ASEAN
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Seoul remains neutral in South China Sea dispute
Korea is taking no sides amid growing speculation that the United States is pressing Seoul to back its biggest ally in a South China Sea dispute. Washington and Beijing have exchanged words about the latter’s efforts to build artificial islands and military installations in the region that is raising tensions with neighboring countries. Amid the […]
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Stirring up the South China Sea (III): A Fleeting Opportunity for Calm
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, ASEAN, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAEXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS The South China Sea is the cockpit of geopolitics in East Asia. Five countries – Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – plus Taiwan have substantial and competing territorial and maritime claims in a body of water that is both an important source of hydrocarbons and fisheries and a vital […]
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China’s Island-Building Pushes U.N.’s Legal Boundaries
China’s increased pace of island-building in the disputed South China Sea has angered many of its neighbors, but China insists that its land-reclamation activities are no cause for concern. In an email interview, Mira Rapp Hooper, a fellow with the Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the director of its […]
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Concerns over land reclamation projects in South China Sea placing region into disorder
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, ASEAN, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAJapan’s Minister of Defense has warned that land reclamation projects in the South China Sea risked plunging the region into disorder and has urged nations, including China, to behave responsibly. Gen Nakatani said “If we leave any unlawful situation unattended, order will soon turn to disorder, and peace and stability will collapse,” “I hope and expect […]
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Where Is China’s Silk Road Actually Going?
The Boao Forum for Asia, an annual economic dialogue held in China’s Hainan Province, was an especially high-profile meeting this year; Chinese President Xi Jinping himself delivered the keynote address. The reason for the special emphasis was clear: Beijing selected the Boao Forum as the venue to deliver the first in-depth explanation of China’s vision […]
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Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen calls for patience in resolving South China Sea disputes
SINGAPORE: Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen has called for patience in solving disputes over the South China Sea, following the strong conflicting statements made by the United States and China about the longstanding territorial conflict. United States Defence Secretary Ashton Carter warned that China’s island building in disputed waters was undermining security in the region. […]
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US hopes Chinese island-building will spur Asian response
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, ASEAN, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAWASHINGTON – By releasing video of Beijing’s island reclamation work and considering more assertive maritime actions, the United States is signaling a tougher stance over the South China Sea and trying to spur Asian partners to more action. The release last week of the surveillance plane footage – showing dredgers and other ships busily turning remote […]
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Diplomats, experts talk territorial disputes in East Sea
Artificial Islands, ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, Philippines, Reclamation, Sea Air Patrol, South China Sea Dispute, USA, VietnamThe territorial disputes in East Sea was the centre of discussions at a conference titled ‘ASEAN Maritime Space Management – Ideas for Argentina’, which was held on May 20 at the Interamerican Open University (UAI) in Argentina’s capital city of Buenos Aires. Argentine political and geopolitical experts and Southeast Asian countries’ ambassadors to Argentina examined […]
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Asean, China should conclude pact to ease tensions in South China Sea: Ng Eng Hen
SINGAPORE – Asean and China should “expeditiously” ink an agreement that is aimed at easing the tensions in the South China Sea, urged Singapore Defence minister Ng Eng Hen. China and the claimant states should “expeditiously conclude” the Code of conduct, a pact that would forbid the first use of force in potential conflicts and […]
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An Environmental Turn In South China Sea Disputes – Analysis
Artificial Islands, ASEAN, China, Ecology, Environmental Impact, Reclamation, South China Sea Dispute, SpratlysOn 13 April 2015, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) released a statement calling out China’s reclamation activities as causing “irreversible and widespread damage to the biodiversity and ecological balance of the South China Sea (SCS)/West Philippine Sea (WPS).” The DFA pointed out that China’s activities have so far caused destruction to over 300 […]