Politics
Hainan’s New Maritime Regulations: A Preliminary Analysis
Hainan’s People’s Congress recently approved new regulations for the management of public order for coastal and border defense. Part of the regulations authorizes public security units to inspect, detain or expel foreign ships illegally entering waters under Hainan’s jurisdiction. As a result, initial reporting and analysis indicated that the regulations may provide a basis for China to challenge freedom of navigation in the vast disputed waters of the South China Sea. As the full-text of the regulations have not been published, such conclusions are, at the very least, premature.
Hainan’s People’s Congress recently approved new regulations for the management of public order for coastal and border defense. Part of the regulations authorizes public security units to inspect, detain or expel foreign ships illegally entering waters under Hainan’s jurisdiction. As a result, initial reporting and analysis indicated that the regulations may provide a basis for China to challenge freedom of navigation in the vast disputed waters of the South China Sea. As the full-text of the regulations have not been published, such conclusions are, at the very least, premature.
Continued here:
Hainan’s New Maritime Regulations: A Preliminary Analysis
Politics
US Navy Carrier Conducts Exercises in South China Sea
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A US Navy aircraft carrier conducted exercises in the contested South China Sea on Friday, the US navy said in a statement. –
A strike group led by the USS Ronald Reagan conducted flight operations and high-end maritime stability operations and exercises, the statement said, Reuters reported.”Integration with our joint partners is essential to ensuring joint force responsiveness and lethality, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” US Navy Commander Joshua Fagan, Task Force 70 air operations officer aboard USS Ronald Reagan, was quoted as saying.The drill comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and China.
Washington has criticized Beijing over its novel coronavirus response and accuses it of taking advantage of the pandemic to push territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere.The United States has long opposed China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea and has sent warships regularly through the strategic waterway.China has objected to such exercises and said the US rejection of its claims in the South China Sea has raised tension and undermined stability in the region.China claims nine tenths of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which some $3 trillion of trade passes a year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims.
Politics
How China is using tourism for geopolitical goals
The Chinese government has a degree of leverage over its tourists that other governments do not enjoy. Many Chinese tourists are new to international tourism and have limited international language abilities
Decades of astonishing economic growth have given China new tools for extending its influence abroad and achieving its political goals.
(more…)