DigitalGlobe high-resolution imagery of the Subi Reef in the South China Sea. Photo via Getty Images.Chathamhouse – China has been on a diplomatic charm offensive last week to improve its relations with neighbours who have a stake in the stability of the South China Sea (SCS), reaching out to Vietnam and Japan and culminating in the historic meeting with Taiwan’s leader Ma Ying-jeou on 7 November. This followed on from recent setbacks for its ambitions in the SCS . First, the United States sent its warship USS Lassen within 12 nautical miles of the Chinese controlled Subi Reef to challenge China’s claim to the feature. Then, on 29 October an arbitral tribunal established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and hosted by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague found that it has jurisdiction to hear the claims put forward by the Philippines in a case against China concerning maritime rights in a part of the SCS claimed by both. Tiếp tục đọc “A Return to the Rule of Law in the South China Sea?”
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In December 1941, Japan’s Centrifugal Offensive was launched to gain control of the Western colonies in Southeast Asia and create a defensive perimeter to protect against an Allied offensive. It succeeded in capturing most U.S., British, and Dutch held territory. By the end of February 1942, Tokyo had secured all Western colonial possessions with the exception of part of New Guinea and Macau.
As fighting concluded in the Pacific Theater, an estimated 4.9 million Japanese soldiers remained stationed throughout the Pacific Islands and Asia.
At the conclusion of the war, Japan was still extended throughout the Pacific as Allied offensives continued to chip away at its holdings.
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