by ROBERTO TOFANI Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, will deliver the keynote address at the 12th IISS Asia Security Summit(1), also called the Shangri-La Dialogue, which will convene in Singapore from 31 May to Jun 2. The meeting is “a Track One security summit which brings together defense ministers, armed forces’ commanders, and the...
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Taiwan’s dispute with the Philippines (II): Domestic politics in command
In my previous post, I examined the general nature of the current dispute between the Philippines and Taiwan and the foreign policy motivations on the Taiwan side. Yet, the behaviour of Taiwan’s government in the aftermath of the incident from May 9 that resulted in death of a Taiwanese fisherman after his boat was fired upon...
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Taiwan’s dispute with the Philippines (I): One international law, two interpretations
A short time ago, I praised Taiwan for reaching an agreement with Japan on fishing in the area around Diaoyutai/Senkaku islands. It was a rare occasion on which two sides reached consensus on a highly disputed issue involving sovereignty claims and resource sharing. However, the seas of East and Southeast Asia offer plenty of opportunities to get...
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Paracel and Spratly Archipelagos — Historical and Legal Aspects, Part 2
by ROBERTO TOFANI [Part 1 here] Discussions and debates during the one-day workshop – ‘Sovereignty over Paracel and Spratly Archipelagos: Historical and Legal Aspects’ – held in the Quang Ngai province at the end of April and organized by the Pham Van Dong University focused mostly on two topics related to the South China Sea issue: historical...
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Paracel and Spratly Archipelagos — Historical and Legal Aspects, Part 1
by ROBERTO TOFANI Quang Ngai – “In South China Sea—East Sea as referred by the Vietnamese–China is unable to present historical evidence of its claim. Its territory was historically limited to Hainan island, thus Chinese used force to illegally occupy rocks, features and islands in the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos”. With these remarks, Prof. Pham Dang...
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Pyongyang’s Fear of Chinese Media and What to Make of It
by SOJUNG PARK South Korea pulled out its last remaining workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex on May 3, putting the only existing symbol of inter-Korean cooperation in jeopardy. To diffuse tensions, some have called on Seoul to send a diplomatic envoy to North Korea, but others have proposed the restoration of the United States’...
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Australian Warship to ‘Embed’ with the Seventh Fleet
Very much under the radar comes the news that the Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate HMAS Sydney (FFG 03) is about to join the US Seventh Fleet, where it will be ”embedded” with a US carrier strike group operating out of Yokosuka. Launched in 1980, the warship is only one of four guided-missile frigates operated by the RAN, and...
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WPR Global Insider: Military Dimensions of Japan-Vietnam Cooperation on the Rise
Shameless Self Promotion Alert: I would like to direct readers to World Politics Review where I participated in an email interview on Japan-Vietnam security cooperation. This is a topic I could have gone into more depth on, and will at a later date, as it is an interesting and quietly taking place development.
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Japan and AirSea Battle
I recently finished listening to T.X. Hammes on the Midrats podcast for the second time. If you don’t listen to Midrats you should, particularly when they address Asia/Pacific. I think Sal gets Asia wrong at times, but he and Eagle1 ask good questions. They have good guests, and they let their guests talk (sometimes on and on...
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Japan and AirSea Battle
I recently finished listening to T.X. Hammes on the Midrats podcast for the second time. If you don’t listen to Midrats you should, particularly when they address Asia/Pacific. I think Sal gets Asia wrong at times, but he and Eagle1 ask good questions. They have good guests, and they let their guests talk (sometimes on and on...
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Vietnam: New Law of the Sea Comes into Force
by ROBERTO TOFANI With the Vietnamese Law of the Sea taking effect at the beginning of 2013, Hanoi writes another chapter on the maritime dispute in the South China Sea, referred by Vietnamese as the East Sea and by Filipinos as the West Sea. Adopted on Jun. 21 2012 with 99.8 percent of the vote...
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China Wants More (and Bigger) Aircraft Carriers
by MIKE YEO Not exactly unexpected news, but a senior officer with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has said that China will have more than one aircraft carrier, and its next aircraft carrier(s) will be larger and carry more aircraft, including more fighters. China has recently completed the refurbishment of the Liaoning, a...
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