sea Dispute
WASHINGTON — Chinese ship and helicopter are seen during a search and rescue exercise near Qilian Yu subgroup in the Paracel Islands, which is known in China as Xisha Islands, South China Sea, July 14, 2016. Chinese ship and helicopter are seen during a search and rescue exercise near Qilian Yu subgroup in the Paracel Islands, which is known in…