The balance of military power in the Asia-Pacific is shifting against the United States, as China and North Korea challenge the credibility of U.S. security commitments and the Pentagon faces spending limits, according to a study released on Tuesday.
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.
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.
On the day after Christmas, three Chinese boats, one modified to carry four cannons, entered Japan’s territorial waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands in the southern portion of the East China Sea. The move, a dangerous escalation, is the first time the People’s Republic of China sent an armed vessel into an area that Tokyo claims as its own.
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.
Japan is alleging that an armed Chinese vessel violated its sovereign waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands on Saturday, lodging a formal protest with the Chinese government.
The Chinese government is seeking to expand its Exclusive Economic Zone in the Yellow Sea, deep into South Korean waters–the latest move in what appears to be a comprehensive strategy to usurp sovereignty over Asian waters that include both the South and East China Seas.
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.
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China summoned U.S. envoy Kaye Lee in Beijing on Thursday to complain about the sale of $1.83 billion in arms to Taiwan, and threatened to impose sanctions on all companies involved, accusing the United States of breaking international law and compromising China’s sovereignty.
The Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper has issued a threat to the Australian government to stay out of the international waters of the South China Sea or face the possibility of having its jets shot down by the Chinese government.
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Generational Dynamics, Burundi, Bujumbura, Pierre Nkurunziza, Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, China, South China Sea, Singapore, P8 Poseidon spy plane, Ash Carter, Japan, Shinzo Abe, India Narendra Modi
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 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague prepares to hear the territorial dispute among nations framing the South China Sea – and the Chinese government vows to ignore any verdict – experts suggest a ruling against China could significantly hamper China’s construction of illegal artificial islands and military facilities there.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has unveiled the most significant changes to his nation’s military in over 60 years, laying out plans to boost combat readiness and make the world’s largest army better equipped to radiate force beyond the country’s borders, according to state-backed news media.
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(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.
After announcing that the U.S. presence in the South China Sea would become “routine” as a challenge to Chinese territorial claims this month, the Pentagon announced Thursday it had flown two strategic bombers in the region, which were contacted by Chinese authorities but flew through without incident.
Indonesia’s defense chief told reporters Wednesday that it, too, may take China to court over its outrageous territorial claims in the South China Sea, following the Philippines’ request for the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague to address the matter. The Hague has accepted the petition.
New Jersey Governor and Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie vowed China will “see cyberwarfare like they have never seen before” if they commit cyberwarfare against US and he would fly Air Force One over China’s artificial islands in the South
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.
In a rare exercise of foreign policy backbone, President Obama exhibited Reaganesque-like leadership against China last month—or did he?
As the United States takes the lead in challenging China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, the Chinese government has begun to warn off Japan from assuming a role in the matter. While Japan has no territorial interests in the South China Sea, it continues to disregard China’s claim to the entirety of the East China Sea, much of which Japan claims as its own.
After stating last week that, despite Chinese objections, American naval ships will “fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter personally made good on that promise by joining the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the South China Sea today.
The Obama administration authorized the U.S. Navy to conduct “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea.
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 Australian Navy will reportedly proceed with an anticipated training exercise with Chinese ships next week, despite escalating military tensions between the United States and China in the South China Sea.
The heads of the Chinese and American navies discussed the United States’ passing of a missile destroyer through international waters in the South China Sea on Thursday, according to American officials.
Chinese state media outlet Xinhua has published an editorial threatening the Chinese government is open to “use of force” against the United States should it continue to establish a military presence in the South China Sea.
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.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a diplomatic visit to London, has reiterated to Reuters his nation’s claim that the entirety of the South China Sea belongs to China, asserting that the islands in that region were “left to us by our ancestors” and cannot be shared with neighboring countries.
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.
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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.
