China
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South China Sea tensions rise as Vietnam says China rammed ships
Vietnam says a Chinese vessel intentionally rammed two of its ships in a part of the disputed South China Sea where Beijing has deployed a giant oil rig, sending tensions spiralling in the region. The Foreign Ministry in Hanoi said the collisions took place on Sunday and caused considerable damage to the Vietnamese ships. Six […]
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The Battle for the South China Sea is Officially On
The standoff between China and Vietnam over an oil rig under construction in the South China Sea has escalated to dangerous levels, the New York Times reports. A few days ago, CNOOC, the Chinese oil company, began establishing the oil rig just 120 nautical miles from Vietnam, in waters both Hanoi and Beijing claim. Vietnam protested and dispatched a […]
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China Thinks It Can Defeat America in Battle
The bad news first. The People’s Republic of China now believes it can successfully prevent the United States from intervening in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or some other military assault by Beijing. Now the good news. China is wrong—and for one major reason. It apparently disregards the decisive power of America’s […]
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Vietnam: Chinese ships fire water cannons, ram vessels near oil rig
China, Endangered Species, Illegal Fishing, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, South China Sea Dispute, Vietnam, Water CannonHANOI, Vietnam — Chinese ships have been ramming into and firing water cannons at Vietnamese vessels trying to stop Beijing from putting an oil rig in the South China Sea, according to officials and video footage Wednesday, in a dangerous escalation of tensions over waters considered a global flashpoint. Several boats have been damaged and […]
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Vietnam Squares Off With China in Disputed Seas
HONG KONG — Tensions in the South China Sea intensified Wednesday as Vietnamese vessels confronted Chinese ships that were working to place an oil rig off Vietnam’s coast, and Vietnamese officials claimed that their ships had been rammed by the Chinese vessels three days earlier. Vietnam said the Chinese ships also fired water cannons at […]
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Vietnam and China ships ‘collide in South China Sea’
China, Intentional Rammings, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, Vietnam, Water CannonVietnamese naval ships and Chinese vessels have collided in the South China Sea, Vietnamese officials say. The incident happened as the Vietnamese navy was trying to prevent the Chinese from setting up an oil rig in an area claimed by both nations. No shots were fired, reports say. But Vietnamese officials said that water cannons […]
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Police arrest Chinese fishermen for poaching off Palawan
MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE – 4:25 p.m.) China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it had asked the Philippines to hand back a Chinese fishing boat and its crew seized by Philippines police in disputed waters in the South China Sea. The Philippines should stop taking provocative actions, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily […]
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US investigates Chinese oil rig move amid Vietnam protests
HONG KONG – The United States said on Tuesday it was investigating the movement of a huge Chinese oil rig that Vietnam says has entered its waters, the latest show of Beijing’s growing assertiveness to raise alarm among smaller countries in the region. The Vietnamese accusation came days after U.S. President Barack Obama visited Asia […]
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South China Sea seen as potential area of conflict
China’s deepwater drilling rig in the South China Sea, which Vietnam considers is its territorial water, has been condemned as illegal by the latter and ordered to be removed. The USD 1 billion rig is owned by China’s state-run CNOOC oil company and this country claims almost the entire oil and gas rich South China […]
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International arbitration the way to go for Asia’s maritime disputes
Media attention during Barack Obama’s four-nation Asian trip focused, understandably perhaps, on the three countries that are US allies – Japan, South Korea and the Philippines – and, in particular, on developments with military significance, such as the American president’s assurance that the US-Japan security treaty covered the Senkaku, or Diaoyu, islands claimed by China. […]