October 2, 2020 | AMTI Brief

The Cambodian government has demolished a U.S.-built facility at the country’s Ream Naval Base, according to satellite imagery collected on October 1. The demolition occurred sometime after September 5—likely around September 10—though imagery of sufficient resolution to confirm was not available at that time. The building was one of several U.S.-funded facilities on the base which were reportedly to be relocated after Cambodia struck a secret deal to grant China access to Ream. The recent demolition seems to confirm that changes are underway at the naval base and again raises questions about rumored Chinese access.

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BY NGUYEN THUY ANH | JULY 15, 2020
AMTI UPDATE

China has not only attempted to change facts on the ground in the South China Sea, but is also seeking to gradually change the world’s mind regarding its claims there. This battle over perceptions has not received adequate attention.

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BY GREGORY POLING | JULY 14, 2020
AMTI UPDATE

Yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced an important shift in U.S. declaratory policy on the South China Sea. This morning, Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell elaborated further during remarks at CSIS’s annual South China Sea Conference. The press statement from Pompeo listed specific Chinese maritime claims the United States considers illegal. The statement marks a significant clarification of prior U.S. positions but not a radical break from past policy. It makes explicit things that had been implied by previous administrations. And in that it sets the stage for more effective diplomatic messaging and stronger responses to China’s harassment of its neighbors. U.S. partners and allies in the region were seemingly briefed in advance—the Philippine defense secretary, for instance, was ready with a positive statement within hours. And the new policy sparked excited, and often hyperbolic, coverage in the press and social media.

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23 Sep 2020 Al Jareeza

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte went on the offensive over the South China Sea on Wednesday, in his first-ever address to the United Nations General Assembly, stressing his country’s legal victory at The Hague in its long-simmering maritime dispute with China.

In a video address recorded in Manila, Duterte said that the Philippines has rights over the parts of the South China Sea that The Hague ruling declared to be within the country’s exclusive economic zone.

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PUBLISHED: JUNE 16, 2020 amti.csis

China has deployed a network of sensors and communications capabilities between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands in the northern South China Sea. These capabilities are part of a “Blue Ocean Information Network” (蓝海信息网络) developed by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), a state-owned company, to aid in the exploration and control of the maritime environment using information technology.

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TĐH: See notes verbales by Malaysia, UK & Northern Ireland, France, Germany, and China to United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf here >>

20/09/2020    17:30 GMT+7 vietnamnet

France, the United Kingdom and Germany has submitted a joint note verbale expressing their views against the seven notes the Chinese mission had proposed for circulation at the United Nations. 

VietNamNet introduces an article by Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao on this issue:

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By Viet Anh   September 17, 2020 | 08:10 pm GMT+7 vnexpress

Vietnam on Thursday reaffirmed its sovereignty after the U.S. Embassy removed from its Facebook page an accurate Vietnamese map including its East Sea archipelagos.

“Vietnam has consistently maintained the Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands) and Truong Sa (Spratly Islands) as inseparable parts of the Vietnamese territory. This consistent stance has been taken multiple times in multiple forms, including at the United Nations, and is supported and respected by many countries,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet Thursday afternoon.

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vietnamnet 11/09/2020    16:07 GMT+7

ASEAN is steadfast in its stance of restraint and peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of international law in the face of threats to stability, security and safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

Speaking at the opening of the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (AMM 53) and related conferences on September 9, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said this was the first time the meeting has been held online. “Dynamism in action, flexibility in response, and creativity in cooperation are characteristic of ASEAN over the past five decades,” he said.

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By Huyen Le   September 10, 2020 | 08:50 pm GMT+7 vnexpress
Vietnam and China have agreed to promote negotiations for the delimitation of sea areas beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin.

The two sides will also negotiate cooperation on the East Sea, which is known internationally as the South China Sea.

The two countries held online the 13th round of negotiations regarding the seas beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin and the 10th round of consultation on cooperation for mutual benefit at sea on Wednesday, according to a Thursday press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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31/08/2020    22:50 GMT+7 vietnamnet

Mọi hoạt động ở quần đảo Hoàng Sa và quần đảo Trường Sa mà không được Việt Nam cho phép là vi phạm chủ quyền của Việt Nam, không có lợi cho hoà bình, ổn định, trật tự, an ninh, an toàn.

Phản ứng của Việt Nam khi Trung Quốc điều oanh tạc cơ đến Hoàng Sa

Kiên quyết phản đối Trung Quốc đưa tàu chiến, máy bay ra Trường Sa

Phản ứng của Việt Nam khi Philippines đặt tên bãi cát, đá san hô ở đảo Thị Tứ

Ngày 31/8, trả lời câu hỏi đề nghị cho biết phản ứng của Việt Nam trước việc Trung Quốc thông tin về việc nước này tập trận quân sự, bắn tên lửa tại Biển Đông, trong đó có quần đảo Hoàng Sa và quần đảo Trường Sa của Việt Nam, người phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao Lê Thị Thu Hằng nêu rõ:

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Bloomberg Last Updated: Aug 27, 2020, 10:10 AM EconomicTimes

China launched four medium-range ballistic missiles into the South China Sea on Wednesday amid broader military exercises by the PLA, according to a U.S. defense official who asked not to be identified. The missiles landed in the sea in an area between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands, the official said. The move came a day after Beijing protested a flyover by a U.S. spy plane.

By David Wainer and Tony Capaccio

U.S.-China tensions over the South China Sea escalated on Wednesday with Beijing firing four missiles into the disputed waterway and the Trump administration strengthening action against companies that helped set up outposts in the region.

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Update: August, 26/2020 – 12:15|vietnamnewsChina’s Liaoning aircraft carrier sailing during a drill in the South China Sea in 2018. — AFP/VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has condemned China’s latest military drill in Hoàng Sa (Paracel) islands as a move against the country’s territorial integrity and regional peace.

The statement was made by Việt Nam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lê Thị Thu Hằng on Wednesday over reported Chinese naval exercises and live-fire drills in a part of the Paracels lying within the hotly contested South China Sea (known in Việt Nam as the East Sea) on August 24-29.

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