YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Many people look at China and see a unified behemoth tightly controlled by the communist central leadership, so when a diplomatic fray develops, like a rash of recent confrontations in the South China Sea, the assumption is that it’s all part of a grand plan by Beijing. But some analysts […]
Last Friday, a U.S. State Department spokesman stated that Beijing’s recent decision to upgrade tiny Sansha City in the disputed Paracel Islands to a “prefecture-level city” and establish a military garrison there runs “counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region.” That muted protest was just the […]
A new Chinese city and base on a disputed South China Sea island have kicked up tensions, but it will likely end there. The last thing China wants to do is give the US a reason to get involved. The United States and China splashed unusually harsh words on each other this week, but it […]
By Ian Storey For more than two decades Beijing has pursued a consistent policy in the South China Sea composed of two main elements: gradually strengthening the country’s territorial and jurisdictional claims while at the same time endeavoring to assure Southeast Asian countries of its peaceful intentions. Recent moves by China to bolster its maritime […]
The US State Department’s declared “close” monitoring of increased tensions in the South China Sea has caused problems with the authorities in Beijing. Chinese state media have hit out at US “trouble-making” on the South China Sea, two days after Beijing summoned a US diplomat on the issue. One commentary told the US to “shut […]
Foreign Minister Natalegawa Out Front in Regional Mediation Indonesia is distinguishing itself as a voice of moderation and mediation in the troubled waters of the South China Sea. Even as the rival territorial claims over the sea was splitting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia last month, Indonesia refused to quit acting as […]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS The U.S. issued a statement criticizing China on South China Sea territorial disputes A Chinese spokesman responds by claiming the U.S. shows a “total disregard for the facts” The U.S. confounded “right and wrong” and undermined peace in the region, he adds There are international disputes about who controls islands and waters in […]
In recent months, tensions have risen in the South China Sea as the ongoing territorial disputes between various Southeast Asian states and the People’s Republic of China have begun to boil. An April speech by Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie stating that the South Sea Fleet would be the vanguard of major new missions makes […]
WASHINGTON — In all the anger over rival claims to the South China Sea, Indonesia has emerged as a voice of calm, working to mediate a dispute involving China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Chinese patrols in waters that Vietnam and the Philippines also claim have heightened tensions in the mineral-rich South China Sea. […]
By MICHAEL AUSLIN By unilaterally creating a city government and installing a military garrison on a disputed island in the South China Sea, Beijing has further inflamed tensions and made a negotiated settlement of the Asia-Pacific’s territorial disputes less likely. The decision to emphasize military measures in this ongoing diplomatic quarrel should worry those who […]