China has identified the beleaguered garrison at Second Thomas Shoal as a weak link among the South China Sea features physically occupied by the Philippines and, by extension, the US-Philippines alliance. While Manila has held its nerve against Beijing’s mounting pressure tactics and holds the...
Spratly Islands
COLUMN | Beijing’s evolving multi-pronged strategy in the South China Sea [Naval Gazing]
China’s headlong maritime expansionism depends heavily upon achieving dominance of the South China Sea (SCS) and its environs. This dominance demands the establishment of control of many areas of the sea that are currently claimed by other nations. Beijing’s chosen tools to negate such claims are...
COLUMN | Chinese paramilitary forces to the fore as Beijing ramps up territorial claims [Naval Gazing]
Although collisions, confrontations, and harassment in the South China Sea (SCS) often make the headlines these days, the reach and depth of China’s strategy of intrusive patrolling as Beijing seeks to establish a persistent and dominant presence in the sea are not widely understood. The People’s...
OPINION | As the world looks elsewhere, China stirs trouble in the South China Sea
China is again making mischief in the South China Sea, although this time while wars rage in Gaza and the Ukraine. The precise timing of its actions in the South China Sea undoubtedly reflects China’s short-term imperatives and long-term plans, but the overall trend is worrying. There may be...
Another stand-off in Asian waters
In recent months, long-standing tensions between the maritime forces of the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have crystallised over the disputed area of Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. In 1999, Manila deliberately grounded the old Philippine Navy landing ship BRP Sierra...
OPINION | The Philippines’ high-stakes options at Second Thomas Shoal
The Philippine Coast Guard’s highlighting of China’s harassment of its vessels near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands has undoubtedly boosted sympathy for Manila in its David-versus-Goliath struggle to maintain jurisdiction and sovereignty in the South China Sea. Under daily challenge from Beijing, the Philippines has run an effective name-and-shame campaign against China’s disruption […]
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Philippine Coast Guard condemns Chinese vessel’s harassment of resupply effort in Spratlys
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reports that a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel used water cannons and executed a series of hazardous manoeuvres in an attempt to disrupt a ..
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COLUMN | Heading for a showdown in the South China Sea? [Naval Gazing]
Tensions around the Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea (SCS) have been on a rising curve since China’s de facto annexation of Mischief Reef in 1995. The ..
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Philippine Coast Guard reports lasing by Chinese vessel in Spratlys
The Philippine Coast Guard has reported an incident wherein one of its vessels was illuminated by a military-grade laser light from a Chinese ship in the disputed Spratly ..
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Beijing ratchets up the pressure in the South China Sea
Taking advantage of the West’s focus on the war in Ukraine, China is rapidly bolstering its already dominant position in the South China Sea. Recent reports from Asian ..
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