President Duterte’s Backtracking Prompts Hope for Compromise

By | December 1, 2016 | Categories: Military Exercises, Philippines, South China Sea
Security analysts have questioned whether U.S.-Philippine defense cooperation can survive six years of a Philippine president seemingly driven by anti-Western ideology. Those fears should be somewhat allayed, as Duterte has walked back some of his earlier pronouncements and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has declared that the Philippine-U.S. security alliance will not be abrogated and that the EDCA will stay in place.

The Case for Japan’s Patrol in the South China Sea

By | July 29, 2015 | Categories: Japan, Military Exercises, South China Sea, Spratly Islands
Over the past few months, speculation about possible Japanese patrols in the South China Sea has attracted media attention. The United States’ 7th Fleet Commander welcomed such patrol by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), while Japan’s defense minister and top uniform officer responded cautiously but positively. Japan renounced all of its claims in the […]

Patrolling International Skies: Understanding Joint Air Patrols

By | July 29, 2015 | Categories: Japan, Military Exercises, South China Sea, United States
In examining recent suggestions for joint patrolling of the South China Sea, analysts have tended to focus on the surface vessels of various nations’ coast guards and navies. Yet the flight of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon hosting a CNN film crew over disputed waters in the South China Sea in May highlighted the potential […]

U.S.-Philippines Balikatan Exercise in the Face of Chinese Island Building

By | April 17, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, Military Exercises, Philippines, United States
The Philippines and the United States will hold a large-scale 10-day military exercise known as Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) from April 20-30. This takes place in the face of China’s island-building activities in the South China Sea.  For Balikatan 2015, 11,740 American, Filipino, and Australian troops will conduct joint training exercises and maneuvers in three separate locations […]

The Evolving Role of Military Exercises in Asia

By and | March 4, 2015 | Categories: China, Military Exercises, South China Sea, United States
AMTI Director Mira Rapp Hooper interviews former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead on the evolving role of military exercises in the Asia Pacific. Interview Transcript Mira Rapp Hooper: Hello everyone, I’m Mira Rapp Hooper, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and I’m very pleased to be here today with Admiral Gary Roughead. […]

The Contribution of Maritime Exercises to U.S. South China Sea Policy

By | March 4, 2015 | Categories: Military Exercises, South China Sea, United States
The U.S. policy approach to maritime disputes in the South China Sea is primarily diplomatic but not entirely so. While it focuses on creating stability by exhorting all the parties to follow the rules (international law) and explicitly defines how Washington would like conflicts to be solved (peacefully); it does not neglect hard-power initiatives aimed […]

PLA’s Deeper Engagement in Military Drills Aligns with Xi’s Call for “Active” Chinese Diplomacy

By | March 3, 2015 | Categories: China, Military Exercises
Chinese President Xi Jinping last November delivered a keynote address to a Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference (CFAWC) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the first to be held under his stewardship as China’s top leader. Attending the meeting were all six of Xi’s Politburo Standing Committee colleagues, the rest of the full Politburo, China’s […]