https://www.scmp.com/rss/322654/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Zhihua Zheng Zhihua Zheng Few disputes in Asia are as enduring – and as polarising – as those over the South China Sea. For more than a decade, two sharply opposed narratives have dominated. In one, Beijing is seen as using force, or the threat of force, to change the status quo, undermining peace and stability. In the other, China is portrayed as exercising restraint, acting within its rights and working to safeguard regional stability. These perspectives are not merely different; they are mutually exclusive. One side’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3322260/how-beijing-and-other-south-china-sea-claimants-can-see-eye-eye?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3322260/how-beijing-and-other-south-china-sea-claimants-can-see-eye-eye?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Sitting 100km (62 miles) off the coast of Malaysia’s Sarawak state, the Luconia Shoals have become yet another source of tension in the South China Sea between Beijing and its neighbours. The shoals are off the northwestern coast of Borneo and fall well within Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), giving Kuala Lumpur exclusive sovereign rights over the natural resources. But China objects to Malaysia’s exploration activities based on its “nine-dash line” claim of sovereignty over the Spratly... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3280575/who-winning-fight-south-china-seas-resources?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3280575/who-winning-fight-south-china-seas-resources?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:00:12 +0000 The South China Sea is claimed by almost every country in the region but its ripple effects are felt well beyond the fiercely contested waterway. In the second of a three-part series, Orange Wang investigates the meaning of China’s nine-dash line. The U-shaped nine-dash line that outlines China’s claims in the South China Sea is a long-standing bone of contention among the other claimants over the vast waterway and has been open to several interpretations. The conventional wisdom is that Beijing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3275865/what-beijings-9-dash-line-south-china-sea-and-what-does-it-mean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3275865/what-beijings-9-dash-line-south-china-sea-and-what-does-it-mean?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2024 22:00:10 +0000 The South China Sea is claimed by almost every country in the region but its ripple effects are felt well beyond the fiercely contested waterway. In the first of a three-part series, Alyssa Chen looks at the differences in China’s response to its maritime disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam. China’s response to Vietnam’s rapid expansion of its land reclamation in the Spratly Islands has been muted so far – a stark contrast to Beijing’s increasingly assertive response to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276905/south-china-sea-why-beijing-takes-low-key-approach-vietnam-not-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3276905/south-china-sea-why-beijing-takes-low-key-approach-vietnam-not-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Sep 2024 22:00:17 +0000 China will take “resolute and strong measures” against encroaching Philippine coastguard ships at disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said on Friday. Asked about the ongoing stand-off, ministry spokesman Lin Jian accused the Philippine coastguard vessel stationed at the lagoon by Sabina Shoal of “seriously infringing China’s sovereignty, seriously violating the declaration on the DOC and seriously threatening peace and stability in the South China Sea”. The DOC... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274839/china-vows-strong-measures-against-philippines-over-encroaching-ships-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3274839/china-vows-strong-measures-against-philippines-over-encroaching-ships-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:45:09 +0000 Just before Indonesia’s chairmanship of Asean ended, it mobilised the region’s foreign ministers for an unusual diplomatic act. On December 30, they issued a stand-alone statement on the South China Sea, amid escalating tensions, particularly between the Philippines and China. Expressing “concern”, the statement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations called on rival claimant states to “exercise self-restraint” and “avoid actions that may further complicate the situation”. Crucially, the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3247990/why-philippines-will-struggle-forge-south-china-sea-alliance-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3247990/why-philippines-will-struggle-forge-south-china-sea-alliance-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jan 2024 21:30:12 +0000 United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed the importance of modernising Indonesia’s military in a meeting with its defence chief, as Washington shores up ties in Southeast Asia amid geopolitical rivalry with China. At the Pentagon on Thursday, Austin hosted Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces commander and political veteran who is expected to run in next year’s presidential election. The meeting comes as Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3232375/south-china-sea-us-defence-chief-backs-indonesias-push-modernise-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3232375/south-china-sea-us-defence-chief-backs-indonesias-push-modernise-military?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Aug 2023 15:01:48 +0000 The stars seem to be aligning for a showdown at a China-Philippines disputed submerged reef in the South China Sea. On August 5, a Chinese coastguard vessel used a water cannon to prevent a Philippine government-chartered boat escorted by coastguard vessels from delivering supplies to troops on Second Thomas Shoal. Relations were already rattled after a Chinese coastguard vessel pointed a military-grade laser at a Philippine coastguard vessel on a similar resupply mission in February. Although... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3231534/how-submerged-spratlys-reef-emerging-south-china-sea-flashpoint-china-philippines-and-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3231534/how-submerged-spratlys-reef-emerging-south-china-sea-flashpoint-china-philippines-and-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Aug 2023 17:00:09 +0000 As Asean foreign ministers gather in Jakarta this week, the focus will be on discussions with China’s foreign policy chief Wang Yi on the South China Sea code of conduct. Wang is representing Beijing in place of foreign minister Qin Gang, absent because of health reasons. Wang’s presence shows China’s acknowledgement of the significance of the code of conduct talks and its engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Since the 2018 adoption of the “single draft negotiating text”,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3227449/what-south-china-sea-code-conduct-talks-should-focus-instead-dispute-resolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3227449/what-south-china-sea-code-conduct-talks-should-focus-instead-dispute-resolution?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jul 2023 17:00:13 +0000 As Cambodia threatens Southeast Asian unity by remaining indecisive about taking part in the first-ever region-wide joint naval exercise, analysts said the drills should still go ahead even without the participation of one or more countries. Indonesian military chief Yudo Margono said after a recent meeting between Asean defence chiefs in Bali that the 10-member regional body would hold its first joint military drills in the South China Sea. The exercises will focus on maritime security and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3224917/will-cambodias-concerns-rocking-china-boat-affect-asean-unity-over-naval-drills?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3224917/will-cambodias-concerns-rocking-china-boat-affect-asean-unity-over-naval-drills?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jun 2023 01:30:14 +0000 President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr spoke of the Philippines’ “burgeoning” ties with Vietnam the first time he met Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Cambodia last November. Later that month, the Philippine president hosted Vietnam’s National Assembly chairman Vuong Dinh Hue in Malacanang Palace, where his special guest spoke of the need to “do more to enhance the relationships between our political parties and government-to-government and parliament-to-parliament... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3222656/south-china-sea-three-barriers-fully-fledged-philippines-vietnam-alliance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3222656/south-china-sea-three-barriers-fully-fledged-philippines-vietnam-alliance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jun 2023 19:30:09 +0000 China and Singapore agreed to work towards establishing a secure telephone link “for high-level communications” between military leaders on Thursday, as the Chinese defence chief makes his first visit to the country. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding during the second Singapore-China Defence Ministers’ Dialogue, co-chaired by Chinese General Li Shangfu and his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen. It marks the latest development since the nations upgraded defence and security ties... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3222630/china-singapore-agree-work-secure-phone-link-high-level-military-communications?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3222630/china-singapore-agree-work-secure-phone-link-high-level-military-communications?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jun 2023 11:07:23 +0000 In last week’s joint statement, the Philippines and United States hit out at China for “its unlawful maritime claims, militarisation of reclaimed features, and threatening and provocative activities in the South China Sea”, including the “repeated massing” of its maritime militia vessels in the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Such alleged depredations have been amply repeated in the media without qualification. Although viewed as wholly provocative by rival claimants, some of China’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3217465/are-chinas-provocative-actions-south-china-sea-lawful-its-complicated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3217465/are-chinas-provocative-actions-south-china-sea-lawful-its-complicated?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Apr 2023 19:30:08 +0000 China and Asean have been trying to agree on a robust code of conduct in the South China Sea since 2002, when they concluded a non-binding and ambiguous declaration. A draft negotiating text produced in 2018 was a smorgasbord of contradictory positions, and as the frequency and severity of incidents in disputed waters increase, so have calls for a rapid agreement on a code of conduct. Clearly, realistic compromises are necessary. The main issues are the definition of the code’s geographic scope... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3216418/south-china-sea-asean-needs-compromise-china-settle-protracted-code-conduct-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3216418/south-china-sea-asean-needs-compromise-china-settle-protracted-code-conduct-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Apr 2023 00:15:08 +0000 December 10 marked 40 years since 119 delegations, perhaps inspired by the clear blue waters of Jamaica’s Montego Bay, became the first signatories of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a comprehensive framework for the governance of the world’s oceans and seas. However, there is little time for celebratory observance. The planet demands an even greater impetus for a rules-based order and a recasting of the imperfect treaty because of the increasing challenges of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3203227/why-getting-us-ratify-unclos-will-aid-aseans-south-china-sea-goals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3203227/why-getting-us-ratify-unclos-will-aid-aseans-south-china-sea-goals?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:00:10 +0000 The Philippine military defiantly redeployed two supply boats on Monday to provide food to Filipino marines guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea after the Chinese coastguard used water cannons to forcibly turn the boats away in an assault last week that drew angry condemnation and warnings from Manila. Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the two civilian wooden-hulled boats carrying navy personnel left western Palawan province and should reach the marines stationed on a navy ship... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3156982/philippines-redeploys-supply-boats-disputed-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3156982/philippines-redeploys-supply-boats-disputed-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Nov 2021 12:02:01 +0000 Last year saw the situation in the South China Sea deteriorate as the United States, other extra-regional powers and some littoral states made waves despite the global impact of Covid-19. Four features stand out in the current situation. First, the “militarisation” of the South China Sea has intensified, spearheaded by the US and joined by other extra-regional countries. Second, references to the 2016 Hague ruling against China in the South China Sea have been revived, and a new round of legal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3118715/south-china-sea-expect-more-instability-2021-us-encourages-lawfare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3118715/south-china-sea-expect-more-instability-2021-us-encourages-lawfare?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Jan 2021 00:45:15 +0000 Despite the opposition of the United States, a Chinese diplomat was elected as a judge to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) to hear and settle maritime disputes at a time when China faces rising tensions with its neighbours over the South China Sea. Duan Jielong, China’s ambassador to Hungary, was among six judges elected at Monday’s 30th meeting of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) at the UN headquarters in New York. Duan... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3098818/chinese-diplomat-elected-maritime-disputes-tribunal-amid-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3098818/chinese-diplomat-elected-maritime-disputes-tribunal-amid-south?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Aug 2020 03:09:27 +0000 It’s like a fuzzy red line that China imposes on its weaker neighbours involved in the South China Sea dispute: protest all you like about the militarisation and artificial island-building, just don’t mention the international court ruling that rejected Beijing’s far-reaching territorial claims. Until recently, the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) appeared to abide by this unspoken rule from the behemoth next door. Though the landmark award by the Permanent... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3098139/south-china-sea-asean-states-set-course-beijings-red-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3098139/south-china-sea-asean-states-set-course-beijings-red-line?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Aug 2020 21:00:07 +0000 A battle of diplomatic notes to the United Nations between claimants in the South China Sea dispute has taken a fresh turn, with Malaysia rebuking China for claiming Kuala Lumpur had no right to seek the establishment of its continental shelf in the northern part of the waters. Instead, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government, in a note verbale to the world body dated July 29, stressed that its application was fully within its rights under the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3095406/malaysia-rebukes-beijing-south-china-sea-lawfare-heats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3095406/malaysia-rebukes-beijing-south-china-sea-lawfare-heats?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jul 2020 15:57:14 +0000 The Philippine foreign secretary on Wednesday rejected a call for Manila to press its South China Sea dispute with Beijing at the United Nations General Assembly this September. Teodoro Locsin Jnr said it wouldn’t “make any sense” to revisit the 2016 ruling of a UN arbitral court that sided with Manila against China’s territorial claims as “we won it already”. “Why would you want to re-litigate something that you won? You don’t like you won?” asked Locsin, referring to a suggestion by the former... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3094291/south-china-sea-no-sense-pushing-philippines-case-un-summit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3094291/south-china-sea-no-sense-pushing-philippines-case-un-summit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jul 2020 12:37:36 +0000 The Covid-19 pandemic should be reason for the United States to set aside its rivalry with China and cooperate in working on a cure and vaccine, and when the crisis has ended, helping rebuild the global economy. But it is instead using the upheaval as cover for plans to strengthen its military presence in Asia to counter growing Chinese might. Paradoxically, US President Donald Trump’s administration has levelled the accusation against Beijing over its construction on islands in the disputed... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3079674/not-time-add-tensions-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3079674/not-time-add-tensions-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2020 13:46:11 +0000 When Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited a small archipelago on the edge of the South China Sea this week, he sent a message to the world. “There are no more debates. De facto, de jure, Natuna is Indonesia,” said Widodo as he met fishermen, promised investment and reiterated his long-standing position on the sovereignty of the Natuna Islands. The Natunas, which lie roughly 1,100km south of the Spratly Islands, are at the centre of a spat between Indonesia and China that this week forced its... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3046622/are-aseans-big-players-about-get-tough-beijings-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3046622/are-aseans-big-players-about-get-tough-beijings-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jan 2020 00:00:24 +0000 Before assuming his post as commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Philip S. Davidson issued a stark warning about Washington’s loosening grip in the fiercely contested South China Sea. “In short, China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios, short of war with the United States,” Davidson said during a Senate confirmation hearing ahead of his appointment as the top US military official in the region in May 2018. For many analysts, the dire... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3046619/has-us-already-lost-battle-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3046619/has-us-already-lost-battle-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2020 21:00:13 +0000 Vietnam said it hoped China would show restraint in the South China Sea next year after a Chinese oil survey vessel and its escorts spent months within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, which Hanoi regarded as a blatant violation of its sovereignty. Vietnam, the region’s most forceful challenger of China’s extensive maritime claims to the busy waterway, will take on the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2020. “I hope that during our chairmanship... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3042450/south-china-sea-vietnam-hopes-beijing-will-show-restraint-2020?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3042450/south-china-sea-vietnam-hopes-beijing-will-show-restraint-2020?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Dec 2019 09:30:09 +0000 China is hopeful for “new progress” to be made in ongoing talks with the Asean bloc for a code of conduct governing the disputed South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said at a summit on Sunday, as other regional leaders called for countries to exercise restraint over the row. Li’s comments at the twice-yearly Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting comes amid flaring tensions between Vietnam and Beijing over the dispute triggered by a Chinese oil survey vessel that remained within waters... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036097/beijing-pledges-long-term-peace-south-china-sea-where-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036097/beijing-pledges-long-term-peace-south-china-sea-where-its?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Nov 2019 06:10:45 +0000 The Southeast Asian bloc of nations and China are a step closer to forming a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea, and for Vietnam it’s a chance to replace a disappointing and toothless diplomatic pact with real dispute management provisions. The two sides agreed last August to the negotiating text that forms the basis of talks on the contentious subjects of a new COC. With such a development came valuable insights into the positions of all negotiating parties, particularly Vietnam,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3005221/vietnam-wants-south-china-sea-dispute-resolution-pact-teeth-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3005221/vietnam-wants-south-china-sea-dispute-resolution-pact-teeth-not?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Apr 2019 01:00:06 +0000 Self-obsession has been the dominating theme of US policy since the September 11 terrorist attacks, with self-pity leading to self-defeating wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now President Donald Trump has personalised self-obsession with wild threats to North Korea, Iran, China trade and other easy rhetorical targets. It is the reverse of the national interest he purports to represent. Self-obsession, not national interests, is evident in Trump’s promoting of North Korea to the top of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2112370/trumps-america-communist-china-contempt-history-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2112370/trumps-america-communist-china-contempt-history-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Sep 2017 02:33:52 +0000 Thuggery with a racist tinge? It is worse than that. Tell a lie often enough, and people come to believe a justification for aggression. In China’s case, this is summed up by the oft-repeated (most recently by Foreign Ministry commissioner Song Zhe in this paper) words, “China has had indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and surrounding waters since ancient times”. No illegal verdict will ever resolve South China Sea disputes If the likes of Song were to read history rather... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1990161/beijings-claim-about-its-ownership-south-china-sea-needs-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1990161/beijings-claim-about-its-ownership-south-china-sea-needs-be?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Jul 2016 04:31:37 +0000 The South China Sea issue has become one of the major irritants in the China-US relations in recent years, over which the public opinion in the two countries are very critical of each other. There are even frictions in the sea between the two navies. The South China Sea seems like an outlet for the rivalry and confrontation that are building up of late between China and the US. As a result, the two sides seem to be reassessing each other’s intentions on a strategic level. The latest rhetoric is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1987046/how-we-got-stage-south-china-sea-understanding-source?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1987046/how-we-got-stage-south-china-sea-understanding-source?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jul 2016 11:17:49 +0000 A Chinese observation ship shadowed the powerful US aircraft carrier, John C. Stennis, in the Western Pacific on Wednesday, a Japanese official said, joining warships from Japan and India in drills close to waters Beijing considers its backyard. The show of American naval power comes as Japan and the United States worry Beijing will look to extend its influence into the Western Pacific with submarines and surface vessels as it pushes its territorial claims in the neighbouring South China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1975442/chinese-spy-ship-shadows-us-japanese-indian-naval-drill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1975442/chinese-spy-ship-shadows-us-japanese-indian-naval-drill?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jun 2016 05:08:46 +0000 The US-China relationship today is the most important international relationship in the world. For it to continue to improve, it is important that we make greater efforts to understand each other. You may ask, what is China pursuing internationally? What is its long-term strategic intent? For China to realise its vision – to join the ranks of the developed countries of the world – it needs to pursue peace with its neighbours and countries around the world. United States to remain world’s Number... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1952856/south-china-sea-disputes-china-stands-side-history-logic-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1952856/south-china-sea-disputes-china-stands-side-history-logic-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 May 2016 08:13:41 +0000 Chinese fisherman Fu Minglin was only 23 but he was used to the sound of bullets flying overhead as the trawler he worked on approached Vietnamese- or Philippine-controlled reefs in the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands. Fisher militia? Maritime units put humble fishermen on front line in South China Sea But this time was different, the Philippine navy ship was shooting at them, bullets hitting the hull of the Hainan Qionghai 02078, and their hunt for valuable sea creatures had taken them beyond... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1951610/tanmen-fishermen-shrug-warning-shots-cost-doing-business-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1951610/tanmen-fishermen-shrug-warning-shots-cost-doing-business-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 May 2016 01:00:15 +0000 The dog, perhaps the only one in the whole South China Sea, had no name. His fisherman owner had brought him to Yagong Island, a one hectare pile of white coral and clamshells hundreds of kilometres from the Chinese coast with no fresh water, just a lagoon in the middle. It was named Yagong (male duck) for its shape. But the island, in the Paracels, was home to no duck, tree, flower or even ant. Most of the time his owner was away fishing, and the dog was left alone on the island. The sky was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1948520/yagong-island-was-no-place-dog-now-its-home-400-trees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1948520/yagong-island-was-no-place-dog-now-its-home-400-trees?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 May 2016 02:07:56 +0000 “The Philippines has brought a legal case to the international court against us. But unquestionably Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal) is ours!” said Yang Bo, the master of ceremonies at the night show on the small cruise liner Star of Northern Bay. “Yes!” replied the audience sitting on the ship’s Sunshine Deck under a starlight sky on a hot, humid and windless night in the South China Sea’s Paracel (Xisha) Islands. As a Chinese navy entertainment troupe, headed by popular folk singer Song... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1948479/sun-surf-and-patriotism-life-tourist-cruising-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1948479/sun-surf-and-patriotism-life-tourist-cruising-south?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 May 2016 02:00:15 +0000 A former Chinese diplomat has blamed US intervention as the key factor in escalating tensions over the South China Sea disputes in a rare article published in both US and Chinese media outlets ahead of an imminent ruling of international arbitration over the disagreements. In an over 9,000-word article titled South China Sea: How We Got to This Stage, Fu Ying, Chairperson of Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, gave a detailed historical account to illustrate that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1944064/former-chinese-diplomat-blames-us-meddling-key-growing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1944064/former-chinese-diplomat-blames-us-meddling-key-growing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 May 2016 09:00:15 +0000 When North Korea wants to be heard, it sets off a nuclear bomb or launches a missile. All Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s president, did was to announce that he and about 20 staff and law of the sea experts would fly 1,600km, without media on board, to wish Republic of China personnel on Taiping Island a happy Year of the Monkey. READ MORE: Taiwanese president’s trip to South China Sea island unhelpful, US says Yet the US government seemed to believe that Ma was making a monkey of its belated efforts to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1913904/can-taiwan-show-beijing-and-world-how-disputed-islands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1913904/can-taiwan-show-beijing-and-world-how-disputed-islands?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Feb 2016 05:00:00 +0000 The US has undertaken two recent “freedom of navigation” operations using formidable Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers to challenge what it considers illegal claims in the South China Sea. One was by the USS Lassen last October 27, which sailed within 12 nautical miles of the formerly submerged Subi Reef in the Spratlys. The most recent was on January 30 by the USS Curtis Wilbur, which sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels. READ MORE: PLA garrison ‘warns... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1912372/good-bad-and-downright-ugly-aspects-us-naval-operations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1912372/good-bad-and-downright-ugly-aspects-us-naval-operations?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Feb 2016 06:45:00 +0000 An American warship’s patrol within a 12-nautical-mile (22km) limit around Mischief and Subi reefs in the South China Sea on Tuesday was all part of a carefully planned and well-played game to make China lose face, says a mainland analyst. No legitimate claim existed covering the area of sea in which the two reefs were situated, said Xue Li, an expert in international affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “The US patrol by the USS Lassen did not violate international law,” Xue... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1873761/why-did-us-choose-subi-and-mischief-reefs-its-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1873761/why-did-us-choose-subi-and-mischief-reefs-its-south?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Oct 2015 09:15:30 +0000 Since the first China-Asean official dialogue in July 1991, when then foreign minister Qian Qichen attended the 24th Asean Post-Ministerial Conference as a consultative partner, the relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has grown into a multilayered web of ties. Those ties cover the entire spectrum of security, political, economic and social affairs. Growth of mutually agreeable ties culminated in the announcement of a strategic partnership for peace and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1871440/calmer-waters-security-south-china-sea-greater-china-asean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1871440/calmer-waters-security-south-china-sea-greater-china-asean?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Oct 2015 03:00:00 +0000 China has been under withering political and legal attack for allegedly violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Although at the recent meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Brunei, Beijing declared its willingness to discuss a code of conduct for the South China Sea, there has been no change in its maritime claims or any let-up in the criticism it is receiving. What are the consequences if China simply gets "fed up" with the criticism and withdraws from the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1278092/danger-pushing-china-too-far-law-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1278092/danger-pushing-china-too-far-law-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000