By Abhijit Singh
As disputes have escalated into tit-for-tat actions at South China Sea and East Sea, including naval posturing and provocative land reclamation, regional states have sought to enhance ‘good order' by attempting to formalize a nautical ‘code of conduct’. Yet, strategic analysts have proffered differing interpretations of maritime ‘good order’
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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 superior than their older predecessors.
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The 9th 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 at Ho Chi Minh City on 27-28 November, 2017.
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By Vu Quang Tiep & Le Thu Ha
Washington should think beyond the dyad of containment and appeasement. The struggle for a rule-based order in South China Sea is enduring and comprehensive, which requires greater persistence and stronger engagements on the part of the US and other regional countries.
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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.
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By Carlyle A. Thayer
If the past is prologue, China’s disregard for the Award and its continual militarization of its features in the South China Sea means that ASEAN’s Long March for a COC will remain a protracted one.
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By Nguyen Thi Lan Anh
Although the South China Sea award has brought much clarity to the scope of the disputes and opened possibilities for peaceful dispute management, the situation in the South China Sea in the past year tends to tell a different story.
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By Patrick M. Cronin
Recognizing the enduring importance of maritime power, President Donald Trump pledged to rebuild the U.S. armed forces in general and the navy in particular. As a result, in 2017, the United States is focused a new on international cooperation backed by ...
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By Christopher Roberts & Luc Anh Tuan
A key focal point of discussions at the June 2017 Shangri-La Dialogue (Security Summit) in Singapore was China and its actions in the South China Sea. Both the opening keynote address and the first two plenary sessions implicitly and/or explicitly responded ...
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By Leszek Buszynski
Without law to support its position, Beijing would resort to power to demonstrate control over the South China Sea, not only to exclude external powers such as the US but to intimidate the ASEAN claimants into an acknowledgement of Chinese sovereignty.
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The Maritime Issues conducts an interview with Bill Hayton, Associate Fellow of Chatham House on issues related to the South China Sea.
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By Bonnie S. Glaser
The Maritime Issues conducts an interview with Bonnie S. Glaser, a senior adviser for Asia and the Director of the China Power Project at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), on issues related to Asia-Pacific under Donald Trump's presidency.
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By Julia Jabour
Chinese repudiation of the rule of law in the Philippines v. China case resulted in, among other things, speculation about the country’s perceived – or real – interests and activities in Antarctica, where Australia has significant investment, and where respecting the ...
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By Helmut Tuerk
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) established three institutions: the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).
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By Gregory Poling
The desire to see Chinese diplomatic softening as a sign of a new status quo is understandable, and it is important that the door be left open for Beijing to deescalate. But China’s recent behavior should be seen as the best ...
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By Harry Krejsa
A central task of the rules-based international order is to address disputes equitably between states without resorting to force or coercion. This task is especially important when disputes involve states with stark power imbalances. In these cases the temptation to pressure ...
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By Nguyen Dang Thang
For a considerable time now efforts to manage disputes and promote cooperation in the South China Sea have been inhibited by the lack of an equitably defined geography of disputed and non-disputed maritime zones in the South China Sea. The Award ...
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By Hasjim Djalal
This article primarily looks at the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to give content to the notions of maritime cooperation and ocean governance. It indicates certain areas of tension and specifically focusses on the South China Sea ...
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By Tetsuo Kotani
On July 12, 2016, an award in the arbitration case between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea was announced, which denied China’s “historic rights” in the South China Sea. As the award was released by the Permanent Court ...
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By Leszek Buszynski
For China, naval strategy is a means to force the US to adjust its geopolitical position in the Western Pacific to accommodate its rise. The Chinese intention is to edge the US out of the Western Pacific and to dislodge it ...
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By Renato Cruz De Castro
President Rodrigo Duterte’s high profile state visit to Beijing in October 2017 led analysts, observers, and decision-makers all over East Asia to conclude the Philippines have turned away from its traditional treaty ally, the United States and have embraced China.
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By Carlyle A. Thayer
ASEAN needs to address both internal issues affecting its unity and cohesion, and external issues relating to its relations with China and other dialogue partners on South China Sea issues.
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By Bill Hayton
A review of the verifiable evidence tells a different history about the islands in the South China Sea than that found in the most of the commonly used reference texts.
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By Yanmei Xie
The South China Sea is often said to be rich in hydrocarbon reserves, although most of the deposits are unconfirmed, due in part to the multiple claims laid over them by several coastal economies.
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By Darshana M. Baruah
This paper examines India’s approach towards the South China Sea dispute and the role it can play as a middle power in the region.
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