A Tumultuous 2016 in the South China Sea

By | February 22, 2016 | Categories: China, Philippines, South China Sea, Spratly Islands
This promises to be a landmark year for the claimant countries and other interested parties in the South China Sea disputes. Developments that have been underway for several years, especially China’s island-building campaign in the Spratlys and Manila’s arbitration case against Beijing, will come to fruition. These and other developments will draw outside players, including […]

Can Japan Join U.S. Freedom of Navigation Operations in the South China Sea?

By | November 2, 2015 | Categories: China, Freedom of Navigation, Japan, South China Sea, Spratly Islands, United States
The United States has started long overdue freedom of navigation (FON) operations in the South China Sea. Washington launched the FON program in 1979 to challenge coastal states’ excessive maritime claims through diplomatic engagement and operational assertion. During the Cold War the United States conducted FON operations in Soviet territorial seas, where Moscow did not […]

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 […]

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 […]

Philippines’ Lopsided South China Sea Policy

By | July 29, 2015 | Categories: Philippines, South China Sea, Spratly Islands
More than any country in the region, the Philippines has sought to protect its territorial integrity through “lawfare” (legal warfare), taking China to the court over maritime disputes in the South China Sea. Perturbed by China’s growing assertiveness across disputed waters, evident in its expanded para-military patrols, massive reclamation activities, and regular military drills in […]

South China Sea Civilian Air Patrol Capability and the U.S.-Japan Alliance

By | July 29, 2015 | Categories: Japan, South China Sea, Spratly Islands
Increased tensions over China’s maritime sovereignty claims in the Western Pacific pose a challenge for the international system. A confrontation between China and Japan in the East China Sea continues mainly between Japan’s national coast guard ships and China’s government and civilian fishery vessels, but it seems to have reached a kind of moderate stalemate […]

China’s Airfield Construction at Fiery Cross Reef in Context: Catch-Up or Coercion?

By and | July 29, 2015 | Categories: China, South China Sea, Spratly Islands
Although China is not the first state to build an airstrip in the South China Sea, it is the first state to employ island-building technologies to transform a contested maritime feature into a military base that extends the reach of offensive military capabilities. Other countries have worked to project power to contested South China Sea […]

Diplomacy Changes, Construction Continues: New Images of Mischief and Subi Reefs

By | June 18, 2015 | Categories: China, Land Reclamation, South China Sea, Spratly Islands
On June 16, 2015, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang announced that “as planned, the land reclamation project of China’s construction on some stationed islands and reefs of the Nansha (Spratly) Islands will be completed in the upcoming days.” He went on to note that after land reclamation on existing features was complete, China would continue to […]

Before and After: The South China Sea Transformed

By | February 18, 2015 | Categories: Land Reclamation, Malaysia, Philippines, South China Sea, Spratly Islands, Vietnam
Source image: Google Earth This map shows four land features in the Spratly Islands that have undergone significant construction or land reclamation work in the past year. They are: Itu Aba, Gaven Reef, Johnson South Reef, and Fiery Cross Reef. Read more details about the features of these projects and use click and drag the […]