South China Sea

US submarine collides with 'unknown object' in South China Sea

Fifteen sailors had minor injuries when the USS Connecticut collided with the object on Saturday, US officials said.

They added that it was unclear what had caused the collision.

The incident comes as tensions mount in the highly-disputed region over a recent uptick of Chinese incursions into Taiwan's air defence zone.

A US Navy spokesperson said the submarine is now headed towards the US territory of Guam.

Aircraft hangars, radar installed on artificial islands

The new facilities will further establish China's military dominance over the highly contested region, experts told CNN, and could help China establish a controversial Air Defense Identification Zone in the area.

Images released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, AMTI, taken in early March, show nearly completed defense infrastructure on three of China's largest artificial islands in the disputed Spratly chain: Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi reefs.

US carrier starts 'routine' patrols in South China Sea

Sailing with the 97,000-ton Vinson is the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer, the Navy said in a statement. The Vinson carries a flight group of more than 60 aircraft, including F/A-18 jet fighters.

The operation comes amid growing tensions between the United States and China over territory and trade, and as the Trump administration looks set to take a more confrontational stance toward China than its predecessor.

South China Sea: China media warn US over 'confrontation'

The angry response came after secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson said the US should deny Beijing access to new islands in the South China Sea.

Two state-run papers carry editorials strongly criticising his comments.

The hawkish Global Times tabloid warned that any such action would lead to "a large-scale war".

Beijing has been building artificial islands on reefs in waters also claimed by other nations. Images published late last year show military defences on some islands, a think-tank says.

US destroyer sails in South China Sea to make a point

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the point was to let China know that it cannot "unlawfully restrict the navigation rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea that the United States and all states are entitled to exercise under international law."

The Pentagon, in a statement, called the USS Decatur's trip "routine" and said it took place "without incident."

US and China join Paris climate pact

He made the comments during a "candid exchange" with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Hangzhou before the G20 summit, the White House said.

In July, an international tribunal ruled against Chinese claims to rights in the South China Sea.

China dismissed the ruling and said it would not be bound by it.

US military official urges Australia to take stronger stance against Chinese expansion

With regional tensions rising over China's aggression in the disputed waterway, the Assistant Chief of Staff to the US Army, Tom Hanson, also suggested Australia will need to make a choice between its long-standing alliance with the United States and economic relationship with Beijing.

"It's very difficult to walk this fine line between balancing the alliance with the United States and the economic engagement with China," he told Radio National.

What do 'hangars' on disputed islands in the South China Sea tell us?

The images, from late July, were released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and appear to confirm that Chinese military fighter jets could, at some point, be based on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs.

The revelation is likely to stoke tension with neighbours and the US, all of whom have raised concerns over what they call "the militarisation of the South China Sea", says analyst Alexander Neill from the International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia.

What do the pictures show exactly?

South China Sea: Beijing vows to prosecute 'trespassers'

The warning came in a detailed explanation of last month's Hague ruling, which found that China's territorial claims in region have "no legal basis" under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including islands more than 800 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the Chinese mainland, despite objections from neighbors including the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.

South China Sea: Chinese social media urges mango boycott

After an international tribunal on territorial disputes ruled against China and in favour of the Philippines, Chinese netizens used social media to call for a boycott of the Philippine fruit, as well as to make their feelings known through other memes and pictures.

Slogans like "If you want to eat mango, buy Thailand's" and "Starve the Filipinos to death" have been widely circulated on microblogging site Weibo.

"If you love China, don't buy Filipino imports", said one comment.