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☆ China and Philippines already at odds over South China Sea deal to ease Second Thomas Shoal tensions
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The dilapidated BRP Sierra Madre ship of the Philippine Navy is anchored near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea. Beijing claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3 million-square-mile South China Sea, and most of the islands and sandbars within it, including many features that are hundreds of miles from mainland China. Under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, the Philippines has taken increasingly assertive steps to protect its claim to shoals in the South China Sea, leading to several confrontations off the Philippine islands. The US is not a claimant to the South China Sea, but says the waters are crucial to its national interest of guaranteeing free passage through seas worldwide. A close up view taken on March 29, 2014 of the BRP Sierra Madre beached near the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Shoal, Ren’ai Jiao, ”, Mao Ning, pushback, Ritchie, Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Marcos Jr, Marcos, Jake Sullivan, ” Sullivan, Thomas Shoal, Erik de Castro, Gregory Poling, “, ” Derek Grossman Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, BRP Sierra Madre, Foreign Ministry, The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, BRP, Philippine Navy, coastguard, US Navy, Aspen Security, US National, Reuters, Transparency Initiative, RAND Corporation Locations: Hong Kong, South, Manila, Beijing, Philippine, Spratly, Philippines, China, Palawan, Madre, South China, Second, The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, The Hague, Scarborough, BRP Sierra Madre, Washington, United States, Sierra Madre, BRP Sierra, Asia

☆ The Chinese Base That Isn’t There
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-14 | by ( Agnes Chang | Hannah Beech | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

Security gate Chinese-funded buildup CAMBODIA Chinese warship CAMBODIA CAMBODIA Dry dock and other repair facilities Before After China insists it is not building a naval base in Cambodia. CHINA Ream, CambodiaThe Chinese Base That Isn’t There New facilities and the months-long presence of Chinese warships show Beijing’s growing global influence. In 2020, something curious happened at Cambodia’s Ream military base, on the Gulf of Thailand. The Chinese military presence near one of the world’s most vital sea lanes raises fundamental questions about Beijing’s ambitions. “The Ream military base is Cambodia’s, not the military base of any country,” Mey Dina, the commander of the base, told The New York Times.

Persons: CHINA, —, ”, Jan, John, “ We’re, Lloyd J, Austin III, ” Mey Dina, Mey Dina, Xi Jinping, dredgers, Ream, Gregory B, Poling, ‘ Ream, Xi, Hun Sen, Mr, Hun Sen’s, Hun Manet Organizations: U.S . Defense Department, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, Agence France, Navy, Planet Labs, Ream, Pentagon, New York Times, China’s, China’s Djibouti Naval, Basketball, Djibouti ETHIOPIA Perimeter, NAM Ream, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Cambodian, Congressional Research Service, White, AMERICA Ports, SOUTH AMERICA SRI LANKA, China, China ASIA EUROPE CHINA AFRICA Djibouti Ream SRI LANKA, United States Military Academy Locations: CAMBODIA CAMBODIA, China, Cambodia, CHINA Ream, Thailand, Ream, South China, American, Cambodian, U.S, People’s Republic, China’s, Djibouti, Horn of Africa, China’s Djibouti, YEMEN Djibouti, Djibouti ETHIOPIA, THAILAND, Cambodia Malacca, Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Djibouti Ream Africa, ASIA EUROPE, China CHINA AFRICA Djibouti, AUSTRALIA, China ASIA EUROPE CHINA AFRICA Djibouti, United States, Spratlys

☆ Eyeing China, the Philippines wants to buy its first attack submarine
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Read previewAmid rising tensions with China, the Philippines is planning to buy its first submarine. AdvertisementChina and its neighbors have been at loggerheads for the past decade, after Beijing claimed sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including islands and resource-rich waters. AdvertisementBut that leaves the question of how readily the Philippines Navy can operate a submarine. Chinese Coast Guard holding knives and machetes as they approach Philippine troops in the disputed South China Sea on June 17, 2024. Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP, FileA single submarine would do little to change the power imbalance between the Philippines and China.

Persons: —, Greg Poling, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Thomas Shoal, Poling, Rodrigo Duterte, You've, Mark Manantan, Manantan, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Business, Philippine Navy, Washington -, Strategic, International Studies, Diesel, Philippines Navy, Malaysia, Forum, Islamic, Philippine Communist Party, Coast Guard, Armed Forces, AP, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: China, Philippines, Philippine, South China, Asia, Washington, loggerheads, Beijing, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sierra Madre, American, France, Spain, South Korea, Italy, Indonesia, Hawaii, Mindanao, Manila, Asian, Forbes

☆ 'Only pirates do this,' a general said after China's Coast Guard, armed with bladed weapons, clashed with Philippine boats in the South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Ella Sherman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"Only pirates do this," General Romeo Brawner Jr. said in a social media post regarding the recent actions of the Chinese coast guard. This is how barbaric the Chinese Coast Guard is in the recent RoRe mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The Chinese coast guard might have used pirate-like tactics, but it's not legally piracy. This photo taken on February 15, 2024, shows an aerial view of Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The nine-dash line is a map marking designating China's sweeping and controversial claims to the South China Sea.

Persons: —, Romeo Brawner Jr, …, 7vzFDem1DE — Jay Tarriela, it's, Harrison Prétat, Thomas Shoal, Prétat, Thomas, Brawner, Philippines MaryKay Carlson Organizations: Service, Staff, Armed Forces, Business, China, China's Coast Guard, South China, Coast Guard, Center for Strategic, Studies, Maritime Transparency Initiative, BRP, BRP Sierra Madre, UN, ROSA, Philippine Navy, Mutual Defense, People's Locations: Philippines, China, Philippine, Beijing, South, BRP Sierra, Scarborough Shoal, AFP, South China, Manila, It's, People's Republic of China

☆ Chinese water cannon damages ship in new South China Sea flare-up, Philippines says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Video supplied by the Philippine Coast Guard showed two larger Chinese vessels firing water cannons from opposite sides of the Philippine ship. “The Philippine vessels encountered dangerous maneuvers and obstruction from four China Coast Guard vessels and six Chinese Maritime Militia vessels,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said in the statement. The Philippine Coast Guard ship suffered “damage to the railing and canopy,” according to its statement. Over the past two decades, China has occupied a number of obscure reefs and atolls far from its shoreline across the South China Sea, building up military installations, including runways and ports. Beijing and Manila’s South China Sea disputes have heated up since the 2022 election of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has taken a stronger line against China than his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

Persons: Jay Tarriela, ”, Thomas, “, Thomas Shoal, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Rodrigo Duterte Organizations: CNN, Philippine Coast Guard, China Coast Guard, Chinese Maritime Militia, Weibo, Asia, Transparency Initiative, BRP Sierra Madre, Philippine Locations: Philippine, China, Scarborough Shoal, Chinese, Luzon, ” Beijing, South, Scarborough, Huangyan, Bajo, Masinloc, Philippines, South China, Palawan, BRP Sierra, Weibo, ”, Beijing, Manila’s, Manila, United States, Washington

☆ Vietnam ramps up South China Sea island expansion, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A Vietnamese naval soldier stands quard at Thuyen Chai island in the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea on January 17, 2013. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim territory in the sea, which covers important shipping routes and is thought to hold untapped oil and gas reserves. China claims sovereignty over vast swathes of the South China Sea, including the areas where Vietnam has been building up islands. China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have lodged competing claims for some or all of the Spratly Islands. In August, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam rejected a map released by China that denotes its claims to sovereignty including in the South China Sea.

Persons: Thuyen, Khanh Vu, Robert Birsel Organizations: Washington's Center, Strategic, International Studies, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CSIS's, Transparency, Thomson Locations: Thuyen Chai, Spratly, South, China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, HANOI, South China, U.S, Spratly Islands, CSIS's Asia

☆ South China Sea tensions are flaring between the Philippines and China. Here's why it matters for the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Over the past two decades, China has occupied a number of obscure reefs and atolls far from its shoreline across the South China Sea, building up military installations, including runways and ports. Video Ad Feedback Why it matters who owns the seas (April 2021) 03:48 - Source: CNNWhy does the South China Sea matter? The South China Sea is home to hundreds of largely uninhabited islands and coral atolls and diverse wildlife at risk from climate change and marine pollution. The US is not a claimant to the South China Sea, but says the waters are crucial to its national interest of guaranteeing freedom of the seas worldwide. Marcos has strengthened US relations that had frayed under his predecessor, with the two allies touting potential future joint patrols in the South China Sea.

Persons: It’s, China’s, Defense Lindsey Ford, ”, Stringer, Ferdinand “ Bongbong ” Marcos Jr, Jay Batongbacal, “, Marcos Jr, Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos, Gregory Poling Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Navy, CNN, US Energy Information Agency, Communist Party, United, US Navy, Defense, Asia, Washington -, Strategic, International Studies, Ford, Spratly Islands, University of the, Philippine Coast Guard, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Transparency, Philippines Mutual Defense Locations: Hong Kong, South China, China, Beijing, Philippines, United States, South, The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, The Hague, Manila, Scarborough, Spratly, People’s Republic of China, Washington, Philippine, University of the Philippines, Asia

☆ South China Sea: Philippines accuses Chinese maritime militia of destroying coral reefs near Palawan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Philippine Coast Guard/FacebookTarriela said between August 9 and September 11, the coast guard monitored 33 Chinese vessels within the vicinity of Rozul Reef and around 15 Chinese ships near Escoda Shoal. The UP Marine Science Institute found vibrant corals in the Rozul (Iroquios) Reef in the South China Sea in May 2021. At least two foreign ambassadors in Manila have expressed alarm over reports of destruction of marine resources in the South China Sea. The grounded Philippine navy ship Sierra Madre, which Manila uses to stake its territorial claims at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea, as pictured on April 23, 2023. Under current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the country’s National Security Team began to publicize its findings about what was actually happening in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea more regularly, Powell said.

Persons: Jay Tarriela, ” Tarriela, Facebook Tarriela, Tarriela, Mao Ning, “, ”, Gerry Arances, Arances, Ray Powell, SeaLight, Powell, Philippines MaryKay Carlson, Kazuhiko Koshikawa, Rodrigo Duterte, Shoal, Ted Aljibe, Thomas Shoal, Ferdinand Marcos Jr Organizations: CNN, Philippine Coast Guard, Chinese Maritime Militia, Facebook, Philippine, Spratly Islands, Philippine coastguard, University of, Philippines Marine Science Institute, country’s National Security Council, Scientific, UP Marine Science Institute, Marine Science, CNN Philippines, Center for Energy, coastguard, National Security, Stanford University, The, United, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Asia, Transparency Initiative, BRP, BRP Sierra Madre, National Security Team, West Philippine, South China Locations: South, Philippines, China, Sabina, South China, Palawan, Beijing, Philippine, Rozul, Escoda Shoal, ” Beijing, China’s, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, The Hague, West Philippine, United States, Indonesia, Vietnam, The Philippines, Manila, Sierra, Spratly, AFP, BRP Sierra, Sierra Madre, West

Other countries that Vietnam has extended this designation to include China and Russia. Giving the U.S. the same status suggests that Vietnam wants to hedge its friendships as U.S. and European companies are looking for alternatives to Chinese factories. “We find ourselves in a situation where all of these changes around the world are taking place,” Biden explained about the Vietnam trip last month. "We have an opportunity, if we’re smart, to change the dynamic.”Political Cartoons View All 1148 ImagesU.S. trade with Vietnam has already accelerated since 2019. “I’ve gotten a call from the head of Vietnam, desperately wants to meet me when I go to the G20,” Biden said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, they’re, Xi, ” Biden, Gina Raimondo, Raimondo, ” Raimondo, IPEF, Jake Sullivan, Lê Hoài Trung, Trung, Sullivan, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, I’ve, “, Gregory Poling, ” Poling, Poling, ” Organizations: DELHI, United, U.S, Group, Census, Peterson Institute of International Economics, White House, Biden, Communist Party of Vietnam, Southeast Asia Program, Asia Maritime, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Vietnam, United States, China, Asia, Russia, Salt Lake City, India, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, U.S, Washington, Helsinki, Maine, Beijing, “

☆ Malaysia says Beijing concerned about its energy projects in South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday said Beijing has expressed concerns about energy activities by Malaysian state firm Petronas in the South China Sea, even though Kuala Lumpur believes the projects are in its territory. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes annually. China was worried that "Petronas has carried out a major activity at an area that is also claimed by China," Anwar said, responding to a parliamentary question about his discussions on the South China Sea during his visit to China last week. China claims its territory via a "nine-dash line" on its maps, which cuts into the EEZs of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Malaysia's foreign ministry will issue a protest note if there were "collisions" between Malaysian and Chinese vessels there, Anwar said.

☆ Vivid new photos give you a rare look at the South China Sea islands that a top US commander says China has fully militarized
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Beijing has used both natural and artificial islands to build up its military capabilities in the area. Island airbasesAn airfield, buildings, and structures on the artificial island built by China at Subi Reef on October 25. Port for Chinese warshipsAn airfield, buildings, and structures on the artificial island at Fiery Cross Reef on October 25. More than 40 vessels of different types appear to be anchored near Fiery Cross, the Associated Press said in March. These islands have sports fieldsAn airfield, buildings, and recreational facilities on the artificial island at Fiery Cross Reef on October 25.

☆ Vietnam in big push to expand South China Sea outposts - U.S. think tank
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( David Brunnstrom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Vietnam has conducted a major expansion of dredging and landfill work at several of its South China Sea outposts in the second half of this year, signaling an intent to significantly fortify its claims in the disputed waterway, a U.S. think tank reported on Wednesday. Basing its findings on commercial satellite imagery, CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said the effort included expanded landfill work at four features and new dredging at five others. Tennent Reef, which previously only hosted two small pillbox structures, now had 64 acres (26 hectares)of artificial land, the report said. "But Vietnam’s dredging and landfill activities in 2022 are substantial and signal an intent to significantly fortify its occupied features in the Spratlys," the report said. China claims most of the South China Sea and has established military outposts on artificial islands it has built there.

☆ Kamala Harris’ visit to the Philippines sends China a message of US intent
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, the Philippines occupies nine features in the Spratly chain while China occupies seven. In 2016, a tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a maritime dispute, concluding China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea. “Philippine President Marcos appears open to the idea of pursuing pragmatic cooperation in the South China Sea, while not surrendering its long-standing position when it comes to the territorial issues in the South China Sea,” Banlaoi said. During her trip to the Philippines, Harris is expected to make a number of other announcements including tighter US cooperation with Manila on clean energy, cybersecurity, communication and agriculture. The deals show US intent in the Pacific region, but one South China Sea expert said Harris’ trip to the military base risks aggravating Beijing to the potential detriment of the Philippines.

☆ China is using civilian ships to enhance navy capability and reach
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Aerial view of fishing boats setting sail to South China Sea for fishing on August 16, 2022 in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province of China. Hundreds of fishing boats anchored for months at a time among disputed islands in the South China Sea. The civilian vessels do more than just augment the raw numbers of ships, performing tasks that would be difficult for the military to carry out. "Because they are ostensibly civilian fishing vessels, navies' ships are unable to deal with them lest China accuse the Philippines of provoking an incident and using force against civilians," he said. In the event of a conflict, China's use of civilian vessels would complicate the rules of engagement, he said.

☆ China is using a stealth fleet of fishing boats and ferries to boost its naval power, say military experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China is utilizing a range of civilian ships to bolster its navy resources, AP reports. But a fleet of scientific ships, fishing boats, and ocean ferries also offer a military dimension. Poling added that the use of civilian vessels for military purposes complicates military interactions. Chinese authorities have commanded civilian fishing trawlers for military purposes for decades. China has also launched ships for ostensibly civilian purposes that could potentially be converted to military use quickly.

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