A photo of Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy warships in 2014. PLAN Photo
Five Chinese warships crossed into U.S. territorial waters heading south out of the Bering Sea exercising a stipulation in maritime law that allows a warship to cross into another country’s maritime territory legally, U.S. defense officials told USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) sits at anchor upon its arrival off the coast of Da Nang, Vietnam on Aug. 17, 2015. US Marine Corps Photo
The San Diego-based hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) and the Joint High Speed Vessel USNS Millinocket (JHSV-3) are in Da Nang, Vietnam this week as part of a humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) exercises. Read More
The following is the Aug. 7, 2015 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress. Read More
An undated photo of a Chinese Type Yuting II Type 072A tank landing ship (LST). PLAN Photo
A People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) amphibious warship allegedly rammed two Vietnamese fishing vessels operating near the disputed Spratly Islands in July, according to local press cited in an Office of Naval Intelligence threat to shipping report. Read More
An undated photo of BRP Sierra Madre, grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratley Islands
The Philippines government has begun efforts to reinforce the tiny outpost of BRP Sierra Madre, a dilapidated World War II-era landing ship deliberately beached on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999. Due in no small part to extensive media coverage, the vessel is a well-known symbol of the ongoing territorial dispute over the mineral- and resource-rich Spratleys Island group. Read More
Sailors refuel an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter attached to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) during a maneuvering exercise with Philippine navy ships BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF 15) and BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF 16) in the South China Sea on June 24, 2015. US Navy photo.
The Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) completed its first-ever Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Philippines, ahead of bilateral CARAT engagements with other Asian partners later this year. Read More
An undated satellite image shows a Chinese land reclamation project in the South China Sea. Xinhua Photo
China is claiming its massive engineering efforts to reclaim some land in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea is nearing an end ahead of a larger construction effort, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday. Read More
A naval honor guard at the in 2012 on board the Liaoning. Xinhua News Agency Photo
The following is the first public Chinese Military Strategy white paper outlining a new policy of “active defense,” released by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense on May 26, 2015. Read More
The following is a May 21, 2015 letter from Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and ranking member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter asking the Pentagon not to invite the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy to the international Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises in 2016 due primarily to China’s extensive reclamation efforts in contested areas in the South China Sea. Read More
A soldier with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) during the Rim of the Pacific 2014 Exercise. US Navy Photo
On Monday the United States and Japan agreed to the most sweeping changes to their bilateral alliance in more than fifty years. The so-called “2+2” Security Consultative Committee (SCC), consisting of the U.S. secretary of state, and secretary of defense, and Japan’s foreign minister and defense minister agreed to a series of initiatives that will draw the two allies even closer in defense and security matters. Read More
