In a press conference Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi struck a conciliatory tone regarding China’s militarization of disputed territory in the South China Sea, suggesting “maritime cooperation” with the United States and teasing that Beijing may invite foreign journalists to tour the region in question.
As China expands its military presence in the international waters of the South China Sea, U.S. Pacific Command head Admiral Harry B. Harris is proposing that the United States join with Australia, India, and Japan in conducting operations in the region to keep Beijing from stretching its military muscle against its smaller neighbors.
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed an envoy of the head of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, to Beijing this week, urging Vietnam to seek strengthened ties with China after years fighting over territory in the South China Sea have exacerbated tensions between the two nations.
The head of China’s military operations in the South China Sea threatened this weekend to use force to “deal with any security threat” in the region, asserting that “China’s sovereignty” in the region — highly disputed by its neighbors — was worth deploying the military.
The Chinese navy is sending an advance missile frigate into the East China Sea, risking exacerbating tensions in waters it claims against Japan. The move follows a week in which the international community has condemned China’s illegal development of military facilities in the South China Sea.
Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Wednesday the Navy plans to expand the frequency and variety of freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, following reports that Beijing has escalated its militarization of islands and reefs in disputed territory in the region.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Secretary of State John Kerry that the South China Sea belongs to his country and they have every right to defend their territory, despite a lack of evidence China ever legally controlled the territory it claims in the region.
A report surfacing after a long day of talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Secretary of State John Kerry claims China has placed up to ten fighter jets in the Paracel Islands, disputed territory in the South China Sea. The report follows satellite evidence that Beijing has added surface-to-air missiles and an advanced radar system to its arsenal in the region.
A new think tank report asserts that China has begun building a high-frequency radar installation in the contested Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, which would greatly expand its surveillance capabilities in one of the most trafficked trade routes in the world.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be in the United States from Tuesday to Thursday, meeting with his counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, and other high-level officials on everything from North Korea’s growing belligerence to China’s own provocations in the South China Sea.
Secretary of State John Kerry has vowed to engage the Chinese government in “a very serious conversation” over satellite images released this week that show China has placed surface-to-air missiles in the Paracel Islands, a contested territory in the South China Sea.
New satellite images indicate that the Chinese government has placed “an advanced surface-to-air missile system” on illegally constructed artificial islands in the South China Sea, threatening both the nations who claim that territory and any passersby navigating those international waters.
Satellite images published in The Diplomat indicate that China has begun an extensive construction operation in the South China Sea’s Paracel Islands, following years of work building artificial islands in the Spratly Archipelago.
A PBS moderator at Thursday night’s Democratic debate in Milwaukee was apparently caught on a live mic sighing, “Oh, God,” as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) began an answer on foreign policy by referring to the Vietnam War.
Kansas City veteran Eton Gilmore will receive a proper military funeral, thanks to his friend Maryannah Mosley.
Contents: Jordan’s King demands more refugee aid from international community; US Navy’s Freedom of Navigation Ops in South China Sea to grow in scope and complexity
The U.S. Navy has outraged the Chinese government once again by performing a legal “freedom of navigation” exercise in disputed South China Sea territory, for which the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused America of seeking “maritime hegemony” in the region.
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou visited the largest island in the Spratly Archipelago Thursday, in a move the United States described as “extremely unhelpful” in the context of a larger territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
Severe cold weather in East Asia has led to at least 90 deaths.
Contents: India deploying ‘submarine killer’ planes to counter China’s submarines; India to build satellite tracking station in southern Vietnam; China demolishes Southern Mongolian herders’ homes in mid-winter
Contents: Previous attempts at Syria ‘peace talks’ ended in farce; Syria peace process ‘proximity talks’ to begin this week in Geneva
Vietnam is preparing to deploy the first of six Kilo-class submarines purchased from Russia in the South China Sea, as a deterrent to China’s seemingly endless expansionism in the region.
MANILA (AFP) – British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Thursday on a visit to the Philippines that any attempt to restrict air and sea travel in the disputed South China Sea would be viewed as a “red flag”. China said it
Chinese state news outlet Xinhua is reporting that the government has landed two more planes on a landing strip illegal constructed in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, days after Vietnam and the Philippines filed a formal complaint over a similar incident.
The governments of Vietnam, the Philippines, and Japan have all condemned China for landing a plane on an artificial island in the South China Sea, constructed in what is widely regarded as sovereign Vietnamese territory. China rejects international claims in the sea and has begun constructing military facilities in the Spratly Islands.
The relationship between Vietnam and China is strained over Beijing’s aggressive assertion of its maritime territorial claims, pushing Vietnam’s Communist Party toward an old enemy, the United States, The Washington Post (WaPo) reports.
A patriotic organization opposed to Chinese imperialism in the Philippines has made a voyage to the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where China has begun constructing numerous military facilities in violation of international law.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi demanded Secretary of State John Kerry “respect China’s core interests” in the South China Sea following the presence of a B-52 bomber within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly Islands, a passage the Pentagon has branded unintentional.
The Chinese government is paying “close attention” to the new deployment of an American spy plane off the island of Singapore
Satellite images of construction in the South China Sea indicate the Chinese government has begun construction on three new airstrikes near the Spratly and Paracel Islands, quadrupling its presence in the highly-contested maritime territory.
As Vietnam prepares to enact new legislation that will seriously curb religious freedom, police have begun cracking down on Christians, especially those most vocal about their faith. In a period of just ten days, police twice assaulted Christian student activist Chu Manh Son and Catholic journalist Tran Minh Nhat, each of whom had previously served prison terms for denouncing Vietnam’s human rights violations.
(Reuters) China has shown “great restraint” in the South China Sea by not seizing islands occupied by other countries even though it could have, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday ahead of two regional summits where the disputed waterway is likely to be a hot topic.
The European Union made its strongest call yet for China and other Asian nations to resolve their dispute over the South China Sea, a position Brussels insists is neutral but that the United States is likely to welcome after pressing the bloc to speak up.
An American defense official said this week that the U.S. Navy is planning to navigate through disputed waters in the South China Sea “about twice a quarter or a little more than that,” activity likely to irritate China, which claims complete control over the sea, even further.
The Chinese government is strongly condemning the presence of a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Lassen, in the South China Sea, as an “illegal entry.” American defense officials insist the ship navigated international waters, challenging China’s unilateral claims to sovereignty over the nearby Spratly Islands.
Vietnam is accusing a Chinese vessel of attacking and sinking a fishing boat near the disputed Paracel Islands, days after the Chinese government insisted that territories in the South China Sea were not international waters, but belonged to China.
The Chinese government is warning the United States and its allies to stop “adding fuel to the flames” in the longstanding territorial dispute in the South China Sea, following a joint announcement by America and Australia that the nations fully intend to exercise their right to navigate the body of water, which China claims entirely for itself.
Contents: Thousands of cars in China stuck in week-long traffic jam; Fears in Israel grow of ‘third intifada’ as West Bank violence spreads; Anger and frustration grow among West Bank Palestinians; Four Russian cruise missiles fall in Iran; Severe epidemic of dengue fever strikes Vietnam
Vietnam appears to be the biggest winner among the 12 countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, says multiple news reports. “This is really transformational for Vietnam,” IHS Global Insight’s Asia Pacific Chief Economist Rajiv Biswas told ABC News. “They’re going to get a very big advantage over many other exporters of garments into the U.S. market.”
Chinese state media is working hard to portray President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States as a success, but even in a column intending to herald bilateral talks as a step in the right direction, Xinhua asserts that it is the United States which is prompting states to be “aggressive” in the South China Sea.