ASEAN Patrols in the South China Sea?

Earlier this week, the commander of the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet made headlines when he suggested that ASEAN countries could cooperate to form a maritime force to patrol areas of the South China Sea.

China’s Military Buildup Worrisome, Japan’s U.S. Ambassador Says

China’s “spectacularly active” naval posture and “massive” military buildup in Asia are part of a pattern of belligerent behavior toward Japan and other neighbors over maritime disputes, according to Japan’s ambassador to the U.S.

Speaking at a Bloomberg Government breakfast in Washington yesterday, Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Kenichiro Sasae described China’s increasingly frequent forays to lodge territorial claims in the resource-rich East and South China Seas as “harassing” and “provocative.”