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- Two PLA Navy ships are only vessels to have docked at Chinese-financed Ream naval base since upgrades last year, US intelligence report
- Phnom Penh has denied deal to grant permanent Chinese military presence at port that was said to be open to all navies
Wang Yi makes several veiled swipes at the US in a press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi, also hitting out at trade protectionism.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to the three countries this week as Beijing steps up diplomacy with Southeast Asia amid US rivalry.
The Philippine president said the cooperation agreement signed in Washington will change the dynamic in Asean and around the contested waterway.
‘If China and Vietnam work well on this’, Manila would ‘not go too far to provoke’ Beijing, analyst says.
One of the lines is planned to run from Vietnam’s port cities of Haiphong and Quang Ninh to the border with China’s Yunnan province. The other would run from Hanoi to near Guangxi.
Chinese foreign ministry says China does not compete with other nations in military power and ‘firmly pursues a defensive national defence policy’.
National Assembly chairman Vuong Dinh Hue makes a ‘highly symbolic’ trip to Beijing as tensions rise in the South China Sea.
China holds air and sea combat patrol to coincide with full-scale exercise by the US and its allies aimed at supporting ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’.
Top diplomats reaffirm commitment to 20-year-old conduct agreement, promise strengthened trade ties.
Boao Forum for Asia told China could do more ‘for the public good’ in effort to build trust with Asean neighbours. Marine environmental protection, scientific research and search-and-rescue among areas seen as ripe for China-Asean cooperation.
Jakarta and Beijing pledge to strengthen joint drills as Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto meets Chinese defence chief Dong Jun during his first overseas trip since winning his country’s election.
Wu Shicun, founding president of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies, is pessimistic about progress of South China Sea Code of Conduct.
Chinese leader calls for two nations to push for an ‘equal and orderly multipolar world’. Visiting Indonesian president-elect says he supports development of closer ties.
The former general, who will take office in October after his sweeping victory was confirmed last week, has been invited by President Xi Jinping.
Reciprocal trips by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart, Tshering Tobgay, are said to strengthen ties but could disturb Thimphu’s border negotiations with Beijing.
Readers discuss Australia’s overtures to Southeast Asia at a summit this month, and the chances of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi returning to power.
Former president Duterte’s purported verbal pact with Xi intended to mitigate South China Sea disputes, yet China’s renewed hostility prompts scrutiny
Senior diplomat Liu Zhenmin tells Boao Forum in Hainan countries should resolve their disputes on a regional basis and warns outsiders not to ‘fan the flames’.
Chinese construction firms are eyeing opportunities in Nusantara, which is set to replace Jakarta as Indonesia’s capital, adding to projects in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia.
Manila looks likely to pass a law outlining its claims to the disputed waters in the hope of strengthening its hand following a series of clashes.
On the same day, Chinese embassy in the Philippines says Washington should refrain from ‘instigating trouble’ in the South China Sea.
The threat from Beijing’s sweeping South China Sea claims is growing, the Philippine president said in an interview – but he hopes ‘the time never comes’ that he has to invoke a mutual defence treaty with the US.
Nearly 40 per cent of respondents said Indonesia and other Asean states should form an alliance to defend Jakarta’s sovereignty in the South China Sea.
