In The News

To Tame a Dragon

Nayan Chanda February 15, 2016
US President Barack Obama, hosting the first US-ASEAN summit, is calling for a negotiated settlement over South China Sea disputes. “For the past several years, the US has sought unsuccessfully to nudge Asean members to take a unified stance against China’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea,” writes Nayan Chanda, founding editor of YaleGlobal Online, for the Times of India. “Although member...

Asia Should Not Delay on South China Sea Disputes

Humphrey Hawksley February 9, 2016
The US military is challenging China’s claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea that includes some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. “The unpredictability of the American presidential election now heightens the risk because inevitably it will come with ramped-up anti-China campaign rhetoric,” reports BBC journalist Humphrey Hawksley. The United States and countries in Asia are divided...

Why Are Chinese Fishermen Destroying Coral Reefs in the South China Sea?

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes February 1, 2016
Good stewardship typically accompanies a sense of ownership – but greed can interfere and claims over ocean commons are difficult to enforce. A BBC News report by Rupert Wingfield-Hayes backed up claims from Filipino politicians, suggesting “that Chinese fishermen were deliberately destroying reefs near a group of Philippine-controlled atolls in the Spratly Islands.” The reporter describes reefs...

The US and Russia Face to Face as Ice Curtain Melts

Humphrey Hawksley November 5, 2015
The US defense budget for 2014 is more than double that of Russia and China’s combined. Measuring naval strength is trickier as comparisons of hulls or personnel matter less than surveillance and sophisticated weaponry and vessels like ice-cutters. As climate change melts sea ice, countries eye the Arctic for natural resources and trade routes, reassessing naval positions. Journalist Humphrey...

Just a Nudge Could Collapse West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Raise Sea Levels 3 Meters

Carolyn Gramling November 5, 2015
Freezing and melting of the Arctic and Antarctic regions along with global weather patterns are volatile. Researchers prepare models to predict when a large West Antarctic Ice Sheet will break away, eventually causing global sea levels to rise by as much as 3 meters. “Just a few decades of melting leads to ‘thousands of years of ice motion,’” writes Carolyn Gramling for Science Magazine. “More...

US Sail-By Rattles Beijing's Sovereignty Claims

Minnie Chan and Agencies October 28, 2015
The South China Sea includes some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and areas of the sea are under dispute. China, one of several claimants, has built up reefs once submerged under high tide, adding airstrips, ports and other infrastructure. A US Navy warship challenged China’s claims by sailing within 12 nautical miles of the disputed Mischief and Subi reefs in the Spratly archipelago....

Narrow Court Ruling May Offer Room for Diplomacy on South China Sea Claims

Ashley Townshend October 13, 2015
The announcement is expected any day from the Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on whether it has jurisdiction to rule on the Philippines’ case against China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea. In the ensuing hearing, a narrow ruling against China’s “nine-dashed line” is the most likely outcome, suggests Ashley Townshend, a research fellow in the...