Year in Review Archives | Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Managing Crisis in the East China Sea

By Tetsuo Kotani | December 23, 2014 | Categories: China, Japan, Year in Review

In November, Tokyo and Beijing agreed to disagree on their views on territory and history to resume talks on crisis communication mechanisms in the East China Sea. Tokyo and Beijing reached a common understanding of its structure and methods that a hotline should employ. There is an urgent need for such a mechanism due to […]

Maritime Security Outlook 2015: Republic of Korea

By Chang-Hoon Shin | December 23, 2014 | Categories: Republic of Korea, Year in Review

On July 3, 2014, the President of China, Xi Jinping, made a historic visit to Seoul. It holds significance because this was the first time a Chinese President has visited Seoul before traveling to Pyongyang. Moreover, the Joint Statement released as an outcome of the summit between President Xi and President Park Geun-hye, includes some […]

Enhancing Philippine Maritime Security

By Renato Cruz de Castro | December 23, 2014 | Categories: Philippines, United States, Year in Review

On 28 April 2014, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The EDCA is not a new agreement since it merely updates and enhances the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. It provides the framework by which the Philippines and the U.S. can develop their […]

Danger at the Second Thomas Shoal

By Bonnie Glaser | December 23, 2014 | Categories: ADIZ, China, Philippines, Year in Review

The South China Sea is likely to persist as a source of tension both between China and its Southeast Asian maritime neighbors, and between China and the United States in 2015. China’s land reclamation activities, which are taking place at six of the seven reefs under Chinese control in the Spratly Island chain, will advance […]

A Year for Optimism in the South China Sea?

By Nicholas Khoo | December 23, 2014 | Categories: China, Philippines, South China Sea, Year in Review

In recent weeks, the international politics of the South China Sea has seen a number of encouraging developments. At their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing in November, Benigno Aquino claimed to have had a “meeting of minds” with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Also at the APEC […]

Intense Maneuvers at the Hague

By Matthew Waxman | December 23, 2014 | Categories: China, International Law, Philippines, South China Sea, Year in Review

In 2013, the Philippines instituted arbitration proceedings in the Hague against China over disputed South China Sea maritime claims – and in doing so it challenged legally of China’s nine-dash line claims over much of that area. Both states are parties to the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which allows for […]

A 2015 Resolution for Risk Reduction

By Rory Medcalf | December 23, 2014 | Categories: China, Japan, United States, Year in Review

In tracking Asia’s maritime tensions in 2015, what I will be looking for above all is evidence that China is actually following through on its newfound commitments to risk-reduction and crisis-management. For much of the time since Chinese maritime assertiveness increased, from 2009 onwards, the guiding attitude seemed to be that Chinese forces were willing […]

The Coming Year in Maritime Asia

By Gary Roughead | December 23, 2014 | Categories: China, Indo-Pacific Region, Japan, Year in Review

Maritime Asia will be active and more pacific in the coming year. Maritime trade will continue apace with tens of millions of shipping containers and millions of barrels of petroleum products moving on Asian sea lanes. That feeding of the Asian and global economies will be taken for granted, but there are three categories to […]

A Maritime Break from Non-Alignment for India

By Richard Rossow | December 23, 2014 | Categories: India, Year in Review

Following the election of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government in May 2014, we have seen a sharper and more vigorous focus on foreign policy in India. Modi has embraced a more strategic outlook than his predecessors, which signals a break from India’s traditional policy of “non-alignment”. The focus of the Modi government’s foreign […]

The United States and Maritime Asia in 2015

By Michael Green | December 23, 2014 | Categories: Indo-Pacific Region, United States, Year in Review

Despite the growing interest in maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region among experts, it remains an open question how focused the Obama administration will be on the challenges in that region in 2015. It is doubtful that the security of the offshore Pacific island chain ranks in the top five issues for National Security Advisor […]

Oil Rig 981 Friction in the South China Sea

By Zhu Feng | December 23, 2014 | Categories: China, Vietnam, Year in Review

The friction between China and Vietnam over the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 (in Vietnamese: Hải Dương-981) was a major point of South China Sea tension in 2014. The stakes were not so big that that the parties resorted to military action, but this episode was an important sign that Hanoi does not intend to swallow the […]

KMT- DPP South China Sea Debate

By Yann-huei Song | December 23, 2014 | Categories: South China Sea, Taiwan, Year in Review

Taiwan’s local elections of 2014 were held on November 29 and elected 6 municipal mayors and 16 county magistrates. The KMT (Kuomintang, Nationalist Party), Taiwan’s ruling party, won only 6 out of the 22 local seats and gained just 40.7 percent of the vote. Jiang Yi-huah, Taiwan’s premier, resigned after election. President Ma Ying-jeou also […]