NATHANIEL SCHOSSAU WRITES – A scene in Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated “Barbie” movie, set for release July 21 and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has caused controversy over—of all things!— a territorial dispute in the South China Sea. The reason: Vietnam and China both claim a particular part of…
NASER ALMESHARI WRITES – The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has enhanced the effectiveness of its potentially potent ‘shadowing’ approach, thanks to absorbing the clever procedures of the Indonesian coast guard. What is shadowing? It’s a technique to repel foreign intruders entering the waters of the South China Sea by using…
RYAN BYRNE WRITES – In recent years, the rhetoric between China and the United States has grown more intense. A trade war, endless diplomatic wrangling over the South China Sea and conflicts with Taiwan have helped make China a point of political interest for more and more Americans. As the…
CLAIRE GUTE WRITES — When people think of pirates, they often imagine long ago pirates such as Britain’s West Indies’ Blackbeard, or fictional pirates like Jack Sparrow from the Disney amusement park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. But the issue of piracy plagues many of the world’s oceans, and the…
AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, in Singapore on June 10- marking the sixth Australia-Singapore Leaders’ Meeting, an annual conference between the two countries – and the first in-person meeting between Lee and Morrison since pandemic travel restrictions began.…
TOM PLATE WRITES — We patriotic Americans usually call it Memorial Day weekend, but sometimes the barbecues and beer throw memory off base, as if the holiday on the last Monday of every May signifies no more than the winding down of a 72-hour party. On the Saturday of Memorial…
(Published by The Straits Times of Singapore, August 29) MARK J. VALENCIA WRITES – Relations between the United States and China – overall and in the South China Sea in particular – are rapidly deteriorating. The two countries are escalating the situation and a military clash is a distinct possibility.…
KATIE TRINH WRITES – The aftermath of the South China Sea disputes led Vietnam to look for new partnerships with the U.S., and now – worried – China wants in on the action. This past Tuesday on September 13, Chinese Premier Li Kequiang and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc came to…
JAMES ROYCE WRITES — Chinese state-run media has recently gone out of its way to label Australia as “an ideal target for China to warn and strike,” if it ventures into the continually-contested South China Sea. The Global Times, known for its hardline nationalist stance, blasted Canberra early last month…
TOM PLATE WRITES – Win some – lose some. The Obama administration was shocked and rocked: “We recommend that the United States bring its [raised tariffs against China] into conformity with its obligations.” That, just two years ago, was the sharply worded ruling from an international body whose judgment Beijing…
Editor’s Note: On the subject of South China Sea, everyone agrees that while a lot has been written on it, most will also agree the legitimacy of China’s claim has not been well articulated. And so we offer this perspective from Beijing by Madam Fu Ying, who is chair of…
TOM PLATE WRITES – They say some things have to be seen to be believed, which is probably why the sight of a jaunty Mark Zuckerberg social-networking through Tiananmen Square on a bicycle (of all things) was almost unbelievable — unless you were there. Am I saying that the chairman,…
TOM PLATE WRITES — You don’t have to be a saint to be a great and effective leader, but you do have to be audacious. So when an audacious leader comes along that a good many admirers suspect to be a saint, you probably have got something special in front…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES— A month has passed since the fiasco in the South China Sea, but it seems that Vietnam has garnered the admiration of another East Asian country. Watch out Vietnam, it seems like ‘senpai’ has noticed you. Major Japanese TV stations like NHK, TBS and Fuji relayed their…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — Tensions over the South China Sea reached its peak last week, but this kerfuffle between China and Vietnam is quite different than the tug of war over the Parcel Islands earlier this year. Everyone wants a piece of this pie, but who loses in the end?…
China is at it again! Existing territorial conflict between New Delhi and Beijing over Arunchal Pradesh is no concern of the past. The controversial issue has been revived as China recently took matters into its own hands, launching new e-passports in which it showed the regions of Arunachal Pradesh and…
