West Philippine Sea
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PLA Officer: China Must Establish South China Sea ADIZ
A senior researcher and officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army said that establishing an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) is essential to China’s national interest. “The establishment of another ADIZ over the South China Sea is necessary for China’s long-term national interest,” Senior Colonel Li Jie, a researcher at the PLA Navy’s Military Academy and […]
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Obama seeks to avoid “clash of civilisations” between China and the West
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Brunei, China, Diplomatic Relations, Malaysia, Militarization, Philippines, South China Sea Dispute, USA, VietnamOn the next day after President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union (SotU) 2014, which did not mention anything about the tension in East Asia, not even the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Tokyo-based The Diplomat published an article to ask whether Obama “has abandoned the Pivot to Asia”: “… he couldn’t make room for […]
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To Counter Beijing, Japan Moves Closer to Taiwan
A report from Kyodo News International says that lawmakers from Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are trying to create a Japanese version of the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. law that governs Washington’s relations with Taipei. Japan does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the proposed law would seek to formalize the current unofficial […]
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The South China Sea Disputes: Formula For A Paradigm Shift? – Analysis
China could trigger a paradigm shift in the disputes in the South China Sea if it were to issue charts indicating the outer limit of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims from the islands over which it claims sovereignty. A full effect ‘equidistance line’ from the largest islands towards the surrounding coasts would create a […]
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China’s “Nine-Dash Line” is Dangerous
As noted last week, the U.S. has lodged its objection to China’s “nine-dash-line” claim to the South China Sea. It is right to do so for two reasons. First, in contrast to what China claims, the U.S. clearly stating its position on the conflict will reduce the chance that the U.S. and China will come […]
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China claims Japan is secretly developing nuclear weapons
Asia Weekly, a Hong Kong-based news outlet (Chinese controlled), is reporting that Japan is secretly developing a nuclear weapons program in response to increasing hostilities with China over the East China Sea dispute. According to the report, paraphrased by the Want China Times, “With the capability to build at least 2,000 nuclear warheads, Japan has recently […]
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China’s Military Trains for War Against Japan
A senior U.S. military officer has accused China’s People Liberation Army of training for a “short sharp war” against Japan in the East China Sea aimed at seizing the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. According to the U.S. Naval Institute, Captain James Fanell, Director, Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said that the massive Mission […]
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Troubled Waters: Indonesia’s Growing Maritime Disputes
Indonesia has had a rocky couple of weeks in its relations with its neighbors. While Ted Piccone and Bimo Yusman wrote last week about Indonesia’s decade of qualified diplomatic successes, in a series of separate and mostly unrelated naval developments the archipelagic nation has in turn aggrieved, or been aggrieved by, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, […]
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China urges int’l alert for Japanese comments
BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) — China on Wednesday urged the international community to be on alert for any comments which attempt to vindicate Japan’s invasion history and challenge post-war world order. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s comments came in response to a question regarding recent Japanese comments. Chairman of Japan’s public broadcaster NHK Katsuto […]
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Tensions Set To Rise In The South China Sea
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, China, Diplomatic Relations, Malaysia, Militarization, Naval Exercises, Naval Stockpiling, Office of Naval Intelligence, Paracel Islands, South China Sea Dispute, USAOver the last month and a half, seven significant developments indicate that tensions in the South China Sea are set to rise in both the short and long term. The five short-term trends include: Philippine defiance of China’s fishing ban; continued inaction by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the Chinese navy’s repeated assertions […]