By Michael J. Green, Nicholas Szechenyi APR 29, 2015 Today Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan became the first Japanese leader ever to address a joint session of Congress. Abe summarized key themes for U.S.-Japan relations including history, as August marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Q1: What were the […]
By Michael J. Green, Matthew P. Goodman, Nicholas Szechenyi APR 28, 2015 President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan held a summit meeting at the White House today in conjunction with Abe’s official visit to the United States, the first by a Japanese prime minister in nine years. The visit demonstrates the […]
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 […]
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, […]
Keynote Speech by Ambassador Cui Tiankai at the International Conference on China-US Cooperation in Global Security Affairs April 16 2015, Washington D.C. Good morning everybody, I am very happy to be here and very happy to see some old friends and get acquaintance with new friends. I am here for two additional reasons. First, to […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As China continues its reclamation activities in the South China Sea, there is speculation that it will use the new land masses to justify its international legal claims. One critical question will be whether it claims an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for each of the features being developed. Given China’s interpretation of the rights of […]
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 […]
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, […]
On March 17th at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia, Vice Admiral Robert Thomas, commander of the US 7th Fleet, proposed the creation of joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea by ASEAN member nations. The remarks engendered a mixed reaction, from the predictably negative Chinese Foreign Ministry response to the […]
Japan is stepping up its law enforcement activities around the Senkaku Islands and is making that change public. Since 2012, Japan has had its Coast Guard assume a more active role in patrolling the Senkaku Islands, albeit without substantially increasing the overall budget. This comes in reponse to increased Chinese incursions into the territorial waters […]
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 […]
Vietnam boosted its military spending by 113 percent between 2004 and 2013, the largest increase among Southeast Asian countries. Defense spending has accounted for around 2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product since 2004. Total spending was $3.3 billion in 2012 and $3.4 billion in 2013 (the latest year for which figures are available), […]
As AMTI readers know well, tensions between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands have been running high since 2010. Despite a partial thaw when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with President Xi Jinping last December, Beijing continues to put steady pressure on Tokyo’s control of the islands with regular maritime and aerial incursions and […]
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced on March 4 that it would raise its defense budget by 10.1 percent in 2015, which continues an almost unbroken pattern of double-digit annual increases over the past two decades. Meanwhile, defense spending by the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan, which faces an ever-growing military threat from […]
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is generally considered among the weakest in the region. But as China gradually chips away at the Philippines’ hold on and claims to a whole host of land features as well as fisheries and hydrocarbon resources within its 200-nautical-miles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), there has been a much […]
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. […]
The U.S. policy approach to maritime disputes in the South China Sea is primarily diplomatic but not entirely so. While it focuses on creating stability by exhorting all the parties to follow the rules (international law) and explicitly defines how Washington would like conflicts to be solved (peacefully); it does not neglect hard-power initiatives aimed […]
The first week of March marks the start of Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, which – together with Ulchi Freedom Guardian in the late summer – are the largest U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) military exercises held in South Korea each year. They consist of two separate drills, with Key Resolve lasting around one week and […]
Cobra Gold, the weeks-long multinational military exercise that began on Feb. 9 in Thailand, highlighted the difficult balancing act facing Washington as it engages with the military-backed government of its long-time ally. The annual training exercise, the largest in the Asia-Pacific, has evolved in recent years into a marquee event for both the U.S.-Thai alliance […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
On February 7, 2014, Taiwan began development work on Taiping Island (Itu Aba), the largest of the Spratly archipelago, which has been under its control since 1956. It is also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, and mainland China. Taiwan’s development project comes in two parts and includes the construction of two new piers and improvements […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]