South China Sea: Forging a Maritime Coalition of the Willing

By | May 7, 2015 | Categories: ASEAN, China, South China Sea
China’s expansive and accelerated construction activities in the South China Sea have elicited growing criticism from across the region and beyond. While some countries, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, are primarily worried over the impact of China’s reclamation activities on their maritime claims in the area, other countries, from Singapore to Japan and the United […]

Environmental Aggression in the South China Sea

By | May 7, 2015 | Categories: China, Environment, South China Sea
China’s reclamation activities in the South China Sea remain a matter of grave concern for reasons that are not solely political. The radical transformation of major coral atolls in the region’s marine ecosystem affects far more than the already huge area physically occupied by China’s new islands. The biophysical impacts extend well beyond their artificial […]

Furthering U.S. Strategic Goals in the South China Sea

By | April 23, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, Land Reclamation, South China Sea, United States
China’s reclamation blitz in the Spratly Islands continues unabated, despite condemnation from fellow claimants and outside nations. Chinese dredging ships have been hard at work expanding at least seven features: Cuarteron, Gaven, Hughes, Fiery Cross, Johnson South, Mischief, and Subi reefs. Their work will be largely complete in a matter of months, presenting the region […]

The Other Crisis in the South China Sea

By | April 21, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, South China Sea
China’s accelerated construction activities in the South China Sea have understandably alarmed countries across the region and beyond. In particular, Southeast Asian claimant states such as Vietnam and the Philippines are deeply worried about the prospects of an irreversible Chinese consolidation of its sweeping maritime claims, more expansive Chinese paramilitary patrols in the area, and, […]

On the Defensive? China Explains Purposes of Land Reclamation in the South China Sea

By | April 20, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, South China Sea
Growing international criticism of China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea and the publication of detailed images of China’s dredging and construction activities prompted the Chinese government to explain in greater detail than ever before the purpose of these activities. In response to U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s charge that China has “intensified the […]

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 […]

Terriclaims: The New Geopolitical Reality in the South China Sea

By | April 8, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, United States
With revelations of China’s systematic and rapid reclamation or “island-building” of various features throughout the South China Sea, long-simmering dispute in the South China Sea seem closer to boiling over. Terriclaims, short for territorial reclamation, is a term that is useful for describing a nation’s reclamation activities when it seeks to preserve or expand territory […]

How Will China View the New Maritime Strategy?

By | April 8, 2015 | Categories: China, Strategy, United States
The military services responsible for American seapower (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard) recently released their new maritime strategy, entitled “Forward, Engaged, Ready: A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower.”  The reviews thus far have been positive, with most analysts praising the specificity of the document, as compared to its 2007 predecessor, as well as its […]

China’s Maritime Law Enforcement Reform and its Implication on the Regional Maritime Disputes

By | April 1, 2015 | Categories: China, Coast Guard
The Chinese government announced in March 2013 its plan to centralize bureaucratic control over its maritime law enforcement agencies. Its decision to combine its separate maritime law enforcement bodies into an integrated one under the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), a part of the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources (MLR). China’s maritime law enforcement reform, […]

The Post-Reclamation Scenario in the South China Sea: The Role of China and the United States.

By | March 23, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, South China Sea
Since 2014, China has attracted tremendous regional and international attention through its land reclamation activities in some features of the Spratlys which it controls, namely Gaven Reef, Cuarteron Reef, Johnson South Reef and Fiery Cross. While many have criticisms and concerns, China feels this reclamation is necessary in order to keep up with others in […]

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. […]

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 […]

China Responds to Reclamation Reports

By | February 26, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, Philippines, United States, Vietnam
On February 26, the semi-official China Military Online reported that Beijing is conducting “large-scale” land reclamation in the disputed Spratly Islands—activities that the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and major news outlets worldwide have been watching closely in recent weeks. In a follow-on article, Reuters called this public acknowledgment of work on six reefs “unusual.” We […]

Reclamation in the South China Sea: Legal Loopholes, Practical Impacts

By | February 18, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, Philippines, South China Sea
As if they were not complicated enough, the South China Sea disputes took a new turn in 2014 when China began massive land reclamation work in the region. The Philippines released photographs showing an unprecedented transformation of formerly pristine and submerged Johnson South Reef into high and dry white sand swarming with construction activity. Satellite […]

Construction in the South China Sea: A Comparative View

By | February 18, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, Land Reclamation, Taiwan, Vietnam
Much has been written and reported on China’s recent land reclamation and mass construction activities in the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which raise alarm about Chinese plans to alter the status quo in the South China Sea. Of course, Chinese and even Taiwanese officials and scholars have put forward complaints that it is unfair to […]

The Legal Challenge of China’s Island Building

By | February 18, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, Philippines, South China Sea, Vietnam
Those closely following the situation in the South China Sea have been wringing their hands about the military potential of China’s unprecedented island building work over the last year. This anxiety is understandable, and the expanded patrol and surveillance capacity that Beijing is constructing with facilities, docks, and probably at least one airstrip in the […]

Positive Signs for Crisis Management in the East China Sea

By | February 4, 2015 | Categories: China, Confidence Building Measures, Japan
Following the first meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2014, Tokyo and Beijing have resumed official talks to turn the East China Sea into a zone of “peace, cooperation, and friendship.” On January 12, representative from each country’s defense ministry, navy, and air force met in Tokyo […]

In Confidence: Will We Know if US-China CBMs Are Working?

By and | February 4, 2015 | Categories: China, Confidence Building Measures, United States
In November 2014, the United States and China concluded two major confidence-building measures (CBMs), which they announced at a bilateral summit. The CBMs include an agreement that each side will notify the other of major military activities, and a code of conduct for safe maritime and air encounters. Where the code of conduct is concerned, […]

What’s in a CBM?: Watching for Direct and Indirect Measures of Confidence

By | February 4, 2015 | Categories: China, Confidence Building Measures, United States
It’s hard to imagine that the risk of war in Asia could hinge on something as pedestrian and mundane-sounding as “confidence-building measures” or CBMs. Yet this obscure piece of security terminology, originating during the Cold War, is now front and center in discussions of the future of U.S.-China strategic relations. Policymakers and military leaders in […]

Arbitration 101: Philippines v. China

By | January 21, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, Philippines
Introduction The arbitration case launched by the Philippines against China currently stands as the most significant, and most closely watched, development for specialists and observers of the maritime disputes in the South China Sea (SCS). To help observers navigate through this foggy proceeding, this article attempts to provide a focused overview of the arbitration case […]

The Diplomatic Implications of Philippines-China Arbitration

By | January 21, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, Philippines
When it comes to the South China Sea, the year 2014 was a rollercoaster. With Manila’s arbitration efforts against Beijing gaining momentum, 2015 will present new challenges not only to Philippine-China bilateral relations, but also to the very credibility of international arbitration bodies under the aegis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of […]

Why Manila Shouldn’t Hope to Win It All in Arbitration

By | January 21, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, Philippines
The next stage in the Philippines’ closely-watched arbitration case against China’s maritime claims will come in March when Manila’s lawyers submit their answers to questions posed last month by the five judge panel overseeing the case. The Philippines has put together a clever case, one that seeks to skirt China’s exemptions to compulsory arbitration as […]

Blunting China’s Realpolitik Approach: Liberalism through UNCLOS Arbitration

By | January 21, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, Philippines
The 2012 Scarborough Shoal stand-off between the Philippines and China was the proverbial tipping point caused by China’s pattern of protracted, aggressive actions against the Philippines that began two years earlier. In mid-2010, the Philippine government had observed an increased Chinese naval presence and activities in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), recorded reports of […]

Legal Posturing and Power Relations in the South China Sea

By | January 21, 2015 | Categories: China, International Law, Philippines, Vietnam
One of the weakest military and economic powers in the region – the Philippines – took the strongest – China – to international court in 2013. The Philippines challenges China’s assertion of vast maritime claims over the South China Sea, pursuant to detailed rules and binding dispute resolution processes of the UN Convention of the […]

China’s Maritime Actors: Coordinated and Directed from the Top

By | January 14, 2015 | Categories: China, Strategy
China’s various maritime actors are increasingly being coordinated and directed by senior policymakers as part of a larger strategy aimed at protecting China’s sovereignty and maritime rights. The first signs of strengthened coordination and supervision were evident as early as mid-2012, when Chinese maritime vessels and Chinese fishing boats—with People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships […]