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As an international tribunal prepares to rule on Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, officials in Washington, Tokyo and Southeast Asia are on tenterhooks. Yet, in the words of one senior Chinese official, Beijing does not care.
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The author argues that Republican Senators are partly to blame for Asia’s current instability as "China defends its maritime expansion, which violates UNCLOS, by pointing to the failure of the U.S. to ratify the convention. President Obama and Senate Democrats strongly support ratification, and would do it tomorrow if given the chance."
[ More ]The list of countries backing Beijing’s stance in the South China Sea just keeps growing, lured by China's growing financial clout, and U.S. hypocrisy over UNCLOS is not helping convince them otherwise.
[ More ]Pew Environment advocates for a precautionary approach to the emerging deep seabed mining industry, arguing that "[l]arge, ecologically important areas of the seabed should be closed to mineral extraction, and precautionary standards must be adopted by the ISA to minimize environmental damage where mining does occur."
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Voice of America looks at a few of the reasons why the U.S. has not ratified UNCLOS.
[ More ]U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday the United States would consider any Chinese establishment of an air defense zone over the South China Sea to be a "provocative and destabilizing act".
[ More ]China is expected to raise tensions this month if a Law of the Seas tribunal rules against their claims in the South China Sea.
[ More ]Addressing his last commencement ceremony at a military academy, President Obama spoke to new Air Force graduates Thursday about the lessons he has learned as commander in chief and challenged the isolationism represented by current presidential candidates and in the Senate's reluctance to consider key international treaties such as UNCLOS.
[ More ]The U.S. military’s effort to keep the Asia-Pacific region stable and secure in the face of a rising China is akin to the 50-year Cold War standoff with the Soviet Union, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday. Chinese and U.S. actions and reactions in the South China Sea are just one part of a grand pattern in an era he predicted will end when China changes internally.
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Although several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Sudan, have recently shown renewed interest in tapping mineral resources on the deep seabed, the costs of operating in the difficult environment deep waters pose will likely preserve subsea basins for a little while longer.
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