Category: South


  • This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

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  • Seg rebecca pp

    The Supreme Court has sided with South Carolina’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. Lower court rulings allowed Medicaid patients to sue over the state’s restrictions on Medicaid funding for their healthcare clinics, which the Supreme Court overturned in a 6-3 decision on Thursday. Rebecca Grant, who writes about reproductive rights, says South Carolina’s restrictions will likely be taken up by other states and could result in the closure of potentially hundreds of reproductive healthcare clinics. Grant outlines the alternative healthcare methods that many are forced to turn to in the face of dangerous and — since the fall of Roe v. Wade — increasingly draconian abortion restrictions. “We know throughout history that making abortion illegal or trying to ban it does not make it go away,” she says. This underground network of abortion access in the United States is the subject of Grant’s new book, Access: Inside the Abortion Underground and the Sixty-Year Battle for Reproductive Freedom.


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  • North Korea may deploy more troops to Russia as early as July or August to aid in its war against Ukraine, with recruitment efforts already underway for another wave of military support to Moscow, South Korean intelligence told lawmakers Thursday.

    Last week, Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has decided to send 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers, or combat engineers, to support demining and reconstruction efforts in the Kursk border region, according to Russian state media Tass and RIA Novosti.

    Since last fall, North Korea has already deployed more than 12,000 troops to Russia to fight Ukrainian forces who occupied parts of the Kursk region in August, according to Ukraine, the United States, and South Korea. In April, Russia and North Korea confirmed their soldiers fought the Ukrainian forces together there but did not disclose how many.

    In a closed-door meeting on Thursday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told a parliamentary committee that North Korea recently began recruiting additional troops and will likely send them to Russia in July or August.

    The NIS noted that North Korea’s deployment of military troops to Russia last year also came just a month after Shoigu’s visit to the country where he signed an agreement with officials in Pyongyang, said South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun who attended the briefing.

    Images made from video released by Russian state media on April 28, 2025, show North Korean troops training in Russia at an undisclosed location.
    Images made from video released by Russian state media on April 28, 2025, show North Korean troops training in Russia at an undisclosed location.
    (Russian state media)

    The NIS also said North Korea has been continuing to contribute significantly to Russia’s war effort, including providing weapons. Moscow, in turn, provided Pyongyang with economic cooperation, air defense missiles, and radio jamming equipment, it said.

    Russia has also been providing technical advice to North Korea on satellite launches, drones, and missile guidance capabilities, Lee said, citing the NIS.

    “The National Intelligence Service reported that it is working to minimize the impact on the security of the Korean Peninsula as the close relationship between North Korea and Russia may expand due to the additional dispatch of North Korean combat troops,” Lee said.

    Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for talks with Kim Jong Un and signed a mutual defense treaty. Since then, the two countries have aligned closely through military cooperation, including the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.

    Reports of North Korean troop deployment to Russia first surfaced last October. While evidence of their presence grew – including when North Korean soldiers were taken captive by Ukrainian forces in Kursk and were interviewed – neither North Korea nor Russia acknowledged their presence until this year in April.

    Written by Tenzin Pema. Edited by Mat Pennington.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Han Do-hyung for RFA Korean.

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  • Why is the South China Sea such a flashpoint between China, the U.S., and Southeast Asia? In this eye-opening video, Professor Kishore Mahbubani breaks down the deeper truth behind the conflict that mainstream media often overlooks. With decades of diplomatic experience and sharp geopolitical insight, he explains what’s really at stake—and why the West’s narrative may not tell the full story. Watch till the end to understand the hidden forces shaping this critical region.

    The post Professor Reveals the Truth behind South China Sea Conflict first appeared on Dissident Voice.


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  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – Two captured North Korean soldiers fighting with Russia in its war against Ukraine were not among the 1,000 prisoners of war recently repatriated by Ukraine to Russia due to a request from Seoul, said a South Korean lawmaker.

    The soldiers, identified as Ri and Baek, were part of the more than 12,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia’s Kursk region to fight Ukraine who occupied parts of the region in an August counteroffensive. The two were captured in January and have been in custody in Kyiv since then.

    “I have confirmed through a Ukrainian source that Ri and Baek, former North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces, were excluded from the recent prisoner exchange list,” said Yu Yong-weon, a member of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party.

    Russia and Ukraine agreed to a prisoner swap of 1,000 detainees each during negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey on May 16. From May 23, they exchanged around 300 prisoners daily for three days.

    “Another source said that their exclusion from the exchange was in response to a request from the South Korean government, which the Ukrainian government honored,” Yu said.

    “Please make every diplomatic effort to ensure they can set foot on the free soil of South Korea.”

    Radio Free Asia has not independently verified the status of Ri and Baek.

    Yu visited Ukraine in February and met with the two prisoners when Ri expressed a desire to defect to South Korea.

    Legally, South Korea recognizes all North Koreans as citizens under its constitution. This means that any North Korean, including a prisoner of war, or POW, is entitled to South Korean nationality upon arrival.

    South Korea’s foreign ministry said it had expressed a fundamental principle that it would accept any North Korean soldiers requesting to come to South Korea and had conveyed this position to the Ukrainian side.

    Russia and North Korea have aligned closely since Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for talks with Kim Jong Un and signed a mutual defense treaty during the Russian leader’s visit to Pyongyang last year. It elevated military cooperation and resulted in the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.

    Reports of the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia first surfaced in October. Even as evidence of their presence grew – including when North Korean soldiers were taken captive by Ukrainian forces in Kursk and interviewed – neither North Korea nor Russia acknowledged their presence until April.

    South Korea’s main spy agency National Intelligence Service, or NIS, reported in April that among the North Korean troops deployed to Russia, there have been a total of 4,700 casualties, including 600 deaths.

    The NIS estimated the North has deployed a total of 15,000 troops to Russia in two separate deployments.

    Combat has decreased since March as Russian forces have retaken most of the territory in the western Kursk, where Ukrainian forces had advanced, the agency said.

    While there is currently no visible movement for a third deployment, the possibility remains open, it added.

    The NIS also noted that North Korean forces have shown significant improvement in combat capability, as their initial inexperience has diminished and they have become more familiar with new equipment such as drones.

    However, the prolonged deployment has reportedly led to “behavioral issues” among the troops, including excessive drinking and theft.

    In exchange for troop deployments and arms exports, North Korea is believed to have received from Russia reconnaissance satellite and launch vehicle technology assistance, drones, electronic warfare equipment and SA-22 surface-to-air missiles.

    Additionally, North Korea is reportedly in discussions with Russia to modernize 14 industries, including metals, aviation, energy, and tourism. Around 15,000 North Korean workers are estimated to have been sent to Russia, the NIS said.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

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  • In a sign of China’s expanding international influence, South Africa has downgraded the status of Taiwan’s liaison office in the country, further diminishing the democratic island’s diplomatic footprint, experts say.

    South Africa severed formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1997 and recognized Beijing as the government of China. But in the nearly three decades since, it has retained unofficial ties with Taipei and a trading relationship.

    However, it’s recently moved to diminish Taiwan’s unofficial status in the country. South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation now categorizes the Taiwan Liaison Office – which functions as a de facto embassy but without official diplomatic status – as a “Taipei Commercial Office” on its official website, and has removed the name of the Taiwanese Representative Oliver Liao under the listing.

    On Friday, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung accused China of putting pressure on South Africa to make the changes. He said the liaison office had requested negotiations with the South African government about it.

    Analysts told Radio Free Asia that the changes highlight China’s continued efforts to use its influence in Africa and the Global South – a diverse set of countries across Africa, Latin America, Asia and Middle East – to prevent Taiwan from gaining international recognition and to hurt its ability to pursue its diplomatic interests abroad.

    “Taiwan’s representative offices are its way to make its voice heard diplomatically, in the face of declining official recognition. But China’s deep pockets and military aggression have left quite a mark on smaller, developing nations,” Anushka Saxena, China analyst at Bengaluru, India-based think tank Takshashila Institution, said.

    China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and maintains that the self-ruling island has no right to independent diplomatic relations.

    As it is, Taiwan retains formal ties with only a dozen countries, mostly smaller and less developed nations. In that context, even nominal changes in recognition by foreign governments send a strong signal to Taipei.

    The Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa which is Taiwan's representative office in South Africa's administrative capital, Pretoria, Oct. 22, 2024.
    The Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa which is Taiwan’s representative office in South Africa’s administrative capital, Pretoria, Oct. 22, 2024.
    (Alet Pretorius/Reuters)

    Last October, the South African government announced that Taiwan’s liaison office would be “rebranded” as a trade office and said the same change would be effected for the South African liaison office in Taipei.

    Under its foreign representation listing section on the website, the South African government now shows the address of the Taiwan liaison office as being in the nation’s economic hub Johannesburg, not the administrative capital Pretoria, although Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin told reporters Friday that it continues to operate normally in Pretoria.

    South Africa last October described the relocation of the office from the capital as “a true reflection of the non-political and non-diplomatic nature of the relationship between the Republic of South Africa and Taiwan.”

    The email address for the office is also changed in the South African government listing from the official domain name of @mofa.gov.tw to one under a South African telco provider, @telkomsa.net.

    Analysts viewed the steps taken by South Africa as predictable despite Taiwan’s attempts to engage in dialogue to address the issue.

    “This has been part of China’s ongoing mission to shrink Taiwan’s international space, so it’s not surprising that talks have fallen through despite Taiwan’s persistence,” Sana Hashmi, Fellow at Taipei-based Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, told RFA.

    South Africa is a significant diplomatic player and the largest economy in Africa – a continent where China has built economic and security ties over the past two decades or more. South Africa is also set to host this year’s summit of Group of 20, or G-20, nations.

    Ties between China and South Africa have strengthened significantly since the two established formal relations in 1998. China is now South Africa’s largest trading partner. In 2024, their bilateral trade was $52.4 billion, compared with Taiwan-South Africa trade which averages around $2 billion annually.

    As a member of the BRICS, an intergovernmental organization consisting of 10 countries, South Africa also collaborates with China on economic, political, and developmental initiatives, aligning with Beijing on global governance reforms.

    Song Guocheng, a researcher at the Center for International Relations Research at National Chengchi University, said China uses both inducement and pressure tactics to strong-arm South Africa into taking a slew of measures against Taiwan that may eventually culminate in more drastic ones, including closure of office or expulsion.

    “It is possible that under the pressure of the CCP, it will take a more overbearing approach to Taiwan,” Song told RFA, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

    While Taiwan is seeking negotiations with South Africa, analysts say it has little leverage. Taiwan’s government should focus instead on expanding its economic interdependence with its partners in South and Southeast Asian economies and on building ties with countries that can contribute to deterrence and its defense, they said.

    On Tuesday, President Lai Ching-te, who has been dubbed a “separatist” by Beijing, marked the completion of his first year in office, which has been marked by growing military pressure against the island.

    He said Taiwan wants peace and is ready to engage in talks with China, as long as there is “reciprocal dignity,” with dialogue replacing confrontation.

    Edited by Mat Pennington.

    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Chen Meihua and Tenzin Pema for RFA.

  • A WJZY news vehicle was struck with a stray bullet while two television journalists sat inside working on an unrelated story in Chester, South Carolina, on April 16, 2025.

    Photojournalist Donald Fountain and reporter Jen Cardone reported that they were finishing a piece on water runoff issues near the Chester County Fairgrounds at around 3:30 p.m. when gunfire erupted.

    “Bullets just started going off,” Fountain said.

    Chester County dispatchers reported multiple armed individuals were seen and that approximately 14 shots were fired, one of which struck the news vehicle, hitting just above the passenger window where Cardone was sitting.

    “I just froze,” Fountain said. “Then I saw one of the other guys come behind our car, and it was like, ‘Call 911.’ So I’m calling 911, and so many things are just going through my mind at that point. I’m just thinking, ‘Please don’t turn that gun on us because we were the only ones who saw it.’”

    Neither of the journalists was injured, though one individual was struck in the leg and was released following treatment.

    WJZY reported that the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division has taken over the shooting investigation, which is ongoing.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

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  • A WJZY news vehicle was struck with a stray bullet while two television journalists sat inside working on an unrelated story in Chester, South Carolina, on April 16, 2025.

    Reporter Jen Cardone and photojournalist Donald Fountain reported that they were finishing a piece on water runoff issues near the Chester County Fairgrounds at around 3:30 p.m. when gunfire erupted.

    “It sounded like firecrackers going on,” Cardone said.

    Chester County dispatchers reported multiple armed individuals were seen and that approximately 14 shots were fired, one of which struck the news vehicle, hitting just above the passenger window where Cardone was sitting.

    “If I had been leaning forward and not sitting back to edit and work on the story or if that bullet just came down a few inches, I’d probably be dead right now, not talking to you,” Cardone said.

    Neither of the journalists was injured, though one individual was struck in the leg and was released following treatment. In a post on social media, Cardone wrote that in 10 years of reporting the experience was a first, adding, “Thankful to be alive and okay but still shaken up.”

    WJZY reported that the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division has taken over the shooting investigation, which is ongoing.


    This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – China and the Philippines have staged rival flag-raising displays on a contested sandbank in the South China Sea, further escalating tensions between the two nations.

    The standoff occurred at Sandy Cay, near the Philippines’ outpost of Thitu Island, right when the U.S. and the Philippines launched their annual “Balikatan” military drills, which for the first time include an integrated air and missile defense simulation.

    Sandy Cay holds strategic value because its 12-nautical-mile territorial zone under international law overlaps with the area around Thitu Island, a key site for Manila to monitor Chinese activity in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

    The latest flare-up appears to have started on Thursday, after Chinese state media reported that the Chinese Coast Guard had landed on the sandbank two weeks earlier, hoisted a national flag, and “exercised sovereign jurisdiction.”

    “Since 2024, the Philippines has made multiple attempts to send vessels near Chinese-held features in the South China Sea to monitor what it describes as artificial island-building activities,” the state-run broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. It published a photograph of five black-clad people standing on the uninhabited reef as a dark inflatable boat bobbed in the nearby water.

    Chinese state media released a photo of coastguard officers on the disputed reef.
    Chinese state media released a photo of coastguard officers on the disputed reef.
    (CCTV)

    In response, the Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said on Sunday that its navy, coast guard and police personnel had deployed to Sandy Cay in four rubber boats and had “observed the illegal presence” of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel and seven Chinese maritime militia vessels.

    “This operation reflects the unwavering dedication and commitment of the Philippine government to uphold the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” said Tarriela, who posted footage of the Philippine flag being displayed.

    The term “West Philippine Sea” is used by the Philippines to refer to parts of the South China Sea that it claims, although the designation is disputed by China.

    William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, said China is showcasing both its ability and determination to assert its territorial claims throughout the South China Sea.

    China and the Philippines have long been locked in a territorial dispute over parts of the South China Sea, a vital waterway rich in resources and trade routes.

    Beijing claims nearly the entire sea under its “nine-dash line,” a claim rejected by an international tribunal in 2016, which ruled in favor of the Philippines.

    Despite the ruling, China has continued to assert its presence through patrols, island-building, and militarization, while the Philippines has sought to defend its claims through diplomatic protests and military partnerships.

    “It serves as a warning to the Philippines and other claimant states in the region that any attempt to undermine Chinese territorial integrity will be met with resolute and strong Chinese responses,” Yang told Radio Free Asia.

    Huang Tsung-ting, an associate research fellow with Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, believes China has recently adopted a more defensive posture toward the Philippines in the South China Sea.

    “Compared to 2023 to the first half of 2024, when China escalated tensions in the South China Sea and attempted to seize islands and reefs as a way to pressure the U.S. and the Philippines diplomatically, its current approach is more defensive and passive,” said Huang.

    The latest dispute between two nations came as the U.S. and Philippines forces are conducting annual Balikatan exercises, which Beijing has condemned as “provocative.”

    The flag raise was “a calculative move by Beijing to show Washington and Manila that it has the ability to establish presence anywhere they want in the South China Sea and that Beijing is not going to back down in the face of the increased cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines,” International Crisis Group’s Yang said.

    While visiting Manila last month, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was “doubling down” on its alliance with the country and was committed to rebuilding deterrence against China.

    Huang shares a similar view.

    “Even though the number of U.S. troops participating in this year’s Balikatan exercise seems slightly lower – by about 2,000 compared to last year – the overall posture of cooperation still looks strong enough to cause concern for China,” he said.

    Edited by Taejun Kang and Stephen Wright.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Alan Lu for RFA.

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  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

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  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – Chinese generative AI service DeepSeek transferred Korean users’ personal information to companies in China and the United States without proper consent during its brief operation in the country, South Korea’s data protection watchdog said on Thursday.

    DeepSeek’s chatbot app once became the most downloaded on Apple’s iPhone, surpassing U.S. company OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While praised for efficiency, it raised concerns over censorship of sensitive topics, data privacy and ties to the Chinese government, with some governments, including South Korea, banning the app.

    DeepSeek transferred user data to three companies in China and one in the U.S. between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15, 2025, when the service was temporarily suspended following privacy controversies, the Personal Information Protection Commission, or PIPC, announced.

    The Chinese service neither obtained user consent for these international transfers nor disclosed this practice in its privacy policy. With approximately 50,000 daily users during its one-month service period, the PIPC estimated that information from around 1.5 million users may have been improperly transferred overseas.

    The commission also found that DeepSeek sent not only device, network, and app information but also the content that users entered into AI prompts to Volcano, one of the three Chinese companies and an affiliate of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

    DeepSeek acknowledged the transfers to Volcano but said it used the company’s cloud services to improve security vulnerabilities and the user experience. The PIPC told DeepSeek that transferring prompt inputs was unnecessary and confirmed that the company has blocked transfers since April 10.

    “DeepSeek explained that although Volcano is affiliated with ByteDance, it operates as a separate legal entity unrelated to ByteDance operations,” said the PIPC in a statement.

    “They assured that the processed information would only be used for service operation and improvement, not for marketing purposes, and promised to strictly protect personal information in compliance with legal requirements.”

    The investigation also found DeepSeek lacked an “opt-out” function that would allow users to prevent their prompt inputs from being used for AI training and development. This feature was only implemented after the PIPC pointed out the deficiency.

    Although DeepSeek claimed not to collect personal information from children under 14, it had no age verification process during registration.

    The company has since established age verification procedures during the inspection process.

    The privacy policy, available only in Chinese and English, also omitted required information about data deletion procedures, methods, and security measures mandated by South Korean privacy law.

    The PIPC recommended that DeepSeek immediately delete user prompt content transferred to Volcano and implement several improvements, including appointing a domestic representative in South Korea and enhancing overall security measures for its personal information processing systems.

    If DeepSeek accepts these recommendations within 10 days, it will be considered equivalent to receiving an official correction order under relevant laws, requiring the company to report implementation results to the PIPC within 60 days.

    DeepSeek had previously acknowledged its insufficient consideration of South Korean privacy laws when it temporarily suspended new downloads in domestic app markets following the start of the PIPC investigation.

    While the commission did not specify when DeepSeek might resume services in South Korea, the company is expected to restart operations soon, as it claims to have addressed most of the identified issues.

    DeepSeek has not commented on South Korea’s findings.

    Communist Party ‘enforcer’

    The South Korean investigation came a week after the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, said up to 85% of responses on DeepSeek were altered or suppressed to cater to the CCP’s narrative.

    The chatbot uses automated filtering of responses and built-in biases to serve as a “digital enforcer of the CCP,” manipulating information pertinent to democracy, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chinese human rights abuses, the committee said in a report released on April 16.

    The investigation found that DeepSeek channels information from U.S. users directly to the CCP via backend infrastructure connected to China Mobile, listed as a Chinese military company by the U.S. government.

    Millions of U.S. users’ data therefore serves as a “high-value open-source intelligence asset for the CCP,” it said.

    Edited by Mike Firn and Stephen Wright.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

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  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – A recent update to Google Maps now prominently displays the label “West Philippine Sea” over waters west of the Philippines, fueling discussion about a longstanding territorial dispute with China, which continues to refer to the area as the South China Sea.

    Manila has used “West Philippine Sea” since 2011 to assert its maritime claims within its exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, distinguishing it from China’s broader claim over the South China Sea. Beijing has rejected the term, viewing it as a political assertion that challenges its claim of “indisputable sovereignty” over the entire sea.

    As of April 17, the label “West Philippine Sea” was visible by default on Google Maps, without the need for users to search for it specifically, which was the case in the past.

    “The proper and consistent labeling of the West Philippine Sea on the widely used platform Google Maps is welcome news for every Filipino,” the speaker of the Philippines House of Representatives, Martin Romualdez, said in a statement Tuesday.

    “This simple yet powerful update reflects the growing global acknowledgment of the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the maritime areas within our EEZ.”

    Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the inclusion of the West Philippines Sea in Google Maps also reflects a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea.

    “As defenders of national sovereignty, the AFP sees this as a valuable contribution to truthful representation and public awareness,” Padilla said at a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo.

    China’s foreign ministry said South China Sea is widely recognized by other nations as the correct name.

    “For a long time, the South China Sea has been a common geographical name recognized by the international community and widely accepted by countries around the world and international organizations such as the United Nations,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press briefing Tuesday.

    Ding Duo, a researcher at China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told state media that West Philippine Sea “hype” from the Philippines does “nothing to change the fact that China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands.”

    It’s unclear why Google made the change, but a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse: “The West Philippine Sea has always been labeled on Google Maps. We recently made this label easier to see at additional zoom levels.”

    Despite a 2016 Hague tribunal ruling that invalidated China’s expansive South China Sea claims, Beijing has continued to assert control over the region, which is an important route for international shipping.

    The court sided with the Philippines, citing violations of its EEZ, but China rejected the decision and has since expanded its presence through militarized islands, patrols and increased maritime activity – fuelling rising tensions.

    In April, both nations accused each other of dangerous maneuvers near Scarborough Shoal, a disputed area within the Philippines’ EEZ.

    The Philippine Coast Guard reported that a Chinese vessel obstructed a Philippine ship, while China alleged that the Philippine vessel approached dangerously, attempting to fabricate a collision.

    The Philippines has also raised concerns about Chinese interference in resource exploration.

    Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said that China was hindering Filipino companies from exploring natural resources in the contested waters, including oil and gas reserves. He cited incidents such as water cannoning, use of lasers and ramming by Chinese forces as examples of harassment.​

    In response to these challenges, the Philippines and the United States have strengthened their military cooperation.

    The annual “Balikatan” joint military exercises, involving approximately 14,000 troops, are scheduled from April 21 to May 9. These drills aim to enhance defense readiness and interoperability between the two allies.

    Edited by Stephen Wright and Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

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  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – The China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, has discovered an oilfield in the South China Sea with proven reserves exceeding 100 million tons, Chinese state media said on Monday.

    The oilfield in the eastern South China Sea – the Huizhou 19-6 oilfield – was about 170 kilometers (106 miles) from the city of Shenzhen in southern China’s Guangdong Province, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

    Test drilling of the oilfield, which sits at an average water depth of 100 meters, has yielded a daily production of 413 barrels of crude oil and 68,000 cubic meters of natural gas, it added.

    Xinhua described it as “China’s first large-scale integrated clastic oilfield discovered in deep to ultra-deep layers.”

    CNOOC told Xinhua that offshore oil and gas exploration in deep to ultra-deep layers faces multiple challenges, including high temperatures, high pressures, and complex conditions.

    Xinhua cited Peng Guangrong, a geologist at CNOOC’s Shenzhen branch, as saying that 60% of the world’s newly discovered oil and gas reserves have come from deep layers.

    The South China Sea is mostly underexplored because of territorial disputes, but most discovered oil and gas reserves are in uncontested areas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

    China claims almost all of the South China Sea – through which US$3 trillion in commerce moves annually – overlapping with sovereignty claims by the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and Brunei.

    Military patrol

    On Friday, the Chinese military said it conducted a patrol in the South China Sea, an exercise that came on the same day U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Manila.

    Separately, a spokesman for the Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said on Saturday that the Philippines frequently enlisted foreign countries to organize “joint patrols” and “disseminated illegal claims” in the region, destabilizing the area.

    Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth met his Filipino counterpart Gilberto Teodoro and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Friday in Manila, as part of Hegseth’s Asia tour that also included Guam and Japan.

    Hegseth reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to its defence treaty with the Philippines, vowing to deploy advanced military capabilities to bolster deterrence against threats, including Chinese “aggression.”

    “Deterrence is necessary around the world, but specifically in this region, in your country, considering the threats from the communist Chinese,” Hegseth said.

    RELATED STORIES

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    The same day, the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines conducted joint naval drills near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea to enhance crisis preparedness when a Chinese military vessel reportedly monitored the exercises from a distance.

    At one point, a Chinese frigate attempted to approach the area where warships and aircraft from the three allied nations were carrying out maneuvers.

    However, a Philippine frigate issued a radio warning, prompting the Chinese vessel to keep its distance.

    For the first time since these joint naval exercises began last year, known as the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity, a select group of Manila-based media was granted access to observe the drills at sea.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

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  • Recently, when entering restaurants or leaving official events, North Korean trading officials dispatched to China have been seen taking off lapel pins featuring the smiling faces of national founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il and pretending to be South Korean, two sources in China told Radio Free Asia.

    All North Korean officials overseas are required to wear the “Kim Bu-ja” — or “father-son” — pins to show their allegiance to the men known respectively as “Great Leader” and “Dear Leader.”

    The Kim dynasty is now in its third generation. Kim Il Sung, who ruled from 1948 until his death in 1994, was succeeded by Kim Jong-il, who ruled until 2011, after which his son Kim Jong Un took over as supreme ruler.

    “Last week, I visited a famous restaurant in Shenyang with an executive from a North Korean trading company I knew through business,” a source from the Chinese city told RFA Korean, requesting anonymity for personal safety.

    “When he arrived at the restaurant, he took off his Kim Bu-ja badge, put it in his pocket, and asked me not to say that he was North Korean,” he said.

    “Furthermore, he not only hid Kim Bu-ja’s badge, but also asked me to introduce him as a South Korean,” he continued.

    Easy to tell

    Another source in Yanji city, in China’s Jilin province, said he had witnessed the same behavior.

    “Recently, it’s hard to see North Korean officials wearing portrait badges,” he said. “North Korean officials take off their Kim Bu-ja badges and pretend to be South Koreans when they leave official events.”

    It wasn’t clear why the North Korean officials wanted to hide their identity, the first source said. He speculated that it was because South Koreans in China are treated as wealthy.

    “We don’t know the exact reason why these officials are taking off their Kim Bu-ja badges, but they might be embarrassed to be officials from North Korea, one of the poorest countries in the world,” he said.

    Despite their efforts, the second source said that it was easy to tell that the men were from North Korea as soon as they started talking given their accent and manner of speech.

    “North Korean officials can dress like South Koreans in terms of clothing and hairstyles, but if you talk to them, it’s immediately obvious” that their from the North.

    Many Chinese can also easily tell the difference, he said.

    “Some North Korean officials who have been in China for a long time are actually lamenting their situation,” with the North Korean economy on the brink of collapse, to their acquaintances in China, he said.

    “It’s understandable how North Korean officials feel about not being able to reveal that they’re North Koreans overseas,” he said.

    Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Kim Ji-eun for RFA Korean.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • MANILA — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to visit the Philippines this week, the first trip by a top official from the new Trump administration to a long-time American defense ally in Southeast Asia.

    He is scheduled to arrive on Friday amid heightened territorial tensions in the South China Sea between Manila and Beijing over Chinese coast guard encroachments in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

    In Manila, Hegseth is to meet with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro Jr., to discuss their nations’ long-standing defense alliance.

    “In a few days, my counterpart, the honorable Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense of the United States of America, will be paying a visit to the president and to myself where we will discuss ways to enhance our bilateral and trilateral and squad partnership,” Teodoro told reporters on Monday.

    Apart from its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with Washington, the Philippines has a year-old trilateral defense pact with the United States and Japan. It is also a member of the “Squad,” an informal grouping of countries including the U.S., Australia, and Japan that have staged joint maritime activities in the South China Sea since last year.

    After a two-day stay in the Philippines, Hegseth will go to Japan to attend the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima and meet with Japanese officials.

    The American defense chief’s first official visit to Asia comes on the heels of controversy over his and other senior U.S. government officials discussing top-secret plans for a military operation on an encrypted messaging app with a journalist present. Critics are calling it a flagrant violation of information security protocols.

    Hegseth, who was in Hawaii on Tuesday meeting officials of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, will stop in Guam before traveling on to Manila.

    In the Philippine capital, Hegseth “will advance security objectives with Philippine leaders and meet with U.S. and Philippine forces,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement last week.

    Reacting to Hegseth’s visit, Beijing warned that any security agreement involving Manila and other nations “should not target any third party” or escalate regional tensions.

    “Facts have repeatedly proven that nothing good could come out of opening the door to a predator. Those who willingly serve as chess pieces will be deserted in the end,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday.

    “Our message to some in the Philippines: [S]top serving as other countries’ mouthpiece and no more stunt[s] for personal political agenda[s].”

    Questions about American commitment

    Asia-Pacific defense experts have been keeping an eye on the Trump administration’s stances on geopolitical developments in Europe, and what this could mean to Manila in terms of Washington’s support.

    However, since President Donald Trump took office in January, both U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hegseth have separately issued statements to assure Manila that Washington’s commitment to the defense of Philippine territorial waters remains “ironclad.”

    Hegseth’s visit to Manila is a good opportunity to “reinforce these commitments amid doubts in its security policies,” according to Filipino security and geopolitical analyst Sherwin Ona.

    “For the Philippines, it is crucial to get Washington’s renewed commitment and support for its armed forces modernization program,” Ona, who teaches at De La Salle University in Manila, told BenarNews. “The U.S. also plays a vital role in strengthening mini-lateral security arrangements.”

    The Trump administration has begun holding talks with Moscow and Kyiv aimed at ending the Ukraine war.

    “With the shift in U.S. policy in Europe, I think allies in the Indo-Pacific are anxious to hear the secretary’s view,” Ona said. “For Manila, how does this translate to actual assistance and presence in the SCS [South China Sea], Taiwan and the region.”

    Two helicopters fly over U.S. troops during live-fire joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States, in Zambales province, Philippines, April 26, 2023.
    Two helicopters fly over U.S. troops during live-fire joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States, in Zambales province, Philippines, April 26, 2023.
    (Jason Gutierrez/BenarNews)

    For geopolitical analyst Julio Amador III, Hegseth’s trip is a “good sign” showing that the new Trump administration is giving priority to America’s close ally in Southeast Asia.

    Amador noted that President Trump had a “history” of supporting the alliance between the two nations. It dates back to 1951 when both sides signed the Mutual Defense Treaty, which calls on the two allies to support each other in times of war.

    “Trump 2.0 is a welcome development for the Philippines for two reasons,” he said. “First, there is a sense of familiarity as the Philippines already has experience managing relations positively with the previous Trump administration.”

    Amador also said that many of those in the Trump 2.0 cabinet were “hawkish on China” in disposition. The “deterrence umbrella against China is all expected to increase in intensity and volume,” Amador said. This includes the joint military drills that are annually carried out between the two nations.

    Hegseth will arrive in the Philippines as Manila and Washington prepare for their annual large-scale military exercises here next month.

    The Balikatan, or shoulder-to-shoulder, Exercise, which will kick off on April 21 and last until May 9, will feature a joint sail between the allies and Japan.

    The U.S. Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives for deployment in Northern Luzon during the Salaknib drills involving Philippine and U.S. troops, April 8, 2024.
    The U.S. Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives for deployment in Northern Luzon during the Salaknib drills involving Philippine and U.S. troops, April 8, 2024.
    (Capt. Ryan DeBooy/U.S. Army)

    There will also be live-fire exercises in the north, as well as an amphibious landing drill in the Batanes archipelago to defend it against imaginary invaders. Facing Taiwan, Batanes is the Philippines’ northernmost group of islands.

    This week, the United States and the Philippine armies launched their own exercises, called Sabak. About 2,000 U.S. Army Pacific personnel joined their 3,000 Philippine Army counterparts in various drills designed to showcase their commitment to “safeguarding the Philippines’ territorial integrity.”

    Second Typhon system

    Meanwhile, Filipino military officials welcomed news that the U.S. was sending a second Typhon mid-range missile system to the Asia-Pacific region.

    While exact details have yet to be released, U.S.-based Defense News said that the U.S. Army’s 3rd Multidomain Task Force was “readying its Typhon battery for deployment in the Pacific theater.”

    In April 2024, the missile system was brought to the Philippines as part of joint military exercises with the United States.

    It was the first time the U.S. had deployed the mid-range system in the Asia-Pacific region – a move that angered rival superpower China.

    Beijing said the move “gravely threatens regional countries’ security, incites geopolitical confrontation and arouses high vigilance and concerns of countries in the region.”

    BenarNews is an online news organization affiliated with Radio Free Asia.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • A Vietnamese state-run TV station said a program mistakenly showed footage of a restaurant owner in America getting a tattoo of the yellow-and-red flag of South Vietnam — a taboo image in the communist country.

    The flag represents South Vietnam, also known as the Republic of Vietnam, which existed from 1955 until it lost the Vietnam War to the North in 1975.

    In Vietnam today, the flag is seen as expressing hostility toward the communist government.

    The footage in question came from a 2022 Netflix show, “Street Food: USA,” that was repacked in 2023 for a different program on Hue Radio and Television. That show was broadcast again recently.

    In the Netflix program, restaurant owner Thuy Pham introduces herself as a Vietnamese boat person who left the country with her mother when she was a toddler. She said her family first went to a refugee camp in Indonesia and settled in Oregon about a year later.

    Vietnamese who fled the South prior to the fall of Saigon – which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City for the revolutionary leader – and resettled in other countries continue to use the South’s flag, including in ethnic Vietnamese communities in the United States.

    ‘A serious mistake’

    A screenshot image of Thuy Pham’s tattoo was posted to a private Vietnamese Facebook group on Sunday.

    On Monday, a Radio Free Asia reporter sent the image to Hue Radio and Television’s fanpage to ask for comment.

    The station said it had discovered the “sensitive image” during the censorship process in 2023 and had edited it out of its program.

    But due to negligence in how programs are stored for rebroadcast, the station mistakenly showed an old version of the program earlier this year, the station said in a statement on Tuesday that included an apology to followers.

    “We consider this a serious mistake and will strictly handle and conduct a review of the editors and related departments,” it said.

    The station added that it “hoped to receive support from everyone in stopping the dissemination of the images and limiting bad actors from taking advantage of them for bad purposes.”

    Vietnam doesn’t have any specific legal provisions prohibiting the display of the flag or symbols associated with the Republic of Vietnam, said U.S.-based lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, who practiced law in Vietnam for many years.

    But in reality, the government still applies criminal punishment to people who hang the flag or display symbols of the Republic of Vietnam, he said. One of the crimes they are often accused of is “propaganda against the state.”

    Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • TAPEI, Taiwan – South Korean and Chinese authorities faced off at sea for two hours last month after Chinese authorities blocked the South’s attempt to investigate a steel structure set up by Beijing in their overlapping waters in the Yellow Sea, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.

    The standoff occurred on Feb. 26, when South Korea’s Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology deployed its research vessel RV Onnuri to examine the structure in the Provisional Measures Zone, or PMZ – a contested area where the exclusive economic zones of both nations overlap.

    South Korean intelligence had earlier detected China’s construction of a mobile steel structure measuring more than 50 meters in both height and diameter in the waterway, also known as the North Sea

    As the RV Onnuri approached, four Chinese personnel in two rubber boats intercepted it, preventing South Korean researchers from deploying inspection equipment, officials from the South’s foreign ministry told media.

    Although the South Korean vessel said its investigation was legitimate, the Chinese side said the structure was an aquafarm and asked the Korean vessel to leave.

    In response, South Korea’s coast guard dispatched patrol ships, resulting in a standoff with Chinese maritime authorities that lasted for two hours.

    Some of the Chinese civilians were reportedly carrying knives but no physical clash occurred.

    “We have delivered our firm position to China regarding the reported incident,” South Korea’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

    “We are actively working with related government agencies to ensure the legitimate maritime rights and interests in the Yellow Sea.”

    China has neither declined nor acknowledged the reports.

    Such confrontations are rare between China and U.S. ally South Korea, which have built up extensive business relations despite China’s support for South Korea’s main rival, North Korea.

    In a response to a question about the reported dispute, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that she was “not familiar with the specifics” but added that the situation in the Yellow Sea was “stable.”

    “Regarding the maritime disputes between the two sides, China and the ROK maintain sound communication through the dialogue and cooperation mechanism of maritime affairs, and the maritime law enforcement authorities of the two countries also have smooth communication channels,” said Ning, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

    ​South Korea and China signed a China-ROK Fishery Agreement in August 2000, which came into effect in June 2001. The agreement established a PMZ in the Yellow Sea, allowing fishing vessels from both countries to operate within the zone and the joint management of marine resources.

    The agreement prohibits any activity beyond navigation and fishing in the PMZ.​

    Despite the agreement, China has installed several large steel structures in the zone, including two in April and May of last year, and another this year, raising concerns in South Korea over potential territorial disputes.

    China has insisted that the structures are for aquaculture purposes.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Read a version of this story in Korean

    North Korea has ordered that parents give their children names that reflect the country’s revolutionary spirit — and in some cases has even told people to change their names if they sound too South Korean, residents told Radio Free Asia.

    It’s another example of pushback against what authorities in Pyongyang view as an infiltration of South Korean capitalist culture.

    But it also reinforces recent declarations that South Korea is no longer considered part of the same country, and that in fact South Koreans are no longer part of the same race of people, residents said.

    Almost every Korean name has a specific meaning, and in the South, parents have the freedom to choose any name without much interference from the state.

    But in the North, the government prefers that children be given names that convey loyalty to the state, sound militaristic or express personal virtues.

    Recently, it’s become trendy in North Korea to give children names that have good meanings and are easy to pronounce, a resident from the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

    For girls, they include Su Bin (outstanding brilliance), Da On (all good things coming), A Ri (noble and precious), or Si A (righteous and pure character).

    For boys, there’s Do Yun (inner strength), Ha Yul (the word of God), Ji U (close, similar-minded, friend), and Min So (good citizen).

    But these have now somewhat fallen out of favor according to the order — and residents think it might be because the government is implying they sound kind of South Korean.

    Instead, the government has suggested names that convey the party’s eternal love for the people, like Eun Hye (grace), Eun Dok (benevolence), and Haeng Bok (happiness). Or names that reflect loyalty to the party, like Chung Song (loyalty), Chung Sil (Sincerity) and Chung Bok (Devotion).

    The resident said that if names sounded too South Korean, people would be required to change them, but didn’t provide any examples of that happening.

    Commitment to the revolution

    The new naming rules are meant to reinforce commitment to the revolution, the resident said.

    “The party’s directive is to name children in a way that preserves Juche ideology and national identity,” she said, referring to the country’s founding ideology of self-reliance.

    “This essentially means that children’s names should never be given in a way that could allow the South Korean puppets to be considered as fellow compatriots.”

    (The North Korean government often uses the derogatory term “puppets” to refer to South Koreans, implying that the South is a U.S. puppet state.)

    The government hopes that if North Koreans have patriotic names, then fewer will share names with South Koreans, the resident said.

    Ordinary people are not happy with the order, she said.

    “Some people are expressing discontent, saying, that naming a child should be the parents’ decision, not the party’s,” she said. “The authorities are forcing this revolutionary name changes, controlling every aspect of our lives.”

    ‘Not Loyal’

    In some cases, people with a perfectly acceptable given name are made to change it because of their family name, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA.

    “One resident named their child Chung Song (loyalty), but had to change it because their surname is An,” he said.

    “An” means peace, but it has the same pronunciation as the word that means “not.”

    “The name An Chung Song therefore means ‘not loyal,’ so the authorities ordered the name to be changed,” the second resident said.

    When people heard this, they sarcastically started suggesting negative names for people with the name An, he said.

    “Maybe Chung Song should change his name to Byon Jol (treacherous), so he’d be An Byon Jol (not treacherous),” the second resident said. “They are laughing at the authorities’ behavior.”

    He said that most residents consider the order baffling, because the parents chose these names with hopes for their children’s success, and shouldn’t have to change simply because the government thinks they are South Korean.

    “If socialism can be shaken by just a name, where is the so-called invincibility of the North Korean system?”

    Translated by Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Kim Jieun for RFA Korean.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • “Segregation academies,” private schools founded by white parents in opposition to desegregation, have left a lasting impact in the Deep South decades after Brown v. Board of Education, according to a recent ProPublica report. Jennifer Berry Hawes investigated two schools in Alabama, including Wilcox Academy, a predominantly white private school,…

    The post “Segregation Academies” Leave Lasting Impact on Deep South Long After Brown v. Board of Education appeared first on Project Censored.


    This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Kate Horgan.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • TAIPEI, Taiwan – China appears to be conducting amphibious landing exercises with specially built vessels at a beach on the South China Sea, the sort of practice it would conduct if it was considering an island invasion as tensions over self-ruled Taiwan grow.

    Open source investigators analyzing Chinese social media this week detected the presence of a fleet of large ships, which they called “invasion barges” as they can be used to land heavy military vehicles and troops quickly onto beaches.

    An analyst who used synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, satellite imaging technology, pinpointed the location of the three barges as Zhanjiang in Guangdong province, home of the Chinese South Sea Fleet.

    An SAR sensor uses radar signals to capture images on the surface of the Earth, unlike optical sensors that can be blocked by obstacles such as clouds and vegetation.

    Damien Symon, a geo-intelligence researcher at The Intel Lab, told Radio Free Asia that he could confirm that the exercises were held at Zhanjiang between March 4 and March 11.

    It is unclear whether they are still going on.

    Zhanjiang is 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of Taiwan and 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) northwest of the Philippines, territories whose governments have both traded barbs with Beijing as regional tensions rise.

    SAR image of Chinese barges taking part in an amphibious landing exercise in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, March 4-11, 2025
    SAR image of Chinese barges taking part in an amphibious landing exercise in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, March 4-11, 2025
    (X/@detresfa)

    China’s special-purpose barges could overrun Taiwan shores: experts

    Taiwan president slams China as ‘foreign hostile force’ in toughest rhetoric yet

    China announces 7.2% defense budget hike, reaffirms opposition to Taiwan independence

    What are ‘invasion barges’?

    In an image captured by Symon, three barges were seen in a long formation next to a beach.

    Photos, apparently taken at the location and circulated on Chinese social media, show them lining up, forming a long “bridge” to the beach, over which tanks and other vehicles can land.

    RFA was not able to independently verify the images available on WeChat and Weibo.

    “By my math, they combine to about 850 meters in length,” said defense analyst Thomas Shugart from the Center for a New American Security.

    “Instead of three different-size mobile causeways, they are combined into one long causeway, allowing a much longer reach, and access to deeper water,” Shugart said.

    An undated image circulated on China’s social media showing a line-up of special barges at a beach.
    An undated image circulated on China’s social media showing a line-up of special barges at a beach.
    (WeChat/@观诲长郎)

    The barges appear to have some pillars that analysts say could be lowered to make contact with the sea floor to support the vessels, making a stable platform in poor weather.

    The rear of the barges is open, allowing other ships to dock and unload onto them.

    When combined with roll-on/roll-off ferries that carry military vehicles from bases to target locations, the barges serve as a solution to the challenge of landing tanks and troops at many sites, even those previously considered unsuitable such as soft sandy or rocky beaches, as they can reach further to deliver the assets.

    Shugart, who examined the “invasion barges,” said that China was building more of them.

    There is no consensus among military strategists about if and when China would invade Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province that needs to be ‘reunified’ with the mainland.

    Taipei has rejected China’s overtures and threats, saying Taiwan has never been part of China.

    Edited by Mike Firn.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Read a version of this story in Vietnamese

    Vietnam has ordered officials to confiscate a Chinese-made doll with an image printed on its cheek resembling a map used by Beijing to demarcate its claims over disputed areas of the South China Sea, state media reported.

    State media photos circulating on Vietnamese social media show an image resembling the “nine-dash line” – also referred to as the “cow-tongue line” – on the stuffed doll called “Baby Three.”

    The doll has been sold in Vietnam at sidewalk stores and online shops like TikTok Shop, Shopee and Facebook since May 2024, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

    But the Ministry of Industry and Trade only recently received reports that the doll and several other children’s toys included images of the nine-dash line, the agency said.

    The ministry’s Domestic Markets Department recently sent a letter to agencies in provinces and cities requesting an increase in inspections of toys containing the images, according to the state-run Tuoi Tre news site.

    Vietnam, China and the Philippines all have overlapping claims on waters in the South China Sea. Chinese maps often show a set of nine or 11 dashes encircling up to 90% of the sea — but such claims have infuriated Hanoi.

    The sale and distribution of any products featuring the nine-dash line in Vietnam is illegal, and anyone selling the toys could face penalties, the department’s director general, Tran Huu Linh, told the site.

    Because it affects Vietnam’s national security and territorial sovereignty, officials should confiscate any toys that have the image, he said.

    ‘Another wake-up call’

    “This is the latest evidence showing China’s unwavering ambition to dominate the South China Sea entirely – a scheme it has been quietly and persistently pursuing for decades,” former political prisoner Le Anh Hung told Radio Free Asia.

    “This is another wake-up call for our country regarding the danger of China’s expansionism in the South China Sea, which seriously threatens the vital space of the Vietnamese people in the 21st century,” he said.

    There have been several other incidents of foreign-made goods and cultural products entering Vietnam that contain images of the nine-dash line, particularly in films.

    Last year, the movie “Barbie” was banned in Vietnam because authorities said it included a cartoonish map showing China’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.

    An international arbitration tribunal in a case brought by the Philippines in 2016 ruled that China’s claim to “historic rights” is unlawful, but Beijing declared the ruling “null and void” and refused to recognize it.

    China has continued with efforts to reinforce the nine-dash line, especially with the presence of its large coast guard and maritime militia fleets.

    The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on reports of the Baby Three doll.

    Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Indonesia is expected to ratify an agreement with Vietnam on the demarcation of their exclusive economic zones next month, settling a decade-long dispute in overlapping waters, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto said.

    Jakarta and Hanoi reached an agreement on the boundaries of the zones, called EEZs, in December 2022 after 12 years of negotiations. They had been locked in disputes over overlapping claims in waters surrounding the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.

    For the agreement to take effect, it needs to be ratified by both of their parliaments.

    “We hope that our parliament will ratify it in April, after Eid al-Fitr, and their legislature is also expected to ratify it soon,” Prabowo told Vietnamese leader To Lam, who visited Jakarta this week.

    Vietnam and Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country by population, elevated bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Lam’s visit, reflecting their closer cooperation.

    Prabowo also said that he planned a reciprocal state visit to Vietnam soon, when he would sign an implementing agreement with his Vietnamese hosts, adding that he was confident that the deal would “bring prosperity to both our peoples.”

    Fishing boats and houses at Baruk Bay port on Natuna island, in Riau Islands province, on Sept. 22, 2023.
    Fishing boats and houses at Baruk Bay port on Natuna island, in Riau Islands province, on Sept. 22, 2023.
    (BAY ISMOYO/AFP)

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    Clear demarcation of maritime zones

    The shared waters north and east of Natuna Islands saw intense confrontations between the law enforcement agencies of both Vietnam and Indonesia over the activities of Vietnamese fishermen. Indonesia accused them of unlawful encroachment and illegal fishing, and it detained and destroyed dozens of Vietnam’s fishing boats.

    The two countries began negotiating on EEZ delimitation in 2010 and were engaged in more than a dozen rounds of talks before reaching an agreement.

    An EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and seabed, and a clear demarcation would help avoid misunderstanding and mismanagement, said Vietnamese South China Sea researcher Dinh Kim Phuc.

    “The promised ratification of the agreement on EEZs sends a positive signal from both security and economic perspectives,” Phuc said. “Among the latest achievements in the bilateral relations, this in my opinion is the most important one.”

    “It will also serve as a valuable precedent for ASEAN countries to settle maritime disputes between them via peaceful means,” the researcher added.

    I Made Andi Arsana, a maritime law specialist at Gadjah Mada University, said the agreement clarifies fishing rights in the South China Sea.

    “With a clear EEZ boundary, cross-border management and law enforcement become more straightforward,” Arsana said. “Before this, both countries had their own claims, making it hard to determine whether a fishing vessel had crossed the line. Now, with a legally recognized boundary, it’s easier to enforce regulations and address violations.”

    He likened the situation to dealing with a neighbor without a fence.

    “It’s difficult to say whether they’ve trespassed or taken something from your property,” he said.

    “But once the boundary is set, we can confidently determine whether someone is fishing illegally in our waters.”

    China has yet to comment on the Indonesian president’s statement. Both Vietnam’s and Indonesia’s EEZs lie within the “nine-dash line” that Beijing prints on its maps to demarcate its “historical rights” over almost 90% of the South China Sea.

    Pizaro Gozali Idrus in Jakarta contributed to this article.

    Edited by Mike Firn.

    BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA and BenarNews Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.