Articles

UPI •

New U.S. envoy to Vietnam will inherit $144B trade standoff - UPI.com

article ul li { list-style: disc; padding: 5px 0; } Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Though still awaiting Senate confirmation, Jennifer Wicks McNamara is preparing to land in Hanoi not with a ceremonial bouquet, but with a tariff ledger in hand instead. The ambassador-designate steps into a newly minted "comprehensive strategic partnership" now defined less by warship visits and more by a $144 billion trade gap, market-economy disputes and rising economic friction between Washington and one of its most pivota...
Geopolitical Monitor •

Era of Strongman Diplomacy: Lam’s Ascent Reshapes US–Vietnam Ties

To Lam has done what few Vietnamese leaders have managed in decades: he has gathered the levers of party and state power firmly into his own hands. Re-elected as general secretary and poised to assume the presidency, Lam now presides over Vietnam’s most centralized leadership structure since the postwar era — a consolidation that could redefine Hanoi’s trajectory at home and recalibrate its delicate balancing act with Washington.The implications for US–Vietnam relations are profound.Lam’s ascent...
UPI •

Asia’s foreign press clubs recalibrate amid regional political changes - UPI.com

article ul li { list-style: disc; padding: 5px 0; } Jan. 15 (UPI) -- For decades, Asia's foreign correspondent clubs were the region's off-duty newsrooms -- the late-night debating halls where journalists compared notes on wars, coups, trade deals, democratic uprisings and China's rise. Now those storied institutions, once synonymous with a freewheeling press culture, are confronting a slow sunset. No club illustrates this more clearly than the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong. Long c...
South China Morning Post •

Opinion | High Seas Treaty will both boost China’s power and hold it accountable

For the first time, activities beyond national jurisdictions – from industrial fishing to deep-sea mining and bio-prospecting – will be subject to environmental impact assessments, marine protected areas and shared scientific oversight. Signed by 145 nations and ratified by 81 and counting, the treaty represents one of the fastest and broadest mobilisations of multilateral environmental diplomacy in UN history. It reflects a growing global consensus that the high seas – long treated as an open-...
UPI •

Philippine leadership puts ASEAN at center of South China Sea rivalry - UPI.com

article ul li { list-style: disc; padding: 5px 0; } Jan. 8 (UPI) -- As the Philippines takes over the rotating Association of Southeast Asian Nations chair in 2026, it will do so at a moment of sharpened maritime tension and narrowing diplomatic patience in the South China Sea. Manila has made clear it intends to prioritize two parallel initiatives that reflect the region's evolving reality: renewed efforts to finalize a legally binding code of conduct with China and a dramatic expansion of U....
UPI •

Analysis: Vietnam fishermen face new rules, old risks in South China Sea - UPI.com

article ul li { list-style: disc; padding: 5px 0; } Nov. 13 (UPI) -- On a rusted wharf in the northern port city of Haiphong, where U.S. B-52s once rained bombs for 12 straight days, 70-year-old fisherman Bui Quang Mong mends a worn fishing net. Half a century at sea has left his hands rough and steady, each scar a story of storms weathered, encounters with other boats and the relentless struggle to make a living from the sea. For fishermen, the South China Sea has always been a treacherous f...
UPI •

American Samoa faces triple threat to its fishing-based economy - UPI.com

article ul li { list-style: disc; padding: 5px 0; } Nov. 6 (UPI) -- In American Samoa, the ocean is life -- but that life is under siege. The U.S. territory, marooned in the heart of the Pacific, faces a triple threat of climate change, industrial fishing and the rising push for deep-sea mining -- forces that threaten to reshape its future. For many fishermen, whose faith and families are tied to the sea, these waters no longer feel endless or secure. Decisions about their future -- and the o...
UPI •

The contested South China Sea shoal where nature, sovereignty collide - UPI.com

article ul li { list-style: disc; padding: 5px 0; } Oct. 7 (UPI) -- China's surprise declaration of a new nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal is more than a nod to environmental stewardship. It is a carefully calculated maneuver that fuses ecological language with geopolitical ambition, placing one of the South China Sea's most hotly contested reefs at the nexus of two global struggles: the race to protect biodiversity and the competition for maritime dominance. Scarborough Shoal, a triangula...
South China Morning Post •

Opinion | How China’s maritime strategy is swapping force for research diplomacy

Marine scientists see this area as a treasure trove of research opportunities. A forum organised by the journal National Science Review at the Annual Conference of the South China Sea-Deep Programme, held in January in Shanghai, highlighted the region’s significance as a “fantastic natural laboratory” for deep-sea research and emphasised the importance of international collaboration in exploring and preserving these ecosystems.

Science Diplomacy is Required to Avert a South China Sea Ecological Collapse

The maritime dispute in the South China Sea remains as intractable as ever. James Borton of the Foreign Policy Institute at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, author of the book Dispatches from the South China Sea: Navigating to Common Ground, calls for countries in the region, particularly the key claimants, to focus on the opportunities offered by science diplomacy. Regardless of the geopolitical benefits, he reckons, urgent multilateral cooperation in ma
Oceanographic •

Cu Lao Cham: Island of life

As a foreign correspondent for over 30 years, I have reported on Southeast Asia, focusing particularly on the challenges faced by island communities, who serve as stewards of the ocean. These resilient individuals are staring down the dire effects of climate change as ocean warming, severe cyclones, and mass coral reef bleaching jeopardise their livelihoods. From the enchanting waters of the Philippines, where the sea-faring Badjao people, known as ‘sea nomads’, first taught me how to dive for
The Hill •

A clean-energy future may depend on seabed mining

This week, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous organization within the United Nations, is meeting in Kingston, Jamaica to decide the fate of the planet’s oceans. ISA’s 168 member-nations ultimately possess the regulatory responsibilities and governance rules for the protection of the marine environment for all mineral activities on the sea floor. A geopolitical shift is underway against land-based mining, due to its social and environmental costs. This is why ISA is debatin
Responsible Statecraft •

Science diplomacy could net peace dividends in South China Sea

The South China Sea is a unique natural laboratory for ocean research and exploration. And yet, this rifted basin, dotted with atolls, coral reefs and islets, is mired in disputed territorial claims between China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. It could be a gateway for oceanographic research, peace, and prosperity; instead, rising regional tensions and mistrust pose a grave threat to geopolitical and ecological security in Southeast Asia. China’s leader Xi Jinping vowe
Asia Times •

Vietnam’s multi-pronged battle against climate change

The outlook for Vietnam’s drive toward climate-change adaptation initiatives are being tested in Hanoi, as the government mulls over plans to rebalance the energy mix between renewables and coal-fired electricity plants. Despite the emerging role of civil society, disagreements on the 10-year Power Development Plan drafts are impeding clean-energy development and calling into question the country’s position as a leading renewable-energy market in Southeast Asia. The Communist Party of Vietnam
Geopolitical Monitor •

U.S. Won’t Gamble on ASEAN Summit in Las Vegas

The global escalation of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has prompted U.S. officials to fold their diplomatic playing cards and postpone the scheduled Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit from the bright lights of 24-hour entertainment in Las Vegas. The Trump administration along with at least 8 of the 10 ASEAN nations, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, anticipated the venue could forge closer cooperation and chart an improved geopoliti
NAR •

In Vietnam, economic success underpins literary boom

Against the colorful backdrop of Vietnam's Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays in late January, there is plenty of evidence of rising consumerism among the country's burgeoning middle class. Hanoi's Doi Moi economic policy reforms from the mid-1980s were intended to drive a shift toward a socialist-oriented market economy. What emerged was a distinctive blend of capitalism and socialism, with growing focus on entrepreneurism and material success. One surprising trend, however, has been the revival of
The Washington Times •

A ‘Game of Drones’ resets the rules in the South China Sea

As the rules of the sovereignty endgame are revved up for reconnaissance and surveillance of the environment and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), the increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles or non-lethal drones emits more than a steady buzz in the latest foreign policy salvos among claimant nations against Beijing’s control of the South China Sea. A few months ago, the Pentagon announced the $47 million sale of 34 ScanEagle drones, made by Boeing, to the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, th
The Washington Times •

How Vietnam may curb China’s ambitions

At the U.N. Secretariat building, sheathed in shiny aluminum, glass and marble and overlooking New York’s East River, Vietnamese diplomats are soon to celebrate their nation’s selection as a non-permanent member in the U.N. Security Council. As a country that has experienced the tragedies of wars, including one drawn out and fierce conflict with America five decades ago, Hanoi’s foreign policy role is now forged on peaceful cooperation, stability and independence. While there are five permanent
chinadialogue ocean •

South Pacific islanders threatened by climate change and overfishing

The Pacific tuna fishing grounds are the largest in the world, contributing more than 60% of the global tuna catch. According to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), almost all tuna in the region are caught in one of two ways. Those to be sold in cans are mainly caught by purse seine fishing boats targeting skipjack tuna. While longline vessels catch bigeye and yellowfin destined for high-value sashimi markets. It’s a lucrative industry where a single tuna can net US$3 million. The
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