Tag: S. China Sea

TAIPEI, TAIWAN —  A bold move by the Philippine coast guard this week to publicly cut loose a floating barrier installed by China near a disputed South China Sea lagoon highlights how Beijing’s actions are fueling forceful responses, analysts say. It also could help rally other countries in the region to stand up to Beijing. “The current [Philippine] government understands the need to foster collective deterrence of denial and punishment with willing partners as an appropriate strategy to impose a red line for China,” said Joshua Espeña, a resident fellow…

WASHINGTON —  The topic of China’s increasing assertive activities in the South China Sea, from harassing vessels and building structures to introducing a new map with sweeping territorial claims, was prominent at the annual ASEAN Summit in Jakarta last week. But ASEAN, the bloc of 10 Southeast Asian nations that operates on the principle of consensus and noninterference of sovereignty, continued to be divided over dealing with China’s aggressive behavior in the disputed waters and seeking support from non-ASEAN partners, experts say. “ASEAN’s disunity on Chinese assertiveness in the South…

SYDNEY —  Australia is expected to continue its efforts to end a trade dispute with China when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Beijing this year. The trip, announced Thursday, will be the first by an Australian leader to China since 2016. Analysts said that the visit is the latest sign of improving relations between the two countries but that more work is needed to normalize ties. Albanese’s center-left Australian government, elected in May 2022, has been eager to end friction with China, by far its biggest trading partner. In recent…

TAIPEI, Taiwan —  Tensions are rising between China and the Philippines in connection with a territorial dispute in the South China Sea. The dispute may create a sense of anxiety in Southeast Asia while pushing the Philippines to increase security cooperation with the United States, analysts say. “What China did was place the Philippines in a position from which it cannot de-escalate without risking international humiliation, so the Philippines is acting right now in ways that are designed to project strength,” Justin Baquisal, a Manila-based geopolitical analyst, told VOA in…

China is demanding the Philippines remove a scuttled naval vessel being used as an occupied base from a disputed reef in the South China Sea. Tuesday’s demand from Beijing comes three days after a Chinese Coast Guard ship fired a powerful water cannon at Philippine naval vessels cruising towards the Second Thomas Shoal on a resupply mission. Manila said the actions of the Chinese coast guard prevented one of the two resupply boats from unloading supplies needed by Philippine troops guarding the shoal onboard a long-marooned navy ship. China’s foreign…

The fate of negotiations between China and Southeast Asian nations to reach an agreement governing the disputed South China Sea depends on whether Beijing insists on sticking to its so-called nine-dash line claim rejected by an international tribunal in The Hague, experts said. China uses the U-shaped line — which compromises nine dashes — to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the contested waters. In 2016, the tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines, which had challenged some of Beijing’s territorial claims. China and of the Association of Southeast…

Washington —  At Asia’s top security summit, China’s defense minister, Li Shangfu, elaborated on Beijing’s “new security initiative” using words such as “openness,” “inclusiveness,” “transparency,” “equality,” “the rule of law,” “dialogue,” “peace,” and “win-win.” But in the question-and-answer session after his speech at the Shangri-La Security Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday, Li faced inquiries from attendees that appeared to show a regional belief that Beijing’s words did not match its deeds in the disputed South China Sea, given its extensive maritime deployments in waters it claims as its own. Li…