Tag Archives: south China Sea

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday said Chinese military flights near Taiwan look like “rehearsals” though he did not indicate that he expected Beijing actually to carry out such operations. Cross-strait tensions have been rising in recent months, with Taiwan complaining for a year or more of repeated missions …

China, which is increasingly flexing its muscles around the world, is one of the biggest threats to Britain and its allies, and a “miscalculation” by Beijing could lead to war, the head of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence agency said Tuesday. MI6 chief Richard Moore said that China, Russia, Iran and …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China on Thursday and said Washington and its allies must use “more creative and assertive ways” to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways, calling it the “mission of our time.” Speaking at the Nixon Library in President …

A Chinese warship sailed within 45 yards of a Navy destroyer in the South China Sea on Sunday in what American authorities described as an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver.” U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Charlie Brown said the Luyang destroyer “conducted a series of increasingly aggressive” moves before it approached the …

The Pentagon kicked off the world’s largest naval war games last week, the biennial, month-long Rim of the Pacific exercises, known as RIMPAC, bringing together 46 ships and submarines, 200 aircraft and 25,000 troops from 25 nations. Missing from that contingent is China, which was disinvited from RIMPAC over its …

A series of Chinese missile systems have reappeared on a disputed island in the South China Sea, days after satellite imagery appeared to show they had been removed. The initial discovery of their disappearance was made by ImageSat International (ISI) in early June, who provided images showing bare sand where …

The Pentagon on Thursday ratcheted up rhetoric about China’s militarization of islands in the South China Sea, even as the Trump administration presses China for cooperation on North Korea. When asked by a reporter about the ability of the US to “blow apart” one of China’s controversial man-made islands, Lt. …

China’s military took “immediate action” on Sunday against “unauthorized” sailing by US warships in South China Sea waters claimed by Beijing. China’s defense ministry said in a statement that two US warships, the Antiem guided missile cruiser and the USS Higgins destroyer, entered disputed waters around the Paracel Islands before …

The Chinese air force has landed long-range bombers for the first time on an airport in the South China Sea, a state newspaper said Saturday, in a move likely to further fuel concerns about Beijing’s expansive claims over the disputed region. The China Daily newspaper reported that the People’s Liberation …

China will have no choice but to build its abilities in the South China Sea if the U.S. continues to “wantonly” provoke trouble in the waters, Beijing’s top newspaper warned on Monday. The response came after a U.S. Navy warship, the USS Hopper, sailed close to a contested reef west …

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal claimed by China in the South China Sea this week, U.S. officials said on Saturday, and Beijing vowed to take “necessary measures” to protect its sovereignty. China’s foreign ministry said USS Hopper missile destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan …

A U.S. Navy warship sailed close to a contested reef west of the Philippines this week, drawing the ire of Beijing which issued a statement Saturday accusing the U.S. of trespassing in its territorial waters. China has laid claim to the reef for more than five years. The incident took …

U.S. President Donald Trump set out a strong message on trade at a meeting of Asia-Pacific countries in Vietnam on Friday, saying the United States could no longer tolerate chronic trade abuses and would insist on fair and equal policies. Trump said the United States was ready to make a …

Chinese President Xi Jinping proclaimed the arrival of “a new era” in which a reinvigorated Communist Party will lead his nation to modernity, wealth and power as he opened the 19th national congress of China’s ruling Communist Party on Wednesday. The meeting is expected to give him a second five-year …

The U.K. has only recently rolled out the largest warship the country has ever produced, testing the massive aircraft carrier’s sea legs off the coast of Scotland, but already the British navy has a destination in mind for the HMS Queen Elizabeth and its still-to-be-named sister ship: the disputed waters …

Taiwan military jets scrambled to shadow a Chinese aircraft carrier passing through narrow waters separating the two sides en route to Hong Kong to mark the 20th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China. The Liaoning fleet will be open to the public in Hong Kong and showcase …