https://www.scmp.com/rss/523005/feed The latest news and top stories on Ray Powell, Director of the SeaLight maritime transparency programme and retired US Air Force colonel. He did combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and diplomatic roles as Defence Attaché to Australia and Air Attaché to Vietnam. He founded SeaLight, a Stanford University project, to illuminate China's "gray zone" maritime activities in the Indo-Pacific. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Japan is deploying its domestically produced long-range missiles near the East China Sea – a move that could be interpreted by Beijing as crossing a “strategic threshold”, analysts say. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Monday that the upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles would be deployed at Camp Kengun in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto by the end of this month. Ground forces vehicles carrying the first batch of missile launchers were reportedly... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346610/why-japans-type-12-missile-deployment-may-complicate-chinas-regional-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346610/why-japans-type-12-missile-deployment-may-complicate-chinas-regional-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 02:00:13 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles French shipbuilder OCEA is looking for a local partner and site in the Philippines to establish its first shipbuilding venture in Asia, under a France-backed patrol boat programme that Philippine Coast Guard leaders say could be a “game changer” for maritime enforcement. The project, which combines local shipbuilding, French-backed financing and technology transfer, is expected to significantly expand the coastguard’s fleet at a time of growing operational demands in Philippine waters. “OCEA …... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340588/philippines-eyes-game-changer-maritime-defence-french-shipbuilding-boost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3340588/philippines-eyes-game-changer-maritime-defence-french-shipbuilding-boost?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 03:00:20 +0000 Alan Robles Alan Robles Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has ordered his coastguard to inspect dredging vessels operating in Manila Bay after a US-based maritime monitoring group alleged a Chinese ship had used different identities and flags while working in local waters, a tactic it claimed could skirt Philippine law. On Tuesday, Marcos directed the coastguard to verify the registrations and identities of dredgers – large vessels that excavate and move seabed material – involved in reclamation projects within... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339087/philippines-investigates-claims-chinese-dredger-using-30-identities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339087/philippines-investigates-claims-chinese-dredger-using-30-identities?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 13:08:35 +0000 Alcott Wei,Sylvie Zhuang,Seong Hyeon Choi Alcott Wei,Sylvie Zhuang,Seong Hyeon Choi Now that the Chinese navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has entered service there could be a change in the power balance in the western Pacific, the South China Sea and even the Indian Ocean, according to experts. The Fujian – China’s third aircraft carrier – was commissioned last Wednesday in Sanya, Hainan province, in a grand ceremony overseen by President Xi Jinping, state media reported on Friday. It is the first Chinese warship equipped with an electromagnetic catapult... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3332242/will-chinas-new-aircraft-carrier-tilt-power-balance-western-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3332242/will-chinas-new-aircraft-carrier-tilt-power-balance-western-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 14:00:10 +0000 Laura Zhou Laura Zhou China has installed a new floating barrier at Scarborough Shoal, according to satellite imagery, as tensions rise between Beijing and Manila over the disputed atoll in the South China Sea. The barrier was seen blocking the entrance to the lagoon at the shoal in the image obtained by Satellogic, a geospatial company headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay. “New satellite imagery shows an illegal floating barrier installed by the People’s Republic of China at the mouth of Scarborough Shoal,” Luke... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3329955/china-deploys-new-floating-barrier-scarborough-shoal-satellite-image-shows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3329955/china-deploys-new-floating-barrier-scarborough-shoal-satellite-image-shows?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 12:00:09 +0000 Mark Magnier Mark Magnier China is systematically exploiting US weaknesses and inconsistencies to expand its reach in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, but it also faces its own energy, diplomatic and economic vulnerabilities that Washington needs to better exploit, witnesses testified before Congress on Tuesday. The hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy saw unusual bipartisan unanimity in a deeply divided Washington on the need to... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3328169/congress-urged-preserve-stability-indo-pacific-and-curb-chinas-taiwan-game-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3328169/congress-urged-preserve-stability-indo-pacific-and-curb-chinas-taiwan-game-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 23:17:26 +0000 Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi Alcott Wei,Seong Hyeon Choi The successful launch of fighter jets from China’s most advanced aircraft carrier signals the country’s enhanced military influence in the western Pacific, analysts have said. The J-15T fighter jet, the fifth-generation J-35 stealth fighter and the airborne early warning aircraft KJ-600 successfully completed catapult launches and arresting gear landing tests aboard the Fujian, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday. The Fujian is China’s first fully domestically designed aircraft carrier and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3326581/fujian-aircraft-carrier-launches-show-china-gaining-ground-western-pacific-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3326581/fujian-aircraft-carrier-launches-show-china-gaining-ground-western-pacific-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Sep 2025 12:14:28 +0000 Orange Wang Orange Wang China’s coastguard says a Philippine ship deliberately collided with one of its vessels in a confrontation near the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Tuesday, as tensions escalate in the South China Sea. The coastguard used water cannons and other “control measures” against the Philippine vessels it said were conducting “illegal activities” in the area. It is the latest flare-up between the rival claimants to the atoll – known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines – and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3325684/china-says-philippine-ship-deliberately-hit-coastguard-vessel-near-scarborough-shoal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3325684/china-says-philippine-ship-deliberately-hit-coastguard-vessel-near-scarborough-shoal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Sep 2025 06:00:15 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Concerns are growing in the Philippines over Beijing’s intentions towards Batanes, the country’s northernmost province, after a spike in Chinese social media claims and unusual coastguard patrols near the archipelago, with analysts warning these narratives could influence public opinion and complicate Manila’s security calculations. On the Chinese platform Douyin, some users have circulated videos alleging Batanes “once belonged to China” based on historical records, while others claimed Manila... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3323091/filipinos-worry-chinese-online-claims-batanes-risk-real-world-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3323091/filipinos-worry-chinese-online-claims-batanes-risk-real-world-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Aug 2025 10:50:38 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles Maritime tensions between the Philippines and China have entered what analysts describe as a risky and potentially volatile phase after an accidental collision between two Chinese vessels near Scarborough Shoal, one of the most contested features in the South China Sea. The rare mishap involving the vessels from the Chinese coastguard and navy during a high-speed chase of a Philippine coastguard ship has raised the risk of Beijing adopting a more aggressive posture as it seeks to save face,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3322558/philippines-assures-china-restraint-after-ship-clashes-will-tensions-ease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3322558/philippines-assures-china-restraint-after-ship-clashes-will-tensions-ease?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Aug 2025 13:15:09 +0000