Author: Liu Xiaobo

On November 9, 2024, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law both the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes (ASL Act). Observers have been particularly focused on the Philippine Maritime Zones Act for intensifying the dispute between China and the Philippines, but it is the ASL Act that has broad […]

April 23 marked the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). As U.S.-China frictions continue and great power competition becomes the central focus of U.S. defense strategy, the question of just how far the PLAN has come in its development has become critical. Does the PLAN currently pose a threat […]

While China and the United States’ significant nuclear forces makes it hard to imagine a future war between them, the possibility of localized military conflicts over the East China Sea, Taiwan, or the South China Sea cannot be ruled out. With the Trump administration’s release of the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Indo-Pacific […]

Rather than centering on irreconcilable claims of ownership that run against China’s core interests of national unity, territorial integrity and development, the dispute over FONOPs is instead one of how the sea should be utilized, and how it should be governed.