USA
-
South China Sea: Why Beijing avoids the court
On 7 December, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an official position paper outlining China’s legal position on the South China Sea UNCLOS arbitration. This paper appears to serve two purposes. First, China seeks to indirectly participate in the arbitration without formally acknowledging its legitimacy. While the Foreign Ministry has timed the release of this […]
-
The propaganda war over maritime rights
‘China will work with other countries to further promote a harmonious maritime order.’ Even after years of studying the maritime tensions on China’s periphery, I had to check that I had not misread the 9 December Xinhua dispatch quoting Liu Jieyi, China’s Ambassador to the UN. These reassuring words come on the heels of a […]
-
China, US navies implement code of conduct
The code, ratified earlier this year, was put into effect as the two navies launched their latest anti-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday. Analysts said the exercise was an opportunity to put the code into practice and an encouraging indication that both navies want to minimize the risk of misunderstandings. The Chinese […]
-
China and America’s Dueling South China Sea Papers
Beijing is fast approaching a Dec. 15 deadline to submit its defense in the arbitration case against its South China Sea claims brought by the Philippines. That case, brought under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea’s (UNCLOS) compulsory dispute mechanism, is summarized here. The Chinese government has no intention of taking part […]
-
US State Department assesses China’s nine-dashed line
Last week the US State Department released a useful report on China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea. As M Taylor Fravel tweeted, it is a must-read for anyone interested in maritime security, the law of the sea, or China’s foreign policy. The report focuses on China’s so-called ‘nine-dashed line‘ and the different interpretations […]
-
China condemns US report on South China Sea claims
China claims almost all the South China Sea, believed to be rich in minerals, oil and gas, which has become one of Asia’s biggest potential flashpoints. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan have competing and sometimes overlapping claims on parts of it. The US State Department report, issued on Friday, said that China’s claims […]
-
China’s sea claim ‘does not accord with intl law’ – US govt paper
A United States government report has challenged China’s claims in the South China Sea. In a paper released last Friday, the US State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs (OES) said that China’s claim on nearly the entirety of the South China Sea—an area within a so-called “nine-dash line” described by […]
-
Beijing slams Manila over S. China Sea case
BEIJING: China on Sunday again rejected an attempt by the Philippines to challenge its vast territorial claims over the South China Sea through international arbitration, a week before a deadline for Beijing to respond to the case. The Philippines infuriated China in March by filing a formal plea with a UN tribunal challenging Beijing’s maritime […]
-
US 2014 report: China now a threat throughout Asia-Pacific
“By 2020, China could have as many as 351 submarines and missile-equipped surface ships in the Asia Pacific. By comparison, the U.S. Navy, budget permitting, plans to have 67 submarines and surface ships stationed in or forward deployed to the region in 2020, a modest increase from 50 in 2014,” says in the 2014 annual […]
-
EDCA deterred sea disputes—Gazmin
BEIJING stopped harassing Filipino ships in disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea after the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Manila and Washington, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin claimed before a Senate committee on Monday. Gazmin made the claim even as Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago argued that the failure of the Aquino administration to […]