Focusing exclusively on China’s use of coercion across the region obscures the true extent of Beijing’s ambitions.

China’s official denials of growing military capability in the region look a lot like gaslighting.

Plus, revisiting assumptions that China would be reluctant to interfere with South China Sea trade routes.

The President of the Philippines may stump up with more nationalist rhetoric, but his true message to Beijing is plain.

A mistake? Maybe. But a US map of Vietnam including the Paracel and Spratly islands raises big questions.

“Joint development” is a misnomer when China has no legal stake in what is Indonesian territory.

By contesting basic principles of international law, China is doing far more damage than is often recognised.

A long-silent claimant has spoken, but will it be heard?

Canberra rejects the PRC’s “historic rights” claim to contested waters but now faces the test of what to do about it.

Despite expectations leaders might collectively rebuke China for its latest actions, the message was more uncertain.

Covid-19 has seen Southeast Asian countries cut defence budgets just as maritime threats look to be growing dire.

While the US is busy containing the coronavirus, Beijing stakes its claims in the South China Sea.

By backing each other’s claims, a united Southeast Asian front would be difficult for Beijing to divide and conquer.

Natuna Islands in the South China Sea has flared again, with Jakarta giving every indication it’s not for backing down.

From the South China Sea to the Rohingya crisis, Saifuddin Abdullah speaks to Lowy’s Ben Bland on Asia’s big challenges.

President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen to woo Beijing, in spite of widespread public objection.

<p>Coercion rather than conciliation is Beijing’s preferred tactic in South China Sea disputes.</p>

While Vietnam would welcome American warships sailing near the disputed islands, other Southeast Asian counties would be concerned about escalating militarisation.

Vietnam has long sought to calibrate its defence posture in the shadows of great power competition.

Communicating contradictory images and aspirations does not help create a consistent perception of ASEAN among its external partners.

China’s neighbours are not passive dominoes or feckless pawns in a US-China power contest.

China is forging ahead with a regional counter-order to displace America.

Three domestic factors are likely to drive the US toward a tougher China policy.

Too much time on problems without solutions will doom ASEAN to paltry progress.

It is sobering that Indian diplomats are talking of the Quad as a way to stiffen Australia’s spine.

Organising a loose strategic coalition might upset Beijing, but that's no reason not to forge ahead.

China's leaders would very reluctantly back down if they were truly convinced that the alternative was war with America. But how would the US convince them of that?

Asia has acquired yet another flashpoint, one that China has deliberately picked at a time and location of its choosing.

The White House seems to regard FONOPs as a means to induce Chinese concessions on the North Korean nuclear issue. This is not what these patrols are designed for.

The US doesn’t have to be willing to blockade Scarborough Reef to stop China from building a military base there.

Boris Johnson’s ebullient pronouncements last week on a future Royal Navy freedom of navigation operation in the Indo-Pacific region have attracted attention, but also criticism.

Beijing is not just trying to take control of an important body of water. It is trying to take control of East Asia and hopes to use the South China Sea dispute to do that.

The Jokowi Administration is not the first Southeast Asian government to use name changes to obscure adverse developments on the water in the South China Sea.

Vietnam regards naval activity by larger nations like India and the US in the area as a useful deterrent against China.

There's a viable plan on the shelf if and when US policymakers are willing to admit that US efforts on the South China Sea are faltering.

Responding to North Korea’s threats is the perfect opportunity to start a new chapter in the US-Japan-Australia security relationship.

Tillerson’s suggestion does not help the US politically in the region.

The normally restrained Reuters said Tillerson had 'set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing'. Reuters is not exaggerating

Judicial activism as a leading element of the evolution of the law of the sea will be something new and potentially destabilising.

Fissures have erupted within Labor over whether Australia should join the US in conducting freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) in the South China Sea.