Maritime Issues

Guide to Submission About Us Sitemap Contact

Sunday, July 5

Indonesian Awakening: No South China Sea Negotiation with China

Any country that does not make a drastic response to the Chinese claims right from the start, will one day become a victim.

U.S. joins the battle of South China Sea diplomatic notes

The US communication added a voice to the common position of Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia on consideration of UNCLOS as the sole legal basis for defining, in a comprehensive and exhaustive manner, the scope of their respective maritime entitlements in the South China Sea.

Vietnam’s increasing Naval Diplomacy and future Possibilities

Vietnam is advancing Naval Diplomacy, and it could do much more.

Viet Nam’s Note Verbale No.22/HC-2020: A Commentary

The note seems to indicate, for the first time, an official Vietnamese position on the legal status of all high-tide features in both the Spratly and Paracel Islands. It implies that all high-tide features in the Spratly Islands, as well as in the Paracel Islands, are rocks that do not generate any entitlement to an EEZ or continental shelf.

Concert of Indo-Pacific: An Option for Peace and Order in the East Asian Seas

Suggestions for lasting peace in the South China Sea and beyond need to incorporate small and medium states as well.

Indonesian Awakening: No South China Sea Negotiation with China

Any country that does not make a drastic response to the Chinese claims right from the ...

U.S. joins the battle of South China Sea diplomatic notes

The US communication added a voice to the common position of Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia ...

Vietnam’s increasing Naval Diplomacy and future Possibilities

Vietnam is advancing Naval Diplomacy, and it could do much more.

Viet Nam’s Note Verbale No.22/HC-2020: A Commentary

The note seems to indicate, for the first time, an official Vietnamese position on the legal ...

Concert of Indo-Pacific: An Option for Peace and Order in the East Asian Seas

Suggestions for lasting peace in the South China Sea and beyond need to incorporate small and ...

Follow the Leaders

The ASEAN’s Achilles Heel: Institutional Deficit and Leadership Vacuum Amid China’s South China Sea Aggression

By Richard Javad Heydarian

ASEAN, long billed as the most successful model of regional integration in the post-colonial world, has become increasingly powerless in constraining Beijing’s emaciation of a regional rules-based order driven by principles of non-aggression, conflict-avoidance, and liberal ...

U.S. Perspective on the South China Sea Order: Strategy Under the Trump Administration

An Effect of Trump and More: The Emerging Retrenchment of China’s Strategic Posture

Duterte’s Evolving South China Sea Policy

Flashpoints

Viewing Maritime Forces Modernization in the Asia-Pacific in Perspective

By Collin Koh Swee Lean

Maritime force buildup cannot be seen in quantitative terms only. In the foreseeable future, Asia-Pacific navies will continue to gravitate towards large, multi-role surface and subsurface platforms that exist in smaller numbers but being each vastly more ...

ASEAN’S Long March to a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea

The East China Sea: Chinese Efforts to Establish a “New Normal” and Prospects for Peaceful Management

Unreliable evidence and the South China Sea problem

The History Reader

Scarborough Shoal: Debunking Historical Myths

By Ulises Granados

As it might be difficult for China and the Philippines to defend their official claims over Scarborough as their own territory before the 20th century in an international court, both countries should engage in constructive negotiations ...

Unreliable evidence and the South China Sea problem

The Energy Watcher

Pondering Chinese actions in Vanguard Bank

By Swee Lean Collin Koh

Unless there is a firm international response against Chinese actions in Vanguard Bank, there could be similar repeats in the coming years simply because Beijing realises to its glee that coercion pays. It will thereby embolden ...

How China’s actions at sea cause problems on land

Joint Development in the South China Sea: Lessons from the Past and Future Prospect

Book review

The Free Sea: The American Fight for Freedom of Navigation (Book Review)

By Vo Ngoc Diep

James Kraska and Raul Pedrozo's book is a timely piece of scholarship to facilitate greater understanding about freedom of navigation from American perspective.

US’ competitive policy needed in South China Sea (Book Review)

Strategic Reassuarance and Resolve: U.S.- China Relations in the 21st Century (Book Review)

Working Papers

ASEAN and Its Partners for Good Order at Sea: Problems and Proposals

By Le Dinh Tinh

This paper argues that only on a rule-based order enforced by appropriate measures can ASEAN and its partners achieve a peaceful and secure maritime environment that benefits all. To ensure safety and security amid the shifting ...

Why ‘Good Order’ at Sea Matters

Middle Powers and the South China Sea: Time to Step Up, or Step Out?

National Interests and the Role of Major and Middle Powers in the South China Sea: Australia’s Cautiously Calibrated Approach

Expert Interview

A South China Sea Code of Conduct: A hopeful reality or a hopeless falsity?

The Maritime Issues conducts a conversation with Southeast Asia-based experts on issues related to a Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea.

Asia-Pacific under the Trump administration

ASEAN and South China Sea in 2017

Commentary

Philippine Fulcrum

By Aaron Kelly, Michael Tkacik

To strengthen its position in the Philippines and thus in the first island chain, the United States must achieve two key goals: diversify its diplomatic engagement with Manila and coordinate military resources and strategy.

Duterte’s Evolving South China Sea Policy

A Third Way for the US in the South China Sea

China’s ‘New Thinking’ of the East China Sea Dispute

Maps

Arctic Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Videos

The 11th South China Sea International Conference: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development

The 11th International Conference on the South China Sea hosted by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV), the Foundation for East Sea Studies (FESS) and the Vietnam Lawyers’ Association (VLA) took place in Ha Noi on 6-7 ...

The 10th South China Sea International Conference: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development

The 9th South China Sea Conference: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development

Fostering Cooperation in the South China Sea (Special session for Representatives from SCS Young Leaders’ Group)