ASEAN
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Is a Philippine-Vietnam Alliance in the Making?
Walden Bellow, a representative of Akbayan (Citizens’ Action Party) in the Philippine House of Representatives, recently wrote an opinion-editorial in Foreign Policy in Focus (March 18) entitled, “A Budding Alliance: Vietnam and the Philippines Confront China.” Bello argued that, “The Philippines and Vietnam are natural allies in their common struggle against China’s drive for hegemony […]
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South China Sea: Beijing’s ‘Salami Slicing’ Strategy – Analysis
Analysis, ASEAN, Ayungin Shoal, BRP Sierra Madre, China, Philippines, Salami Strategy, South China Sea Dispute, UNCLOSThe South China Sea is seeing increasing tension amongst the claimants. The Second Thomas Shoal is the latest addition to Beijing’s ‘Salami Slicing’ strategy of slowly acquiring small reefs and islands to consolidate its contested claim. By Darshana M. Baruah THE MOST recent tension in the South China Sea over the Second Thomas Shoal indicates […]
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Can ASEAN Respond to the Chinese Challenge?
ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, Disunity in ASEAN member countries, Philippines, South China Sea DisputeChina and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, resumed consultations on the South China Sea in Singapore Tuesday. In theory, active work on a declaration and code of conduct for the South China Sea—the arena of conflicting territorial claims—should ease tensions, but the opposite may be true. On March 9 China took the […]
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The pressure on the Sierra Madre
Banyan The pressure on the Sierra Madre A beached ship risks becoming the South China Sea’s latest flashpoint Mar 22nd 2014 | From the print edition IN ONE respect, the meeting in Singapore this week between officials from the Association of South-East Asian Nations and China could not have come at a better time. Tensions […]
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Countering China in the South China Sea
On March 18, officials from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet in Singapore to discuss steps towards an elusive code of conduct in the contentious South China Sea dispute. If the past is any indicator, China will ensure that such diplomacy will produce little significant progress even as it continues […]
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India expresses concern over territorial row in Southeast Asia
NEW DELHI, India – India is concerned about the possible impact of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) dispute on trade and is urging claimants to follow the international law in addressing the issue. Shri Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East) of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said on Thursday that sea lanes and communication lines […]
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ASEAN Military Chiefs Endorse Early South China Sea Code
NAYPYITAW — Military chiefs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, have renewed their group’s call for an early conclusion to talks over a Code of Conduct in the disputed South China Sea. After hosting a meeting in Naypyitaw Wednesday, Burmese Army Chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, said a Code of Conduct is […]
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‘Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick’: What is Malaysia Playing At?
For the past two years China has dispatched a flotilla of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships to the farthest reaches of the South China Sea to assert Beijing’s claim to “indisputable sovereignty” over the waters and features lying within its nine-dashed line. Beijing’s ambitious claim covers an estimated eighty percent of the South China […]
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Why China Isn’t Interested in a South China Sea Code of Conduct
According to Reuters, ASEAN officials say that they will meet with Chinese representatives in Singapore beginning March 18 to try and make some progress on talks to establish a “code of conduct” in the South China Sea. China agreed to discuss a South China Sea code of conduct at the ASEAN forum last July, a […]
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China’s assertiveness hardens Malaysian stance in sea dispute
KUALA LUMPUR: The submerged reef would be easy to miss, under turquoise seas about 80 km (50 miles) off Malaysia’s Borneo island state of Sarawak. But two Chinese naval exercises in less than a year around the James Shoal have shocked Malaysia and led to a significant shift in its approach to China’s claims to […]