Media

2018/89, 24 September 2018

The sudden passing of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang on 21 September 2018 was a shock to many Vietnamese. Although Mr Quang was known to have been ill for some time, he was still seen receiving foreign leaders and engaging in various political and social activities until recently. Official reports, however, revealed that he was found to be infected with a “rare” and “incurable” virus in July 2017, and had since undergone six treatments in Japan.

2018/88, 21 September 2018

Operations by Japanese and British warships to assert freedom of navigation rights in the South China Sea have been criticized by Beijing as destabilizing and provocative.

On 13 September, three Japanese surface warships and a submarine took part in a training exercise in an undisclosed area of the South China Sea. It was the first time that a Japanese submarine had conducted such activities in the disputed waters. In response, China’s foreign ministry called on non-claimant countries to “refrain from doing anything that will undermine peace and stability” in the area. China’s jurisdictional claims within its expansive nine-dash line—including the right to regulate the passage of foreign military vessels—are not consistent with the United Nations Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and are therefore not recognized by the international community.