Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday his government will protect its interests in the South China Sea – or, as Manila prefers, the West Philippine Sea – despite Chinese aggression in the region, promising that Philippine ships would continue to patrol the area and troops will continue to be stationed in the Spratly Islands.
The government of Indonesia inaugurated a military base in the Natuna Islands on Tuesday, in the South China Sea and near disputed territory that China has increasingly colonized using the manufacture of artificial islands and illegal coast guard patrols.
The Japanese government announced on Tuesday that it will deploy aircraft carriers for the first time since World War II as part of a defense strategy that will involve purchasing a great deal of American military hardware, a course of action U.S. President Donald Trump has strongly urged.
China has flooded parts of the Philippines with “fishing vessels” that in reality serve as parts of a sprawling paramilitary intended to give Beijing control of the entire South China Sea, the Philippine Star reported on Monday.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has greatly increased its presence in the Taiwan Strait, part of the greater South China Sea, in response to the growing number of freedom of navigation operations by the U.S. Navy, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
The Chinese state publication China Daily announced the beginning of construction on Wednesday of what it referred to as “a complex of facilities for research” on Hainan island in the South China Sea intended to conserve the “historical heritage in the South China Sea.”
Russia alarmed the world on Sunday by reportedly seizing Ukrainian vessels in the Sea of Azov, attacking Ukrainian assets and blocking some of its most important port cities through its illegal command of the Crimean peninsula.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte blocked the military from enforcing a 2016 ruling declaring China’s presence in Philippine waters illegal, the nation’s Defense Secretary told reporters on Friday.
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday, a friendship visit widely interpreted as an easing of tensions between the U.S. and China just a few weeks after the Chinese refused to allow a U.S. warship to dock in Hong Kong.
A study published Tuesday revealed satellite photos of a “modest” new Chinese structure of unknown use in the Paracel Islands of the South China Sea, signs that China has continued to construct facilities in the region despite an international court ruling finding the development illegal.
A poll released Tuesday by the Philippine firm Social Weather Systems (SWS) found that 84 percent of respondents nationwide believed it was “not right” for President Rodrigo Duterte to refuse to challenge China over its ongoing colonization of Philippine territory in the South China Sea.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte signed 29 deals with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday during the latter’s visit to Manila that grant China greater access to Philippine territorial waters and bind the Philippines to China’s expansive Belt and Road infrastructure project.
On Tuesday, China’s president Xi Jinping visited Philippines president Rodrigo R. Duterte to sign 29 agreements. The agreements give China permission to drill for oil and gas in the Philippines territorial waters.
Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping received a frigid welcome in the Philippines on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters circled the Chinese embassy in Manila and others took to attacking Xi on social media for launching a colonization campaign in Philippine territories of the South China Sea.
A group of over 100 Chinese tourists swarmed Yagong Island, in the disputed Paracel Island chain of the South China Sea, this weekend for a “flag-raising ceremony” to assert China’s sovereignty over the region.
Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping declared in an opinion piece published Monday in Philippine media that the dispute about China’s colonization of the South China Sea is officially over. Xi is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Tuesday.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) concluded on Sunday without issuing a joint statement for the first time in the organization’s 25-year history.
Contents: APEC meeting ends in disarry after harsh US-China disagreements; Aggressive behavior of China’s officials raises concerns about security
Chinese officials warned on Monday that Vice President Mike Pence could destabilize the South China Sea by appearing at this week’s meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
National Security Advisor John Bolton warned the Chinese government Tuesday that Washington would sternly oppose any attempts to block free transit in the international waters of the South China Sea, anticipating Beijing proposing a “code of conduct” in the region to grant it control of territory far outside its borders.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with their Chinese counterparts Friday at the State Department.
The governments of Vietnam and the Philippines diverged significantly in their reactions to news that China has begun operating weather stations on their territory in the South China Sea. Vietnam released an outraged statement condemning China on Thursday, while Manila refused to condemn without “proof.”
On Monday, the foreign ministers of China and the Philippines declared their support for “peace and stability” in the South China Sea, largely along Beijing’s terms.
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told a security forum on Thursday that China will use military force to prevent Taiwan from asserting its independence.
The government of Taiwan announced a new live-fire drill next month in Taiping Island, a territory disputed by China and Vietnam, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.
The U.S. Navy confirmed Monday that it sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait earlier in the day, in a move that is likely to irk China.
Taiwan’s latest military exercise began on Tuesday with a simulated attack on coastal bases by Chinese warplanes hypothetically launched from the Liaoning, currently the only functional aircraft carrier operated by the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
Chinese officials announced on Friday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit China from October 25 – 27, in concert with the 40th anniversary of the “Treaty of Peace and Friendship” signed by the two nations.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Tokyo on Monday and agreed to work together against China’s territorial aggression in the South China Sea.
U.S. defense officials have confirmed a Chinese warship performed “unsafe and unprofessional” maneuvers in the South China Sea on Sunday, coming perilously close to an American destroyer and forcing the U.S. Navy ship to change course in order to avoid a collision.
China on Sunday canceled a planned security meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. Mattis responded by canceling his October trip to Beijing.
The South Korean destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great sailed close to the disputed Paracel Islands in mid-September, irritating the Chinese even though South Korean officials say the ship was merely seeking refuge from a typhoon.
China’s Global Times propaganda newspaper warned the United States in a piece published Thursday that Beijing could “deploy military combat equipment to the islands and reefs” of the South China Sea if Washington continues to reject China’s illegal claims in the region.
The U.S. Air Force flew two long-range nuclear-capable B-52H Stratofortress bombers over the South China Sea this week. China branded the flight “provocative” on Thursday and blamed the United States for deteriorating relations between the two countries.
National Security Advisor John Bolton warned of China’s “very dangerous, very aggressive” moves in the South China Sea in a television interview Sunday, citing concerns that China is colonizing the sovereign territory of other nations as high on the list of concerns President Donald Trump will bring to the United Nations this week.
Contents: Maldives in crisis as China-backed incumbent president Yameen loses election; Yameen’s defeat is also a defeat for China’s ‘debt trap diplomacy’
Contents: China threatens multiple Western nations militarily over South China Sea; China’s claims to the South China Sea are amazingly vacuous
China’s state-run Global Times fired a shot across the Philippine bow on Friday by reminding President Rodrigo Duterte that his country has a history of violent coups and assassinations, so he really ought to avoid destabilizing activities such as arguing with Beijing about islands in the South China Sea.
Japan courted the wrath of China on Monday by announcing its submarine Kuroshio has been dispatched to join an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the South China Sea on Thursday, marking the first officially confirmed drill for a Japanese sub in those contested waters.
President Rodrigo Duterte claims he quarreled with China after the Chinese military tried to drive away Philippine Navy planes flying over the disputed South China Sea last month.
