Spratlys
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Trouble in the South China Sea
China, Intentional Ramming, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, Vietnam, Water CannonChina has dangerously increased tensions in the South China Sea by deploying an oil rig for the first time in a disputed area claimed by Vietnam. The move is certain to make countries in the region feel even more threatened by China’s expansionist territorial claims. The rig, belonging to a state-owned oil company, was parked […]
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China Tests American Resolve: More Trouble in the South China Sea
China, Diplomatic Relations, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, Foreign Policy, Intentional Rammings, Japan, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, Spratlys, USA, Vietnam, Water Cannon“What would America fight for?” exclaimed The Economist, as it cautioned the Obama administration against strategic retreat and neo-isolationism. It dismissed President Obama’s foreign policy as a cerebral doctrine that excuses inaction — one that is based on visceral recoil at confrontation and distaste for strategic gamble. It warned Washington about increasing doubt among allies, […]
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Will Vietnam follow PH and file case vs China?
Arbitration, China, Illegal Fishing, Intentional Rammings, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, UNLCOS, VietnamSecurity tensions in the South China Sea have flared up again when Vietnam’s naval vessels collided with Chinese ships on Wednesday, May 7, in a serious attempt of Hanoi to prevent Beijing from stationing a US$1-billion oil rig, HD-981, in the Northwest Triton Island of the Paracels. For Vietnam, the location of China’s oil rig […]
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Twilight of Soft Power
China, Intentional Rammings, Oil Rig, Paracels, Philippines, Poaching, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, Veitnam, Water CannonIt is difficult to be blithe about the dispatch of China’s HYSY981 drilling rig into disputed waters off the Vietnamese coast. It actually would have been less of a provocation if the PRC had sent the aircraft carrier Liaoning down there instead. One of the interesting by-products of the US “freedom of navigation” campaign in […]
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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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Where Did All China’s Asian Friends Go?
China, Diaoyu, Foreign Relations, Japan, Makaysia, Paracels, Philippines, Senkaku, South China Sea Dispute, South Korea, Spratlys, USAUntil recently, Japan was a country where national law forbade it from using war as a way to settle international disputes. The Philippines was on the U.S. piracy list. Indonesia was a neutral country. And no U.S. president had visited Malaysia in 48 years. All of this has now changed, as President Barack Obama wrapped […]
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China didn’t know where the Spratlys were
In 1933, the French flexed their colonial muscles and annexed nine of the Spratly Islands. When the news spread, the fledgling and troubled Chinese republic faced a basic problem: It didn’t know where the Spratlys were. A year earlier, the French had staked their claim to the Paracel Islands as part of their colony in […]
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Two Rival Nations Will Send Their Navies to a Disputed Island in June — For a Beach Party
Well, this is certainly a fun way to protest territorial aggression. This week, Vietnam and the Philippines announced that their navies will hold a party on a South China Sea island in June. Sailors from the two countries are planning on getting together to drink some beer, listen to music, play volleyball and shoot the breeze. […]
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The Philippines’ South China Sea Memorial: Sailing into the Wind
Ayungin Shoal, BRP Sierra Madre, China, Natuna, Philippines, Second Thomas shoal, South China Sea Dispute, SpratlysThe Philippines has put its disputed territorial claims before an arbitration tribunal in The Hague. According to Gregory Polin, Manila’s arguments against China’s ‘nine-dash line’ and rival claims are entirely justified. It’s now up to the tribunal to weigh in and convince Beijing of these ‘facts’. By Gregory Poling for Pacific Forum CSIS Editor’s note: […]