Counter-Coercion Series: China-Vietnam Oil Rig Standoff

By , , , and | June 12, 2017 | Categories: Southeast Asia
This post summarizes one of nine case studies included in CSIS’s new report, Countering Coercion in Maritime Asia: The Theory and Practice of Gray Zone Deterrence. The full case study is also available for download here. (Principal case study researcher: Jake Douglas) On May 1, 2014, Vietnam detected the Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HYSY 981) oil […]

Vietnam’s South China Sea Approach after National Congress

By | February 26, 2016 | Categories: South China Sea, Southeast Asia, Vietnam
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was unanimously reelected during the 12th National Congress of Vietnam’s Communist Party, held January 21-28. Trong, who is less strident than other Vietnamese leaders in his criticism of Beijing’s behavior in the South China Sea, has been seen as leading the party’s more conservative, pro-Chinese faction. But many in Hanoi […]

Regional Summits and the South China Sea: Wading Into the Storm

By | November 13, 2015 | Categories: South China Sea, Southeast Asia
Ahead of this month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and ASEAN summits, regional maritime tensions have taken a dangerous turn, potentially setting off a new round of confrontation between relevant powers. A month after the meeting of Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in Washington, during which the two leaders signed off on new confidence-building measures […]

Asia Pacific Maritime Security Strategy Roundtable

By , , , and | August 24, 2015 | Categories: South China Sea, Southeast Asia, Spratly Islands
AMTI has asked some of its favorite maritime strategists—BJ Armstrong, Scott Cheney-Peters, James Holmes, Peter Mattis, and Bryan McGrath— to weigh in on the Pentagon’s new Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy for Asia. What does the report contribute to existing US national security strategy, and does it meet the mandate set out in the NDAA? What […]

Anatomy of a Strategy

By | August 24, 2015 | Categories: ADIZ, China, Coast Guard, South China Sea, Southeast Asia, Spratly Islands, Strategy, United States
On August 20, The Department of Defense released its Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy.  Mandated by Section 1259 of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, the report outlines DOD’s strategy for maritime security in the region. On August 21, Assistant Secretary of Defense David Shear briefed the press on the new document. Team AMTI commends […]

August 1945: A Snapshot of American Maritime Strategy in the Pacific

By | August 13, 2015 | Categories: China, Indo-Pacific Region, Japan, Southeast Asia, Strategy, Taiwan, United States
When Japan surrendered 70 years ago this month, the United States stood supreme in the Pacific.  Only the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy had surface combatants that could roam freely from the Indian Ocean to the East China Sea and these remained a fraction of the massive “Big Blue Fleet” the U.S. Navy had […]

Beijing’s Assurances Unpersuasive: A COC Can’t Wait

By | August 5, 2015 | Categories: ASEAN, China, South China Sea, Southeast Asia
At regional meetings in Kuala Lumpur this week, China attempted to reassure regional nations of its peaceful intentions and deflect attention from its destabilizing activities in the Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea. Speaking to reporters, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing had halted dredging sand to build artificial islands. “China […]

China’s Relations with Southeast Asia – USCC Hearing

By | May 15, 2015 | Categories: China, South China Sea, Southeast Asia, United States
On Wednesday May 13 the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission held hearings on China’s Relations with Southeast Asia. The first panel (40:27 – 2:22:01 above) reviewed the security dimensions of China’s relations with Southeast Asia. Testimony was issued by AMTI director Mira Rapp-Hooper, CSIS Senior Adviser for Asia Bonnie Glaser, the Center for a New American Security’s Patrick Cronin, and Chin-Hao […]

Safeguarding American Interests in the East and South China Seas – SFRC Hearing

By | May 15, 2015 | Categories: China, South China Sea, Southeast Asia, United States
On Wednesday, May 13, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs David Shear testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on American interests in and strategy for the East and South China Seas. Team AMTI has identified some choice […]

Advancing the Rebalance in Southeast Asia

By and | January 7, 2015 | Categories: South China Sea, Southeast Asia, Strategy, United States
The year 2015 provides the Obama administration with new opportunities in Southeast Asia to reinforce and bolster the rebalance to Asia. Myanmar In Myanmar, the United States should expand its support and training efforts to build political parties, strengthen the parliament, and prepare for monitoring activities ahead of the country’s 2015 elections to ensure they […]