#The Spratly Islands

   Japan Coast Guard security team members display tracking and capture drills in October 2016  (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP, File) The sovereignty of the South China Sea has been hotly debated in recent years among China and the littoral nations (especially the Philippines and Vietnam).  Beijing lays claim to some 90 percent of the […]

Following threats from Beijing, Vietnamese authorities have ordered a foreign joint venture to abandon its gas-drilling efforts in a disputed area of the South China Sea.

The Shangri-La Dialogue concluded last weekend in Singapore was marked by sharp differences between Washington, Tokyo, and Beijing over the South China Sea.

After bowing to Beijing’s request to retract his decision to plant a flag on Thitu Island over Philippine Independence Day, the President Rodrigo Duterte has likely angered the Chinese again.

The unpredictable Duterte, has again changed course in the South China Sea, cancelling his plans to plant a flag on Thitu Island over Philippine Independence Day.

Vietnam reacted strongly in response to a recent visit by a Chinese cruise ship to the disputed Paracel archipelago. Hanoi pressed for an end to the cruise ship visits, which have taken hundreds of Chinese tourists to the island chain since 2013.

Vietnam and China pledged to settle disputes and to work toward a code of conduct for maritime operations after Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to Beijing.

Hanoi has been actively fortifying its key holdings in the Spratlys, including the construction of a runway, tunnels and bunkers to defend its territory against China.

A recent report appears to suggest that Vietnam has placed rocket launchers on five bases in the Spratly Islands, pointing them toward Chinese facilities.

Now that an arbitral court in The Hague has ruled in favor of Manila over Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea, will Hanoi be next?

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.

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.