Over the last year, it has become clear that China is determined to pursue its strategy of “salami slicing” in the South China Sea—gradually increasing its control through small moves that fall short of war. Beijing has not been deterred from this strategy by remonstrations... MORE

On May 3 China placed the Haiyang Shiyou 981 deep water semi-submersible drilling rig 119nm off the coast of Vietnam and 180nm from Hainan Island. The rig lies 17nm from Triton Island, part of the Paracel islands that China occupied by force from then South... MORE

Over the past few weeks, tensions in the South China Sea have once again bedeviled relations between China and the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On May 1, China deployed a giant oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with... MORE

While tensions in the South China Sea have gone from bad to worse, with riots in Vietnam targeting Chinese businesses and a range of ASEAN states exploring ways to counter Chinese actions (see “Challenged by China, ASEAN States Seek Common Response,” in this issue), Xi’s... MORE

For almost two years, Malaysia and China have been making elaborate preparations to commemorate the historic 40th anniversary of their diplomatic relationship in 2014 (The Star, August 29, 2012). Yet the first few months of “Malaysia-China Friendship Year” have been anything but celebratory, with greater... MORE

On January 1, new fishing regulations for the South China Sea, issued by the province of Hainan, went into effect, prompting objections from China’s territorial rivals in Southeast Asia, as well as the United States and Japan (Xinhua, January 10). Chinese spokespeople have sought to... MORE

On November 29 of last year, Hainan’s legislature approved revised measures (banfa) for implementing the PRC Fisheries Law. Unlike earlier provincial fisheries regulations, the new measures single out “foreigners and foreign fishing vessels” as requiring special permission to operate within Hainan’s jurisdiction, effective January 1... MORE

Typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, killed 5,719 and injured 26,233 and displaced more than four million people (ndrrmc.gov.ph, December 4; Manila Bulletin, November 20). This is more than 4% of the country's total population. To put this into perspective, by comparison, approximately... MORE

With China promoting its own Silk Road vision in Central Asia, it seems that the New Silk Road Initiative promoted by the United States has been eclipsed. Nonetheless, there is still an opportunity for the US to promote much-needed trade relations between Central Asia and... MORE