Tag - islands

 
 

ISLANDS

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s order appears to expand the role of the military among the agencies supporting the government's maritime council.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 31, 2024
Philippines' Marcos boosts maritime security as China tension rises
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s order appears to expand the role of the military among the agencies supporting the government's maritime council.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 25, 2024
New Zealand troops to help Solomon Islands in election
New Zealand said it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month.
A screenshot from a video taken and released Saturday shows China Coast Guard ships deploying water cannons against a Philippine military-chartered civilian supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 24, 2024
After clash, China warns Philippines over escalation in South China Sea
China's Defense Ministry issued the warning a day after Manila accused Beijing of damaging a Philippine vessel and injuring its crew with water cannons.
A screenshot from a video taken and released Saturday shows China Coast Guard ships deploying water cannons against a Philippine military-chartered civilian supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 23, 2024
Philippines says China Coast Guard again injured crew with water cannon in South China Sea
Chinese vessels severely damaged a Philippine civilian resupply ship as it headed for a military base in the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visits army bases ahead of the Lunar New Year in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Feb. 6.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 21, 2024
Citing safety risk, Taiwan president skips South China Sea visit
The official said the South China Sea had been highly militarized, and that the trip may cause international controversy.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Philippines' president, speaks during an interview in Manila on Tuesday. Marcos said the threat to his nation from China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea is growing but argued that his government's efforts to assert sovereignty over disputed areas aren't meant to start a conflict by "poking the bear." 
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 20, 2024
Marcos warns on China threat, says he’s not ‘poking the bear’
But since the threat has grown, Manila "must do more" to defend its territory, the Philippine president says.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel film a China Coast Guard vessel during a supply mission in the disputed South China Sea on March 5.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2024
U.S. key to Philippines’ plan to tap oil and gas in South China Sea
Manila is seeking to parlay its deepening security ties with Washington into broader economic benefits, the Philippine ambassador to the U.S. said.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel inspect the hull of the ship during a collision incident between the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Sindangan and a Chinese Coast Guard ship in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2024
Manila says coast guard ship damaged in 'dangerous' moves by Chinese vessel
The incident comes a day after Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo called on China to "stop harassing us" and as ASEAN meets in Australia.
The fishing vessel had engine trouble on Sunday off the Kozushima island in the Izu the archipelago.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2024
One dead, 24 rescued off Japanese fishing boat
Dramatic television footage showed the 56-meter vessel on its side being pounded by waves as the crew huddled on deck and a helicopter hovered overhead.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo speaks during an interview on the sidelines of the Australia-ASEAN summit in Melbourne on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2024
Philippines foreign minister urges China to 'stop harassing us'
Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo was speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne.
A U.S. B-52 bomber conducts joint training with Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 2, 2024
Japanese fighter jets and U.S. bombers train over Sea of Japan and East China Sea
The joint exercises over the two waterways were seen as a show of deterrence to both Beijing and Pyongyang.
A Chinese coast guard ship near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Feb. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 29, 2024
China militia presence increases in South China Sea: report
Satellite imagery of nine features in the sea, including reefs and shoals, identified an average of 195 militia ships present on any given day in 2023.
A floating barrier at the entrance of Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Feb. 22
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 27, 2024
Satellite images reveal floating barrier at mouth of disputed atoll in South China Sea
China claims the Scarborough Shoal, although it is inside the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (far left) and the prime minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mataafa (far right), meet in Apia, the capital of Samoa, on Feb. 10.
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2024
Japan plays a game of Pacific islands geopolitical chess
The influx of Chinese investment and activities have introduced risk for some Pacific island nations, moves which Japan cannot ignore.
Taiwan's coast guard said it would continue to use radar, surveillance and patrols to ensure the "harmony and safety" of the waters near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, which are close to China's shores.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2024
Taiwan drives away Chinese coast guard boat as tensions rise
The Chinese coast guard vessel had entered Taiwan's waters near Kinmen a day after officers from the agency boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat.
Filipino fishermen aboard their wooden boats sail past a Chinese coast guard ship near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Feb. 15.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 20, 2024
Philippines joint air patrol with U.S. to 'protect territory'
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of commercial shipping annually.
Taiwanese Coast Guard crew surround an overturned Chinese speed boat near the Kinmen Islands on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 18, 2024
China to send coast guard ships as tensions rise over Taiwanese islands
Taiwan defended its moves after two people on a Chinese speedboat, which got too close to a front-line Taiwanese island, died when their boat overturned.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 16, 2024
Anxious over funding delay, Pacific island nations warn about China
The additional amount currently needed is a relatively small $2.3 billion.
Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto votes at a polling station during the general election in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 14, 2024
Prabowo on track to win Indonesia’s presidential election
This is Prabowo’s third time to run for the country’s top job, after losing in 2014 and 2019 to incumbent Joko "Jokowo" Widodo.
A sign erected in Hokkaido’s port of Nemuro calls for the return of the Russian-occupied islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2024
Geopolitical chess: Unpacking the Northern Territories conundrum
While domestic motivation for Tokyo to resolve the Northern Territories dispute may endure, the opposite is true in Moscow.

Longform

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