Weekly News 17/10 - 23/10

-(Indiatimes 16/10) China develops world's smallest nuclear plant to take control of South China Sea: The reactor will supply power to new settlements on disputed islands in South China Sea. -(FT 16/10) Duterte to test South China Sea waters; -(Japantimes 16/10) Philippine leader says will raise South China Sea arbitration case with Beijing, won’t bargain; -(nytimes 16/10) Duterte Acknowledges...

17/10/2016

Weekly Bulletin 10/10-16/10

Beijing deploys sensors in South China Sea to boost scientific data in disputed waters; Vietnam says no to foreign military base on its soil; Duterte says he ordered preparations for US drills scrapped…

18/10/2016

Weekly Bulletin 17/10-23/10

U.S. Warship Conducts South China Sea Freedom of Navigation Operation; Philippines' Duterte says didn't really mean 'separation' from U.S.; Chinese naval fleet visits Cambodia to boost naval ties…

25/10/2016

Asean's South China Sea conundrum

The South China Sea (SCS) contestations have brought Asean into direct diplomatic headwinds with China. Just when one thinks there is sufficient reason for the regional grouping to close ranks and speak with one voice, it would seem that the opposite is happening. Asean responses to the SCS issue are less than unified and reflect four issues.

25/10/2016

Weekly News 24/10 - 30/10

-(QZ 28/10) Beijing pushed the Philippines too far on the South China Sea with just two little words: It insisted any statement on fishermen returning to the area would say China would “allow” or “permit” them to be there. -(Nationalinterest 28/10) What Does China Actually Want in the South China Sea? The South China Sea has a nationalist and identity value above and beyond material resources.

26/10/2016

What Does China Actually Want in the South China Sea?

The complex disputes over islands, rocks and reefs in the South China Sea involve six countries: China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. They have a long history, with their origins in the interruption of traditional practices by European and Japanese colonialism, and compounded by the post-WWII conflicts in Southeast Asia. These disputes are among the most vexing issues in the...

27/10/2016

Tangled up in the blue of the South China Sea

On 19 August 2016, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs went public with an unusual, but outside Japan largely overlooked, statement that since 5 August, 15 Chinese government vessels, accompanying “approximately 200 to 300” fishing boats, had entered the contiguous zone and “at least 32 Chinese government vessels intruded into Japan’s territorial waters” of the disputed but Japan-controlled Diaoyu...

28/10/2016

Sun Tzu Explains China’s Shaping Operations in the South China Sea

In the past two weeks, Filipino President Duterte has agreed to 13.5 billion dollars in trade deals with China, softened his country’s claims to Scarborough Shoal, and called for the expulsion of U.S. troops. This Chinese relations coup, along with growing Asian appetite for alternative trade deals to the stalled Trans-Pacific Partnership and the creation of the Asian infrastructure development...

01/11/2016

Weekly Bulletin 24/10-30/10

Vietnam calls for law observance at sea, ocean; Philippines Duterte tells U.S. to forget about defense deal 'if I stay longer’; Indonesia proposes joint patrols with Australia; Philippines, Japan to boost maritime safety...

01/11/2016

How World War III Could Start

Similar confrontations and now commonplace. They offer frightening reminders of the infamous 2001 Hainan Incident, which was triggered when two Chinese fighter jets intercepted a Navy EP-3 spy plane operating near the Paracel Islands and Hainan Island.

03/11/2016