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Friday, June 18

China’s Coast Guard Law: Japan’s Legal Approach

China announced its new Coast Guard Law containing worrisome provisions that need further clarification. Japan, a prominent claimant in the East China Sea, feels threatened by this law.

Major power competition in the South China Sea and  Southeast Asian responses

Major power competition, particularly the growing Sino-US multi-faceted rivalry characterized global politics in 2020. The South China Sea featured prominently in this rivalry in 2020.

Will German ship’s South China Sea presence undermine regional security as China says?

Germany's plan to deploy naval ship in the Indo-Pacific does not change its neutral position in the South China Sea dispute, is a careful practice of international law, and therefore will not erode regional stability nor any littoral country's sovereignty as China might have suggested.

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.

China’s Coast Guard Law: Japan’s Legal Approach

China announced its new Coast Guard Law containing worrisome provisions that need further clarification. Japan, a ...

Major power competition in the South China Sea and  Southeast Asian responses

Major power competition, particularly the growing Sino-US multi-faceted rivalry characterized global politics in 2020. The South ...

Will German ship’s South China Sea presence undermine regional security as China says?

Germany's plan to deploy naval ship in the Indo-Pacific does not change its neutral position in ...

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 ...

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

Assessing China’s Crop Success in the South China Sea

By Hoang Do

China recently announced that it had successfully cultivated vegetables on Woody Island to meet food demand. But this crop serves more than a nutritional purpose.

Philippine Fulcrum

Duterte’s Evolving South China Sea Policy

A Third Way for the US in the South China Sea

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)