West Philippine Sea
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Obama’s Asian pivot faces uncertain fate
As US President-elect Donald Trump continues to stir up a hornet’s nest in Washington and elsewhere in America, the outgoing and lame-duck presidency of Barack Obama looks spent, its foreign policy agenda at risk of reversal and dismantlement. This is a pity because Mr Obama had his heart in the right places. He tried to […]
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Vietnam respects countries’ rights in East Sea: diplomat
Vietnam has respected rights of countries in the East Sea, including overflight and navigation freedom and trade without restriction, in line with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), said Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh. In his speech at a workshop hosted by the working group of alternative […]
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Energy Demands Increasingly Shape China’s Behavior in the South China Sea
With China’s aggressive posture in the South China Sea undermining the popular narrative of its peaceful rise, many experts correctly point to the dual tides of nationalism and militarization as drivers of hostile behavior. But leaning too heavily on these explanations conceals a third factor behind Beijing’s maritime claims: a burgeoning demand for energy. http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/20573/energy-demands-increasingly-shape-china-s-behavior-in-the-south-china-sea
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US Coast Guard Eager For Deployment To The Highly-Contested South China Sea
The head of the U.S. Coast Guard wants to send ships to the South China Sea, a heavily contested region where China is taking a hard-line stance. “When you look at the East and South China seas, look at China’s Coast Guard, it is really the first face of China,” Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul […]
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Imagining the US Navy’s First South China Sea FONOP in the Trump Era
Where the incoming administration chooses to stage the next FONOP will say a lot about tactical choices. Over at the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Bonnie Glaser, Zack Cooper, and Peter Dutton outline a strong case for the next U.S. administration to stage its first freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea near […]
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Trump should get tough in the South China Sea
Smart diplomacy could produce stronger, more self-reliant Asian allies When U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses the issue of the South China Sea, he will be starting from where incumbent President Barack Obama left off: criticism of Chinese militarization of the area and violations of international law, and U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operations through the […]
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China Ponders ADIZ in Disputed Sea
TAIPEI — A Chinese state institution warned this week that Beijing is ready to set up an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the contested South China Sea, giving it the authority to screen foreign aircraft. But analysts say any enforcement would anger other countries without deterring traffic. That measure would follow a series of […]
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Duterte’s undermining of ASEAN
If the main foreign policy objective of Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte was to make his archipelagic nation the centre of international relations concerns in the Asia Pacific, he has succeeded beyond expectations. Coined a “popularly elected despot” by Chito Gascon of the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights, Duterte’s diplomatic flurries within Asia have sparked conversations […]
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Duterte’s South China Sea sanctuary offers fresh hope for peace
BANGKOK: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has planned to declare a maritime sanctuary and no-fishing zone at a lagoon within the disputed Scarborough Shoal. The idea is an interesting one and offers a potential solution to international disputes over South China Sea territory — but only if it is jointly agreed and enforced by all sides […]
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A Rare Look at the Chinese Navy’s Submarines
Beijing’s state television shows off a Russian-made attack submarine. A news report on Chinese state television provided a rare look inside one of the submarines of the Chinese Navy. The Kilo-class submarine was purchased from Russia during the 1990s and is the tip of Beijing’s spear in its disputes with neighbors. The People’s Republic of […]