Weekly News 31/7 - 5/8
01/08/2018
14/03/2018
The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group has kicked off bilateral exercises with the Maritime Self-Defense Force, including one of the largest vessels in Japan’s fleet, in the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.
The navy, which said the Vinson was on a “regularly scheduled deployment in the Western Pacific,” said the Vinson and the USS Wayne E. Meyer guided-missile destroyer were conducting combined operations with the MSDF’s Ise helicopter destroyer as part of drills aimed at bolstering maritime interoperability between the long-standing allies.
The navy said the exercises had kicked off Sunday as both ships transited the South China Sea.
Read more at Japan Times
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The 3rd event in the Ocean Dialogue series focused on recent developments in the South China Sea from a legal perspective and how stakeholders could cooperate to manage disputes in the region.
Vietnam asks China, as a large nation in the region and the world, to perform its responsibility in maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea, stated Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang on May 8.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull asserted the right of the Australian navy to travel the South China Sea, after local media reported three Australian warships were challenged by the Chinese navy earlier this month.
Disclosure comes as Chinese military conducts what U.S. officials describe as its largest military exercise to date in South China Sea.
China and Vietnam vowed on Sunday (Apr 1) to keep the peace in the South China Sea, the resource-rich waterway that has long been a source of tension between Hanoi and its powerhouse communist neighbour.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano hailed a “golden period” in ties with China on Wednesday despite differences over the South China Sea as the countries discussed how they might conduct joint development projects in the disputed waters.
