By Reuters  February 11, 2019 | 01:55 pm GMT+7 U.S.'s destroyer USS McCampbell and the Royal Navy Type 23 ‘Duke’ Class guided-missile frigate HMS Argyll maneuver during a divisional tactics exercise in the South China Sea on January 15, 2019. Photo handed out by Reuters Two U.S. warships sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Monday, a U.S. official told Reuters. The move might anger Beijing at a time of tense relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Beijing and Washington are locked in a trade war and the two sides are trying to hammer out a deal ahead of a March 1 deadline when U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports are scheduled to increase to 25 percent from 10 percent. Escalating tensions between the United States and China have cost both countries billions of dollars and roiled global financial markets. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two guided-missile … [Read more...] about US destroyers sail in disputed South China Sea amid trade tensions
Spratly islands in the south china sea
Another Cold War? Insights from a close South China Sea encounter
U.S. and China warships have a close brush in the South China Sea on September 30. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Experts also say that the encounter is a sign that tensions have escalated and are unlikely to abate in the near future. Chinese destroyer Luyang approached the USS Decatur, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, as the latter passed within 12 nautical miles of the Gaven and Johnson reefs of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Sunday. The USS Decatur was carrying out a freedom of navigation operation (FONOPs) in the Spratlys. Captain Charles Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the Chinese warship conducted a series of increasingly aggressive maneuvers accompanied by warnings for the Decatur to depart the area. He said the Chinese destroyer "approached within 45 yards" of the front of the U.S. ship, adding that the Decatur "maneuvered to prevent a collision." Carl Schuster, a former U.S. Navy captain who spent 12 years at sea, now a Hawaii Pacific … [Read more...] about Another Cold War? Insights from a close South China Sea encounter
US warship sails near South China Sea area claimed by Beijing
An American warship has sailed through waters off the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in the latest implicit challenge to Beijing's sweeping territorial claims in the region, the Pentagon said on Sunday (Sep 30). This US Navy photo shows the Guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) as it operates in the South China Sea. (AFP/Petty Officer 2ndClass Diana QUINLAN) "Guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur conducted a freedom of navigation operation," an official told AFP. "Decatur sailed within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson reefs in the Spratly Islands." Map showing claims and major outposts on the disputed Spratly Islands. (AFP/Gal ROMA) The official said all US military operations in the area "are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows." The 12-mile distance is commonly accepted as constituting the territorial waters of a landmass. … [Read more...] about US warship sails near South China Sea area claimed by Beijing
Vietnam concerned about possibility China brings nuclear plants to South China Sea
An aerial view of Southwest Cay, also known as Pugad Island, controlled by Vietnam and part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, April 21, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Francis Malasig Responding to U.S. warnings that China might bring floating nuclear power plants to the area, Nguyen Phuong Tra, deputy spokesperson of Vietnam's Foreign Ministry, said peace and stability in the South China Sea, which is known as the East Sea in Vietnam, was in the common interest of every country in the world. "Therefore all parties are obliged to contribute to this goal," Tra said at a press conference Thursday. In the annual report submitted to the Congress, the U.S. Department of Defense warned that China might have plans to power islands and reefs in the South China Sea with floating nuclear power stations. Development of such projects could begin prior to 2020, the report said. The spokesperson of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte also said that the Philippine … [Read more...] about Vietnam concerned about possibility China brings nuclear plants to South China Sea
Vietnam concerned over possibility of China bringing ‘nuclear element’ to South China Sea
An aerial view of Southwest Cay, also known as Pugad Island, controlled by Vietnam and part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, April 21, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Francis Malasig Vietnam's Foreign Ministry has called for all parties to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, which it calls the East Sea. "Vietnam believes that the maintenance of peace, stability, security, maritime and aviation safety in the East Sea is in the common interests of and is an obligation of countries in the region and the world," the ministry's deputy spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Tra said at a press conference on Thursday. "Therefore all parties are obliged to contribute to this goal," Tra asserted. The foreign ministry's response came after the U.S. Department of Defense released its annual report to the U.S. Congress, in which it warned that China might have plans to power islands and reefs in the South China Sea with floating nuclear power stations. Development of such projects … [Read more...] about Vietnam concerned over possibility of China bringing ‘nuclear element’ to South China Sea