China turns up heat in maritime heart of SE Asia   
  
Faced with expansive and increasingly assertive Chinese claims to control as much as 80 per cent of the South China Sea in the maritime heart of South-East Asia, ASEAN countries and major user nations, including Australia, are aligning – based on shared concerns at China’s actions. (The Canberra Times)

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Japan muddies water in South China Sea debate   
   

The ongoing wrangle over jurisdiction of the disputed South China Sea took a new turn on Tuesday with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III meeting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshikiko Noda in Tokyo. (The Irrawaddy)

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India’s South China Sea Warning   
   

An influential Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper has warned that ‘every means possible’ should be used to stop India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh engaging in exploration projects in the South China Sea. (The Diplomat)

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Vietnam and the Philippines: Assertiveness in the South China Sea      

At a time when Chinese power is inchoate, Vietnam and the Philippines are becoming increasingly assertive in the South China Sea. China has tried both the ‘carrot’ and ‘stick’ approach, and neither has been successful. (East Asia Forum)

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Deep Danger: Competing Claims in the South China Sea       

The waters of the South China Sea are dotted with hundreds of atolls, reefs, and small islands—only one of which has sufficient fresh water to qualify, under traditional international law, as capable of supporting human habitation. Nonetheless, these land features and the 1.35 million square miles of water that surround them are the subject of competing territorial claims by China and Taiwan (whose claims appear to encompass the entire South China Sea and all of its land features) and by five Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia, though Indonesia’s claim is limited to waters at the sea’s extreme southern tip).                                                  (The Viet-Studies/The Current History)

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Can China defend a “core interest” in the South China Sea?  

De´ja` vu surrounds reports that Beijing has claimed a ‘‘core interest’’ in the South China Sea. High-ranking Chinese officials reportedly asserted such an interest during a private March 2010 meeting with two visiting U.S. dignitaries, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and the senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, Jeffrey Bader.              (The Washington Quarterly)

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Can Yingluck fix Cambodia ties?      

The election of Yingluck Shinawatra has raised hopes that Thailand can improve its prickly ties with Cambodia. But will the Thai Army get in the way?      (The Diplomat)

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The South China Sea is the future of conflict         

Europe is a landscape; East Asia a seascape. Therein lies a crucial difference between the 20^th and 21^st centuries. The most contested areas of the globe in the last century lay on dry land in Europe, particularly in the flat expanse that rendered the eastern and western borders of Germany artificial and exposed to the inexorable march of armies. But over the span of the decades, the demographic and economic axis of the Earth has shifted measurably to the opposite end of Eurasia, where the spaces between major population centers are overwhelmingly maritime. (Foreign Policy)

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Rising tensions in Asia Pacific region  

Celebrating the 84t anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Liberation Army Daily (LAD, August 01), the military mouthpiece carried a very important editorial that could have far reaching implications for the Asia Pacific Region (APR). After the usual observation on the Party’s absolute leadership over the army, boosting party building within the army, army-people relationship, the editorial made the following observations. It called on the PLA officers and soldiers to enhance risk awareness and to be mindful of their mission, as the international military competition becomes increasingly fierce and modern wars are fast evolving from mechanical wars to information-based ones. (The South Asia Analysis Group)

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Bold Bid for Peace        

Was it improper for President Aquino to have flown all the way to Tokyo to meet secretly with Murad Ebrahim, the leader of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front? Perhaps. The reactions from certain quarters have the ring of predictable Monday-morning quarterbacking. (The Inquirer)

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Positive Steps in South China Sea      

Last month in Bali, China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries agreed on a set of guidelines for implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, signed in Phnom Penh in 2002. Although the one-page set of guidelines hasn’t been published, it’s largely believed to be an interim process toward an eventual code of conduct in the South China Sea. There has even been talking about creating such a code later this year at the East Asia Summit.                  (The Diplomat)

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South China Sea: be aware of undercurrent   
It was amazing that given their cordial ties, China and ASEAN took almost a decade to agree on the guidelines for their conducts over the disputed South China Sea. With it, they can now begin to work together on various confidence building measures and jointly proposed projects in the huge unsettled maritime territory.   (The Nation)

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Beating the South China Sea Phoenix   

Last week, with the world watching, a sense of optimism wafted out of the Bali ASEAN Regional Forum meetings. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China agreed on ‘guidelines’ for implementing their previously agreed 2002 Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Some players, including China, hailed this as a breakthrough.            (The Diplomat)

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Vietnam’s tyranny of geography  

Some researchers liken China to a rooster, with Korea as its beak and Vietnam its leg. The analogy, while highlighting the strategic importance of Vietnam toward China’s well-being, especially in terms of security, also implies that Vietnam has long been living with the weight of China on its shoulder. The problem is that Vietnam can’t do much about it, even if it wants to. (The Diplomat)

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Law and the South China Sea   
    

To help control potential armed conflicts in the South China Sea, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has recently pressed China to conclude a Code of Conduct (COC) to replace the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea that was signed between ASEAN and China in 2002. (The Diplomat)

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Thailand’s foreign relations under the new government   

The Kachin people, marginalised by the Burmese government, are willing to fight for survival. Is China the only hope for preventing all-out war? (The Diplomat)

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Vietnam’s carefully managed anger  

    

For five consecutive Sundays this past month, protesters in Hanoi have gathered close to the Chinese embassy to protest China’s recent actions in the South China Sea (known as the East Sea in Vietnam). (The Diplomat)

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Can Indonesia mediate the South China Sea dispute?  
  

Tensions over the overlapping claims in the South China Sea (SCS) have mounted in the past months, with hostilities accelerating since the beginning of June. The row between China, Vietnam and the Philippines has urged current ASEAN chair, Indonesia, to step up.        (East Asia Forum)

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Vietnam weighs patriotism against diplomacy in China spat   
  
As anti-China protests in Vietnam enter their fourth week, Hanoi's recent rapprochement with China has raised the question of how well the government can balance diplomatic requirements with the public's patriotic demands. (M&C)

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Understanding the claims and claimants in the South China Sea  
   
How do we resolve the territorial disputes in the South China Sea (SCS)? There is no clear answer, but the first step to settling any argument is to examine all sides of the story. (East Asia Forum)

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