USA
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US slams Beijing’s wholesale reclamation
MANILA, Philippines – The United States has slammed the “wholesale reclamation” being undertaken by Beijing in the South China Sea, saying it is the “source of clear anxiety and instability” in the contested region. In a press conference at the New York Foreign Press Center on Sept. 26, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and […]
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Almost impossible for big countries to understand how small countries think
CHINA and South-east Asia are geographically contiguous. We have no choice but to live together. China and Asean have decided their relationship should be a “strategic partnership”, the 10th anniversary of which was celebrated last year. Today, Asean-China relations are indisputably one of the most crucial relationships in East Asia and an important pillar of […]
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South China Sea conundrum: US and China’s differing views
Last Friday, The Straits Times ran a commentary by Mark Valencia titled “Separating fact from fiction in South China Sea conundrum”. Mr Valencia, a maritime policy specialist, is an adjunct senior scholar at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Haikou, China. In the article, he highlighted several oft-repeated statements on the South […]
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Stanton’s advice to Taiwan on South China Sea not official: AIT
Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) The suggestion by a former director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan that Taiwan abandon its current approach to making territorial claims in the South China Sea represented his own views, the office said Monday. AIT spokesman Mark Zimmer told CNA that William A. Stanton, who was […]
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Commentary: New Reality in South China Sea
The close encounter on Aug. 19 between a US Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft and a Chinese Air Force J-11 fighter-bomber over the South China Sea is a reminder of the growing clash of interests between the two great powers. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby accused the Chinese fighter pilot of flying within 20 […]
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Why We Must Defend UNCLOS
A quick addendum to Wednesday’s column about language and the law of the sea. We err if we place too much faith in the power of written documents such as constitutions, laws, and international covenants of various types. Putting the right words on the page constitutes part of the challenge. That’s what lawmakers and diplomats […]
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Stop China’s Unlawful “Great Wall” in the South China Sea
The first half of 2014 witnessed a significant increase in aggressive behavior by China as it continues its maritime salami-slicing campaign in the South China Sea. Beijing seeks to change the status quo in the region in order to solidify its sovereignty claims over the disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands and their adjacent waters. In […]
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China testing southern waters for new world order
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Analysis, China, East China Sea, Japan, Shinzo Abe, South China Sea Dispute, USABEIJING — If you want an insight into Chinese foreign policy, just look at its maps. Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, state-owned bookshops have begun selling vertical oblong maps that look rather different from previous ones. The new maps put the South China Sea in the center, rather than showing it in […]
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Move to ‘South China Sea air defence zone’?
BEIJING – China’s efforts to protect its submarine gateway to the South China Sea could broaden from stand-offs with US military planes to announcing an air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to two retired army officers. China could seek to restrict the air space around Hainan Island as the US routinely runs surveillance flights in […]
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Chinese naval push could affect global trade
Tensions in the South China Sea—scene of naval standoffs in the past year as China has pressed its smaller neighbors on the open sea—may seem far off to many Western investors, but any conflict in the region could affect the global economy. Coast guard vessels from China (rear) and Vietnam in a disputed part of […]