Prior to the Hague’s ruling on the dispute between Beijing and the Manila in the South China Sea, Chinese media announced a “legal challenge” to the case.
A court in the Hague is due to issue this month a ruling on a case against China brought by the Philippines over maritime territory in the South China Sea.
Tensions between China and the U.S. in the South China Sea dominated the issues at the now-concluded Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Coinciding with Kerry’s visit to Beijing for high-level security talks, a Chinese fighter jet carried out an “unsafe” intercept of a U.S. spy plane.
The South China Sea played a prominent role at the Shangri-La Dialogue. However, ambiguity on several issues might prolong these very same tensions.
Despite previous aggressive actions by Chinese vessels, Malaysia has ignored them, not wishing to disturb its trade and investment relationships with China.
The incident last week was not a one-off: there have been dozens of attacks by Chinese vessels on Vietnamese fishing boats in the Paracel Island chain since last year.
In contrast to the more vocal governments in Manila and Hanoi, not much is heard these days concerning Brunei’s claims in the South China Sea.
In a potential geopolitical tit-for-tat, some analysts warn Beijing may soon declare an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea, should the U.S. go ahead with plans to conduct a freedom of navigation exercise announced for April.
On Friday, the U.S. Navy officially announced another episode of its planned “freedom of navigation” series in the South China Sea, shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a nuclear summit in Washington.
On Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work warned Beijing against declaring an exclusion zone in the South China Sea, calling any potential announcement as “destabilizing,” and vowing the United States would not recognize such a zone.
By defying international law using “traditional fishing grounds” as an excuse, China’s latest show of aggression in the South China Sea has only heightened tensions among its neighbors, and provided the region’s militaries an excuse to increase defense spending.
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