USA
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Breaking down the Philippines’ legal victory in the West Philippine Sea
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAThe widely-anticipated decision of an arbitration body, formed under the aegis of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to exercise jurisdiction on the Philippines’ arbitration case against China represents a major victory for those who seek a semblance of rule of law in the West Philippine Sea. Interestingly, it happened shortly […]
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Protecting the sea lanes of Asia
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAThe Permanent Court of Arbitration, an agency at the United Nations that listens to disputes about the UN’s Law of the Sea, has agreed to hear the Philippines‘ case against China for building military bases on reefs in the South China Sea a thousand miles south of its Mainland. To no one’s surprise, China indicates […]
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South China Sea ‘islands’ only demilitarized until first warbird touches down
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAAt last. After weeks of Hamlet-esque public debate, U.S. defense officials ordered Aegis destroyer USS Lassen to cruise within 12 nautical miles (nm) of Subi Reef on Oct. 27. The reef is an undersea rock in the South China Sea that Beijing has built into an artificial island in the contested Spratly Islands. It wants […]
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How China Maintains Strategic Ambiguity in the South China Sea
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAChina’s official government reactions to the recent U.S. Navy “freedom of navigation” (FON) operation within 12 nautical miles (nm) of a Chinese-occupied constructed island in the South China Sea are a multilingual puzzle. A careful examination of Chinese-language versions of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministry statements, however, reveals extreme subtlety in wording and […]
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Beijing in uncharted waters as US sails into South China Sea
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAChinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in […]
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US and Chinese navy chiefs to discuss South China Sea tensions – US official
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAThe US chief of naval operations and his Chinese counterpart will hold an hour-long video teleconference on Thursday, days after Beijing was angered by a US warship’s patrol within a 12-nautical-mile (22km) limit around a man-made Chinese island in the South China Sea, a US official said. The meeting was initiated by Admiral John Richardson […]
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Q&A: Impact of US warship sailing near China-held island
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAIn this April 8, 2008, file photo, guided missile destroyer USS Lassen arrives at the Shanghai International Passenger Quay in Shanghai, China, for a scheduled port visit. The USS Lassen has sailed past one of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, in a challenge to Chinese sovereignty claims […]
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Battle over China’s artificial islands has just begun
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USA1 0 Google +0 1 AFTER MONTHS of internal debate, the White House permitted the Defense Department to sail one ship near a reef in the South China Sea that China claims. The Chinese reaction shows Beijing has no intention of backing down. Now the Obama administration is debating what to do next. The […]
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Restraint urged on Spratlys
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USAUS WARSHIP IN SHANGHAI American guided missile destroyer USS Lassen, which sailed past artificial islands built by China in the disputed Spratly archipelago, arrives in Shanghai for a scheduled port visit in this file photo taken on April 8, 2008. AP US WARSHIP IN SHANGHAI American guided missile destroyer USS Lassen, which […]
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Showdown in the South China Sea: How did we get here?
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, Artificial Islands, China, Militarization, Military Conflict, Philippines, Reclamation, Regular Patrols, South China Sea Dispute, Spratlys, USA(CNN)Dotted with small islands, reefs and shoals, the South China Sea is home to a messy territorial dispute that pits multiple countries against each other. China’s “nine-dash line” — its claimed territorial waters that extend hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan — abut its neighbors’ claims and, […]