South China Sea

Economic diplomacy: Navigating Asia’s trade tangle and a NSW “step-up”
Economic diplomacy: Navigating Asia’s trade tangle and a NSW “step-up”
Finding RCEP India might have spurned the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, but its parable of the blind men and the elephant still provides the best way of…
Reading between the lines: Duterte’s careful South China Sea speech
Reading between the lines: Duterte’s careful South China Sea speech
Since coming to office, President Rodrigo Duterte has largely ignored the 2016 arbitration award made in favour of the Philippines under the United Nations Convention on the Law…
Australia's Security and the Rules-Based Order: Tracking a Decade of Policy Evolution
Interactives
Australia's Security and the Rules-Based Order: Tracking a Decade of Policy Evolution
In this feature, we identify ten recurring propositions about the rules-based order and show it's evolution through national debate and government policy. Explore how the rules…
The South China Sea map that wasn’t
The South China Sea map that wasn’t
On 9 September, the US embassy in Hanoi published on Facebook a map of Vietnam on a poster to commemorate the 25th anniversary of US-Vietnam diplomatic relations. At first the map…
Jakarta should be wary of Beijing’s South China Sea proposals
Jakarta should be wary of Beijing’s South China Sea proposals
Jakarta has long made clear its position as a non-claimant state on the South China Sea, stating its principal interest in the dispute is to maintain peace and security in the…
China is overturning the rules-based order from within
China is overturning the rules-based order from within
Persistent debates over the meaning of the “liberal” or “rules-based” international order demonstrate a point of agreement among scholars and policymakers: the real power of the…
Brunei, ASEAN and the South China Sea
Brunei, ASEAN and the South China Sea
On 20 July, after a long period silence on the issue, the Brunei Darussalam Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement declaring that it “maintains its two-step approach in…
Australia lays down the law in the South China Sea dispute
Australia lays down the law in the South China Sea dispute
Australia has entered the renewed diplomatic fray about China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea, clarifying, if not entirely resolving, Canberra’s previously vague legal…
After ASEAN summit, little change on the South China Sea
After ASEAN summit, little change on the South China Sea
On 26 June, the leaders of the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held their 36th annual summit by video conference, after the in-person summit…
As Jakarta trims defence, Beijing makes waves in the South China Sea
As Jakarta trims defence, Beijing makes waves in the South China Sea
The Covid-19 outbreak has hit hard for Southeast Asian economies. Anticipating more shocks to come, several countries have already moved to cut defence spending, seeing the…