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(Reuters) — Indonesia’s foreign minister on Wednesday (June 22) rejected China’s stance that the two Asian nations have overlapping claims in the South China Sea after skirmishes between Indonesian navy ships and Chinese vessels. Early this week China’s foreign ministry said the two nations did not have any territorial disputes but there were some overlapping claims on “maritime rights and interests”. “For Indonesia, we have no overlapping claims of any form with China in […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Competing claims to the South China Sea have for decades been a source of tension in the region. The Philippines filed a case before an international arbitration tribunal at The Hague to challenge China’s claims to most of the waters, with a decision expected in the coming weeks. Below are key facts on the sea and the territorial disputes: Geography The South China Sea covers more than 3 million square kilometres […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese cruise ships will regularly bring tourists to the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea by 2020, reports said Wednesday, as tensions mount in the region. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital South China Sea, despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours, and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. Chinese companies already operate cruises — for Chinese nationals only […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — A UN-backed tribunal is expected to soon deliver a verdict on a Philippine challenge to China’s claims to most of the South China Sea. Spanning three years, two hearings, and nearly 4,000 pages of evidence, the arbitration case at The Hague is complex. In essence, China claims most of the sea, even waters approaching neighbouring countries, based on a vaguely defined “nine-dash” Chinese map dating back to the 1940s. The Philippines […]
by Cecil Morella INFANTA, Philippines (AFP) — Jonathan Almandrez was chased away from the rich fishing grounds of a South China Sea lagoon by a Chinese patrol — something he hopes will stop happening if the Philippines wins an international legal case against Beijing. The incident at Scarborough Shoal, a necklace of reefs and rocks that Filipino fishermen say hosts some of the world’s most abundant marine life, is part of a long-running territorial row […]
PHNOM PENH / AFP- Cambodian Premier Hun Sen lashed out Monday at claims his government had bowed to Chinese pressure to help scupper a joint statement by Southeast Asian nations on the South China Sea. In an angry speech Hun Sen also accused an international court of political bias as it prepares to rule on a sea dispute between the Philippines and China. The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration is widely expected to rule […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Two US aircraft carriers have started exercises in the Philippine Sea, defense officials said Sunday, as Washington’s close ally Manila faces growing pressure from Beijing in the South China Sea. The US Pacific Command said the USS John C. Stennis and USS Ronald Reagan, among the world’s largest warships, began conducting air defense drills, sea surveillance, and long range strikes on Saturday. The command said the operations marked America’s continued presence […]
(REUTERS) Southeast Asian countries withdrew a statement that expressed the region’s deep concerns over tension in the South China Sea, where China is involved in protracted territorial disputes with some of its neighbors. The strongly-worded statement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), released by the Malaysian foreign ministry, did not name China directly but warned against raising tension in the waters, where Beijing has been building artificial islands and increasing its military presence. […]
(Reuters) The U.S. Navy’s Third Fleet will send more ships to East Asia to operate outside its normal theater alongside the Japan-based Seventh Fleet, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, a move that comes at a time of heightened tensions with China. The Third Fleet’s Pacific Surface Action Group, which includes the guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance and USS Momsen, was deployed to East Asia in April. More Third Fleet vessels will be deployed in the […]
SENIOR officials from the ASEAN nations and China vowed on Thursday to fully and effectively implement the declaration on the conduct (DOC) of parties in the South China Sea. The 12th senior officials’ meeting on the implementation of the DOC, co-chaired by Chinese vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Singapore’s permanent Secretary of Foreign Ministry Chee Wee Kiong, was held in Vietnam’s northern Halong City. All parties vowed to continue to fully and effectively implement […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China accused the Philippines Wednesday of ignoring requests for dialogue about their maritime dispute, as tensions rise before an international tribunal’s ruling on the territorial row. The Philippines has “unilaterally closed the door of settling the South China Sea issue with China through negotiation”, China’s foreign ministry said in a lengthy statement published by the official Xinhua news agency. The statement came a day after the end of an annual meeting […]
A fleet of U.S., Japanese and Indian warships will hold a large-scale joint naval exercise over eight days from Friday in the western pacific; close to Japanese island chain, part of which china claims. As china pushes its territorial claims in the neighboring South China Sea, Tokyo and Washington worry it will look to extend its influence into the western pacific, with a growing fleet of submarines and surface vessels to ply distant oceans. The […]
