Category: South China Sea

The Philippine parliament is reportedly calling for funding to construct a permanent structure on the Second Thomas Shoal (known as the Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines and Ren’ai Jiao in China.) The atoll is at the heart of competing territorial claims between the two countries. ...

The Philippines Coast Guard and Navy successfully outmaneuvered a Chinese blockade to bring food and other provisions to a remote outpost in the South China Sea -- but not before several harrowing confrontations with Chinese vessels that appeared determined to prevent the Filipino vessels from passing.

In this image taken by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), seven Chinese vessels, including unmarked "maritime militia" ships, surrounded a pair of PCG ships during a re-supply mission on Friday.

This week’s summit in Jakarta saw ASEAN countries again knocking on the West’s door to ask for far more concrete support for their future growth. At the same time, the bloc seemed united in refraining from ruffling China’s feathers too much on the subject of the South ...

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang sought to soothe tensions with its neighbors in Southeast Asia during his keynote address on Wednesday at the ASEAN leaders summit in Jakarta. Li did not specifically reference the recent confrontations with the Philippines in the ...

Whether by coincidence or design, three Southeast Asian countries launched high-profile joint military exercises this week with various major powers while leaders from these countries met in Jakarta for the ongoing ASEAN summit. On Sunday, the Chinese and Thai navies kicked ...

The United States joined a growing list of countries to reject China's territorial claims detailed in its new standard map that was published last week. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel addressed the issues on Tuesday at the daily press ...

Indonesia’s ASEAN Chairmanship this year leans heavily towards spurring economic growth, believing that the focus on the more “neutral” subject would unite the group.  In these economic efforts, ASEAN has been consistent in its messaging about working with all partners, because ...

An interesting dispute has emerged from U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto last week. According to the Pentagon readout from the joint press conference following the meeting, they committed to working together for regional stability and ...

The United States Navy is ratcheting up the pressure on China over recent confrontations between the Chinese Coast Guard and Philippines maritime forces in the South China Sea. "You've got to push back," warned the U.S. Navy's top commander in the ...

BRICS on Thursday officially invited six countries to join the group — Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. After all the speculations made in local media about Indonesia’s possibility to join, the country was missing from the invite list. And that is ...

The Philippines Coast Guard successfully circumvented Chinese maritime forces in the South China Sea to deliver provisions to the BRP Sierra Madre, a dilapidated WWII-era warship grounded on a contested shoal. China denounced Tuesday's delivery as "illegal." (RAPPLER) Vietnam is reportedly planning ...