Journal of International Studies

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to side with ASEAN and rebuke China on the South China Sea dispute during the East Asian Summit in Brunei this week. The sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea predictably commanded much attention during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and East Asia Summits this past week. During his otherwise conciliatory speech at the latter event, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang forcefully made the case for China’s long-standing preference of trying to resolve the disputes bilaterally with only the parties directly involved. “Territorial and maritime disputes between countries in this region should be resolved by the countries concerned through friendly consultation,” Li said during the speech,  according to  state-run media outlets in China. Speaking shortly after Li at the same forum, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seemed to directly refute China’s position, although with some diplomatic subtlety. “A...

Australia’s new foreign minister referred to Japan as Canberra’s “best friend” in Asia and announced Australia’s support for Japan’s military modernization during her first trip to Tokyo in her current position. According to  Kyodo , Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday that Australia and Japan “share values and strategic interests” and “having so much in common, it’s not surprising that we should describe Japan as our best friend in Asia — not only to say it, but mean it.” Later during the visit,  Bishop announced  that Australia supports Shinzo Abe’s effort to adopt a normal defense posture. “The Australian government welcomes the direction that the Abe government has taken in terms of having a more normal defense posture and being able to take a constructive role in regional and global security.” She continued on this theme in a speech at the Japan National Press Club. “We look forward to Japan making a greater contr...

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) is creating a marine corps and establishing a new naval base in the South China Sea near waters it disputes with China,  IHS Jane’s reported this week , citing a press release from Defense Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein. According to the defense minister’s statement, the new naval base will be built in Bintulu on the South China Sea (SCS) for the explicit purpose of protecting nearby waters and oil reserves. As Jane’s points out, however, the base will be located just 60 miles from the James Shoal, an area in the South China Sea claimed by both Malaysia and China. Back in March a PLA amphibious task force conducted a large naval exercise in the James Shoal. “It is not just a few ships here and there, but a crack amphibious landing ship carrying marines and hovercraft and backed by some of the best escort ships in the PLAN fleet,” Gary Li, a senior analyst with IHS Fairplay,  told  Asian Correspondent  at the time. “We...

By   Zachary Keck In a move that surprised many, a Chinese defense company has won a US$4billion contract to help Turkey develop a long-range air and missile defense system, winning out over competing bids from U.S., EU, and Russian defense companies. Following a meeting by the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defense Industries’ (SSM) executive committee on Thursday, Turkey announced it had selected a proposal by China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corp. (CPMEIC) to jointly develop its  HQ-9 system  (FT-2000). CPMEIC won out over bids from U.S.-based Raytheon and Lockheed Martin’s Patriot missile defense system; Russia’s Rosoboronexport’s S-300; and Italian-French consortium Eurosam’s SAMP/T Aster 30. Although  there have been rumors  that Turkey was leaning toward CPMEIC, the news came as a shock to many. Turkey is a founding member of NATO, which is deploying the Patriot missile defense system in various countries throughout Europe. T...