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Latest Articles about South China Sea
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China Tolerating Vietnam’s South China Sea Activities, For Now
China’s expanding military presence in the South China Sea has prompted Vietnam to enhance its ability to protect its own holdings in the region. In late November, for example, commercially available imagery revealed that Vietnam was dredging a new channel at Ladd Reef on the... MORE
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Putin’s Dirty Diplomacy Fails to Breach Sanctions Wall
Russia is frequently in the news these days, but its diplomatic successes at the start of the new year have been rather limited. Denials of Moscow’s various misbehaviors aside, the most significant step over the just-concluded extended holiday season was President Vladimir Putin’s visit to... MORE
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Sino-Indian Competition in the Maritime Domain
The naval build-up of the world’s two most populous nations, China and India, will contribute to a new era in the importance of naval power. Owing in part to a collapse in relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s which culminated in the China-India... MORE
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China Hails Progress Toward Military Reforms, Improved Jointness
As the major reorganization of the Chinese military nears its 1-year anniversary, the Chinese press and propaganda organs are reflecting on the progress made and steps yet to take in this core part of China’s military modernization project. Though the reforms have made major progress... MORE
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A Crystallizing Russo-Chinese Alliance
Whenever a Russian president travels to Asiatic Russia or the Asia-Pacific region, he traditionally enunciates important precepts of Russian foreign policy in Asia. This was true of both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin during all three of his presidential terms. Putin’s recent trip to the... MORE
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Snapshot: China’s Southern Theater Command
On December 31, 2015 China began a major overhaul of its structure military organizational structure. This included the abolition of the seven previous Military Regions (军区) and the creation of five Theater Commands (战区) (See China Brief, February 4 and February 23). Many units previously under... MORE
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China’s Great Fishnet
With the announcement that the Permanent Court of Arbitration will rule on July 12 on its case between the Philippine and Chinese governments regarding China’s territorial claims in the South China Seas, tensions in the area are coming to a head (Court of Arbitration, June... MORE
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China Gets More Blunt, Goes on Media Offense on South China Sea Issues
At this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue on Asian security, held in Singapore, China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea were in sharp focus. Admiral Sun Jianguo (孙建国) again represented China at the conference, a position he is uniquely suited for due to his role as... MORE
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Updated – Chinese Hypersonic Weapons Development
China’s military is reorganizing itself to be a more modern, effective force. On January 1, 2016, the Second Artillery Force (第二炮兵部队) (responsible for China’s nuclear and conventional arsenals) was reorganized into the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF; 火箭部队), elevating it to a service (军种)... MORE
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Beijing Ups the Ante in South China Sea Dispute with HQ-9 Deployment
China’s recent deployment of HQ-9 missiles to the Paracel Islands represent part of a larger effort to consolidate the country’s position in the South China Sea. While the deployment in itself only adds an incremental improvement to China’s ability to control the Paracel Islands, its... MORE