International Crisis Group

China takes the gloves off | CNN GPS

By Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt

As tensions rise in the South China Sea, the gloves are coming off in Beijing. When it comes to exploiting the weaknesses of its rivals in Southeast Asia – smaller nations also laying claim to the South China Sea – China doesn’t pull any punches.

Until recently, it followed a line of “reactive assertiveness” – responding forcefully to perceived provocations in this disputed body of water. Now, there are signs that China has shed the “reactive” part of its approach.

FULL ARTICLE (CNN GPS)

Photo: Daderot/ Flickr

ICG Warns of Regional War | Bangkok Post

Tensions over competing claims in the South China Sea could escalate into conflict, with an arms build-up among rival nations raising the temperature, an international think tank warned Tuesday.

Prospects of solving the disputes “seem to be diminishing” after a recent failure by the 10-nation ASEAN grouping to hammer out a “code of conduct” that would govern actions in the sea, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

FULL ARTICLE (Bangkok Times)

Photo: Gunawan Kartapranata/ Wikimedia Commons

Nations at Impasse Over South China Sea, Group Warns | New York Times

By Jane Perlez

The intensifying disputes between China and four of its Southeast Asian neighbors over claims in the South China Sea have begun to raise warnings over the prospect of open conflict.

The disputes, enmeshed in the competition for energy resources, have reached an impasse, according to a report by the International Crisis Group, a research organization that has become a leading authority on the frictions.

FULL ARTICLE (New York Times)

Photo: Voice of America/ Wikimedia Commons

Territorial disputes, coupled with a history of violent conflict and a staggering bilateral trade deficit, have fostered widespread suspicion of and animosity toward China.

Hardliners and nationalists are angered by this; some have even urged the Chinese government to launch a war and “teach the small South East Asian countries a lesson”.

Quotes from our latest report, Stirring up the South China Sea (II): Regional Responses.

Hardened lines in the South China Sea | Asia Times

By Roberto Tofani

Tit-for-tat moves by China and Vietnam represent the latest indication that tensions could break into conflict over contested and potentially resource rich maritime areas in the South China Sea. 

Hanoi’s National Assembly late last month overwhelmingly passed a law that effectively declared sovereignty over areas of the Spratly and Paracel Islands, including territories claimed by China. The law will come into force at the beginning of next year, leaving unclear how Hanoi plans to fortify its claim in what it refers to as the East Vietnam Sea. 

The decision came in the wake of the publication of a short essay entitled “Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa [Paracel] and Truong Sa [Spratly] Archipelagos” by the National Political Publishing House, which gave historical evidence in support of Vietnam’s claims. 

FULL ARTICLE (Asia Times)

Photo: U.S. Navy photo/ Cmdr. Ed Thompson

China-Vietnam row hits energy groups | The Financial Times

By Ben Bland and Gwen Robinson

Some of the world’s biggest energy companies, including ExxonMobil and Gazprom, have been thrust into the deteriorating territorial dispute between China and Vietnam in the resource-rich South China Sea.

FULL ARTICLE (Financial Times)

FOX News | Chinese plans to tour disputed islands may increase tensions with Vietnam

A Chinese provincial official said Tuesday he’s determined to start tourism development in the disputed Paracel Islands this year, a move that could further raise tensions with rival claimant Vietnam.

Hainan Vice Governor Tan Li said he is preparing to take tourists to the archipelago, about 220 miles southwest of Hainan and about the same distance from Vietnam’s coast.

Tan gave no details, although the provincial tourism authority has previously organized at least one tourist regatta to the islands.

China ejected forces of the former South Vietnam from the Paracels in 1974, but Vietnam insists the islands are part of its territory. They are one of several island groups in the South China Sea that are claimed by China and other governments. They lie amid crucial international shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds, and what are thought to be potentially abundant oil and gas reserves.

Opening the islands to tourism would shore up China’s claims of sovereignty. Beijing announced plans for development in 2009 that were met with immediate protests by Vietnam.