Recent developments surrounding the South China Sea
BEIJING — 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:
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest developments in the South China Sea, the location of several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN NAVIES HEAD TO FIRST JOINT DRILLS WITH CHINA
Southeast Asian navies are heading to their first joint exercises with China and defense officials agreed Friday to conduct a similar drill with the U.S. next year.
Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said the Oct. 22-28 drills in waters surrounding in southern China Zhanjiang will build trust and confidence. The drills come amid lingering tensions in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite competing claims from five other governments and Washington’s insistence that it constitutes international waters open to all.
The defense ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a joint declaration that the exercises would “enhance friendship and confidence between ASEAN member states’ navies and the People’s Liberation Army Navy and the U.S. Navy.”
The officials said at a news conference that the location and extent of the second exercise had not been decided.
ASEAN defense ministers were in Singapore with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Wei Feng, for an Asian security conference this weekend.