Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: South China Sea

Is Xi Copying Putin’s Strategy?

Is Xi Copying Putin’s Strategy?

The apparent success of Putin’s misadventures in Ukraine could serve as an attractive geopolitical militaristic strategy for other nations with territorial disputes, such as China.

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U.S. Policy Toward China: New Maps to Navigate Islands and Banks?

U.S. Policy Toward China: New Maps to Navigate Islands and Banks?

Should the U.S. allow geopolitical rivalry to subsume economic matters?

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Beijing Asserts, Hanoi Beefs Up

Beijing Asserts, Hanoi Beefs Up

Here in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), the local government last week ordered its travel and tourism departments to draw up a feasibility study for tours to the Truong Sa (Spratly) islands, which Vietnam currently occupies.

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No Shangri-La in South China Sea

No Shangri-La in South China Sea

On Saturday in Singapore, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter addressed the attendants at the 14th Shangri-La Dialogue, a high-level security forum, asserting China’s recent land reclamation in the South China Sea was “out of step” with international norms, and adding his opposition to “any further militarization” in the region.

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U.S. Confronts China Over Airspace in South China Sea

U.S. Confronts China Over Airspace in South China Sea

I had not given much thought to the flight plan of the airline I recently booked to go back to the U.S. from Vietnam, but recent events in the airspace over the South China Sea prompted an online search. As I discovered, my commercial flight will be flying not far from where a U.S. surveillance plane was warned on Wednesday to leave by a Chinese radar operator.

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Forty Years After the War, Vietnam Welcomes the U.S.

Forty Years After the War, Vietnam Welcomes the U.S.

On April 30, Ho Chi Minh City, commonly referred to as Saigon, marked the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Vietnam, after the army of communist North Vietnam brought down the government of South Vietnam, and drove out the Americans following two decades of unsuccessful military involvement.

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Will ASEAN Renounce China’s Reclamation Efforts in the South China Sea?

Will ASEAN Renounce China’s Reclamation Efforts in the South China Sea?

This week, leaders from 10 Southeast Asian nations will gather on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi for the 26th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

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The Robust Force for Peace in the South China Sea

The Robust Force for Peace in the South China Sea

On Mischief Reef, in the South China Sea just off the coast of the Philippine island of Palawan, Chinese workers are busy dredging sand and creating an island on top of partially-submerged coral reefs.

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Will Modi’s Visit to the Border Threaten Chinese Investment in India?

Will Modi’s Visit to the Border Threaten Chinese Investment in India?

Last Friday, Beijing reacted strongly to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to India’s disputed border area with China, to mark the 28th anniversary of the establishment of Arunachal Pradesh as an Indian state.

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Obama’s High-Profile Visit to India Irks Beijing

Obama’s High-Profile Visit to India Irks Beijing

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to Barack Obama to attend India’s Republic Day on Monday was not only a great honor bestowed upon the U.S. president but also packed with implications for Chinese foreign policy and influence in the Asia Pacific.

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Vietnam Seeks Greater Defense Ties with India

Vietnam Seeks Greater Defense Ties with India

The disputed waters of the South China Sea have been quiet recently, as a nationalistic Beijing has sought to reassure its neighbors of its peaceful intentions by toning down the rhetoric and hesitating from taking any further aggressive actions.

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Beijing Seeks to Improve Relations with Hanoi

Beijing Seeks to Improve Relations with Hanoi

Lately, it seems China’s aggressive foreign policy stance toward territorial disputes in the South China Sea is backfiring, especially in Vietnam. Last month, Vietnamese officials offered India two oil-exploration blocks in the disputed South China Sea waters, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, which drew strong condemnation from Beijing. In turn, India promised to sell […]

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Vietnam Steps Up Efforts to Protect Fishing Fleet

Vietnam Steps Up Efforts to Protect Fishing Fleet

In a time of heightened tensions between Asian nations with claims to the waters of the East and South China Seas, the deployment of an offshore oil rig back in May by Beijing in disputed waters with Vietnam was not going to be an event without ramifications. The rig’s deployment by the Chinese National Offshore […]

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Is Vietnam Spinning Out of China’s Orbit?

Is Vietnam Spinning Out of China’s Orbit?

Beijing’s formidable display of aggression this year is backfiring, as its neighbors scramble to beef up their military capabilities and forge defensive alliances both within and outside the region. One such notable alliance making the headlines this past week is between the U.S. and Vietnam. Vietnam, much like U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines, is […]

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Should the U.S./EU Send Naval Observers to the South China Sea?

Should the U.S./EU Send Naval Observers to the South China Sea?

The Boston Global Forum (BGF), a non-profit forum for international scholars, hosted its opening session on July 2, aiming to engage leaders from the United States, Asia, and the United Nations to discuss the crisis in the South China Sea.  BGF Chairman and Co-Founder Michael Dukakis moderated the discussion, with the active participation of Professor […]

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