North Korea launched a missile that travelled 1/10 the distance it needs to. Pyongyang considered it a “success”. China has come to a consensus about it’s activity in the South China Sea. The consensus did not include all ASEAN nations…. Read More ›
Hainan
China is conducting air-sea patrols for Chinese oil rigs in waters disputed with Vietnam
The following is based on a translation of a report on a Chinese news website: Major Chinese military site mil.huanqiu.com has published photos of Chinese oil rigs to the southwest of China’s Hainan Island and the patrol amphibious aircraft and… Read More ›
China using ground effect aircraft to strengthen its claim in the South China Sea
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: China reported some time ago that it was developing large ground effect vehicles as a means of transport between China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea. In this way,… Read More ›
Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin returns to Beijing in challenge to President Xi Jinping
I have pointed out in my book Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements (Expanded 2nd Edition) that there are three black boxes in China: The CCP Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the group of powerful elders who control China behind the scene and the… Read More ›
China to build 200,000-ton fish farming ship at Mischief Reef, territory claimed by Philippines
The following is translated from Chinese media: Chinese scientists are planning to intensify China’s exploitation of fish resources in the South China Sea. Lei Jilin, a research fellow at Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, repeatedly stressed in an interview with… Read More ›
What was the US P-8 spy plane doing off China’s Hainan Island?
By now, half the world is aware of the reckless manner in which an armed PLA Navy fighter jet performed a ‘dangerous intercept’ of a USN P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) while it was performing what apparently was routine… Read More ›
China planes ‘violated Taiwanese airspace’
Two Chinese military aircraft violated Taiwan’s airspace on Monday, officials said, causing Taiwan to scramble jets. Taiwan said Chinese Y-8 maritime patrol planes entered the island’s ADIZ (air defence identification zone) in both the morning and the afternoon. Taiwan scrambled… Read More ›
Chinese jet’s aggressive intercept of US jet in international waters
A Chinese fighter came perilously close to a US military patrol plane over international waters east of China’s Hainan Island, the Pentagon has said. Spokesman John Kirby said that the US had protested to the Chinese military over the mid-air… Read More ›
Chinese oil rig leaves disputed waters near Vietnam
A Chinese oil rig has left disputed waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea, a month earlier than scheduled, and more than two months after its deployment to waters also claimed by Vietnam. China claims to have… Read More ›
Chinese media claims three strategic nuclear submarines berthed in Hainan are superior to current submarines
Canada’s Kanwa Defence Review (a foreign Chinese media publication) published an article on May 23, 2014 on three strategic nuclear submarines emerging (SSBN) at Yalung Bay, Sanya, Hainan Island at the same time. Some analysts regard them as 094 submarines…. Read More ›
Philippines police detain Chinese fishing boat in South China Sea
Philippines police seized a Chinese boat near ‘Half Moon Shoal‘ in the South China Sea on Wednesday after it was found to have hauled in 500 turtles. Philippine police confirmed the capture and said the vessel was being towed to… Read More ›
China apprehending boats weekly in disputed South China Sea
Chinese patrols enforcing disputed new fishing rules in the South China Sea are apprehending foreign boats on a weekly basis, Communist Party officials said on Thursday. In comments that provide the first window on how China is enforcing new rules… Read More ›
Child sex abuse cases in China prompt concern: ‘Teacher, leave those kids alone’
Suddenly all kinds of people in China are offering to sleep with the headmaster. The unusual outpouring is in response to a recent spate of sex abuse cases, including that of a school principal who spent the night in a… Read More ›
China’s underage sex scandals spark anger over ‘weak’ law
A series of sex scandals involving underage girls has prompted widespread public anger and calls for a review of Chinese laws. Early May 2013, official media reported that six primary schoolgirls aged around 10 and 11 were taken by a… Read More ›
China: One more type 054A frigate commissioned
Xinhua reports that a frigate was commissioned for the South China Sea fleet of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy on Friday, the China News Service says. The frigate Yueyang is capable of long-range surveillance, as well as air defence… Read More ›
China’s new hydrophonic detection net able to detect US nuclear submarines
According to China Science Daily’s report, China has completed the establishment at Lingshui, Hainan Province, its national marine acoustics research base, which is its first hydrophonic observation and detection net. According to Taiwan comments, that is China’s first public report… Read More ›
China holds ‘war games’ in South China Sea
Chinese military forces last week held air and ground defence exercises in the protested Sansha City in the southern province of Hainan, the prefecture established last year to govern the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China… Read More ›
China: State firms paid half the bribes rail executive Luo Jinbao received
About half of the bribes taken by a former top railways executive came from other state-owned railway companies, prosecutors have said, painting a damning portrait of rampant corruption in the sector. During the trial of former China Railway Container Transport… Read More ›
Alarm over shrinking coral reefs in South China Sea
China‘s economic boom has seen its coral reefs shrink by at least 80 per cent over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study found yesterday, with researchers describing “grim” levels of damage and loss. Scientists from the Australian Research… Read More ›
China’s evolving core security needs: Active defence or subtle offence?
A blueprint of China’s future defence framework was outlined by outgoing President Hu Jintao in his report delivered to the 18th Communist Party of China Congress last November. It called for the creation of a national defence and armed forces… Read More ›
As China’s clout grows, sea policy proves unfathomable
Imagine if the U.S. state of Hawaii passed a law allowing harbour police to board and seize foreign boats operating up to 1,000 km (600 miles) from Honolulu. That, in effect, is what happened in China about a week ago…. Read More ›
South China Sea enters gunboat diplomacy
We are on the brink of gunboat diplomacy. The past four weeks saw the swiftest escalation in recent years of tensions over the territorial disputes between China and its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific. The tensions spiralled in late November when… Read More ›
Philippine Government denounces China’s new maritime law (South China Sea)
The Philippine Government recently denounced China‘s new maritime law that will allow its border patrol to board and expel foreign ships in the South China Sea. In a statement through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine officials described the policy… Read More ›
China gives police power to board and expel foreign ships in South China Sea
China has granted its border patrol police the right to board and expel foreign ships entering disputed waters in the South China Sea, state media reported Thursday. The move comes after Beijing issued new passports containing a map showing its… Read More ›
China’s newest city: Sansha to build 83 low-rent apartments
Authorities in Sansha City, which was established last week on Yongxing Island in China‘s southernmost province of Hainan, have decided to build 83 low-rent apartments for its residents, the People’s Daily reported on July 30, 2012. The island is currently… Read More ›
China: Sansha capital Yongxing Island under strict military control
Hong Kong Ming Pao’s reporter has recently been on Yongxing Island and found that the island is under strict military control due to the rising tensions in the South China Sea. The reporter says the scenery on the island is… Read More ›
Large military hospital built for South China Sea actions
A large military hospital, newly built on Hainan Island, indicates that China’s hard-line attitude in the South China Sea is not merely bluffing. Hong Kong’s Ming Pao says that the Chinese military’s PLA Daily quoted Major General Li Shuzhang, President… Read More ›
Large Chinese fishing fleet sets out for Nansha disputed territory
According to various Chinese media including Xinhua, yesterday morning a fleet of 30 fishing boats held a setting sail ceremony at Sanya, Hainan Province. Among them was a 3,000-ton master ship and 29 fishing boats with tonnage of more than… Read More ›
