West Philippine Sea
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Vietnam risks Beijing’s ire as it uses US freedom of navigation exercise to stake its claim in South China Sea
As China and the United States continue to wrestle over trade disputes and geopolitics, Vietnam is performing a balancing act in the stormy South China Sea as it seeks to maintain its strong ties with Washington while not upsetting Beijing, experts said. Earlier this week, Hanoi used the latest row over a US freedom of […]
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Recent developments surrounding the South China Sea
BEIJING (AP) — A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves: The U.S. and Australian militaries are joining for an annual […]
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Why South China Sea island claimants won’t be moved by plight of coral reefs any time soon
The main obstacle to multilateral cooperation on environmental management in the South China Sea and the Spratlys has always been mutual suspicion Nationalism is the fundamental driver of national policy in this arena and the primary obstacle to cooperation of any kind James Borton and Jackson Ewing reprise the romantic proposal for a cooperative environmental […]
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Chinese fishing vessels manned by military’
MANILA, Philippines — Many of the Chinese fishing vessels around the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the Spratlys archipelago are manned by militia and soldiers disguised as fishermen, a defense department insider said yesterday. “We know for a fact that PLAN has been sending and funding their maritime militia aboard dozens upon dozens of civilian […]
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Xi warns PLA be ready for ‘hardship, crisis and battle’
During his first official address of the new year to the nation’s military forces, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday ordered the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the country’s armed forces, to prepare for battle. “All military units must correctly understand major national security and development trends, and strengthen their sense of unexpected hardship, crisis and […]
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Base instinct: how Chinese visit to Cambodia reignited rumour of navy port plan
Fresh from celebrating four decades since the downfall of the former Khmer Rouge rulers, Cambodia welcomed several Chinese warships. Just days after last week’s anniversary, the vessels docked in the resort city of Sihanoukville, reviving concerns about the implications of close military ties between the two countries and the possibility China is planning a naval […]
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Top US Navy chief sent to Beijing in DESPERATE BID to end SPIRALLING South China Sea row
IN A DESPERATE bid to reduce tensions between the US and China over the South China Sea spiralling out of control a top US Navy Chief has been sent to hold talks with Beijing. Sail-throughs by the US Navy in the hotly sought-after South China Sea have forced a top US Navy Commander to meet […]
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Coast guards: proxy fighters in the South China Sea
Growing defense budgets have underwritten a sizable arms buildup in Southeast Asia since around the turn of the century. Regional navies have particularly benefited from increased military expenditures, and as a result, many Southeast Asian navies are in the process of transforming themselves from modest forces oriented mainly toward coastal defense to modern fleets capable […]
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Think tank flags increase in number of Chinese fishing vessels in Spratlys
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) — A U.S.-based think tank has its doubts on the increased number of Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, and whether or not those vessels were actually fishing. A report posted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analyzed satellite images of contested areas in the […]
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US-Sino Rivalry and North Korea’s Strategic Value
Kim Jong-un must be pleased with how US-China trade and other disputes disrupt North Korea’s denuclearization STANFORD, CALIFORNIA: US-China rivalry – including a trade war and tensions over Taiwan and South China Sea – is escalating. In October 2018, US Vice President Mike Pence even insinuated that a new Cold War may be underway. Kim […]