- (The Canberra Times 14/9) Settlement of maritime disputes vital to SE Asia: As Chinese President Hu Jintao greeted his Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino in Beijing the other day at the start of a state visit, the official Xinhua news agency laid out terms for a sustained improvement in relations between the world's second biggest economy and its much smaller and weaker South-East Asian neighbour.

- (Business Standard 15/9) Chinese interests need careful handling: Swaraj: Weeks after reports of a confrontation between the Indian and Chinese navies off the Vietnamese coast on the South China Sea, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, on Wednesday called for "careful handling and consideration" of China and its interests in the region.

- (Channel 6 14/9) Indonesia and Vietnam sign joint naval agreement: The governments of Indonesia and Vietnam on Wednesday agreed to set up a joint sea patrol as several Asian nations continue to fight for the control of disputed waters.

- (Financial Times 13/9) China’s spreading ‘core interests’: China’s definition of what constitutes its “core interest” appears to be spreading. Such interests used to be confined to a few areas, about which the Communist party would brook absolutely no dissenting view. These included its national security, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

- (Alaska Dispatch 13/9) Taiwan environmentalists make push in South China Sea: Taiwan’s government, a claimant to the disputed South China Sea but unable to make noise diplomatically as China squelches its international profile, is trying a new approach to draw attention to and ease tension over the resource-rich region: environmental preservation.

- (Zamboanga Today Online 13/9) Taiwan leader 'to visit disputed Spratlys islands': Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou plans to visit the Spratly islands in the South China Sea to stress Taipei's claim to the disputed territory, a report said Saturday.

- (East Asia Forum 31/8) China’s Soft Power v America’s Smart Power: If China has made the running in Southeast Asia on the basis of soft power over the last decade, the tide now seems to be turning and the United States is re-engaging with smart power.

- (Philippines Information Agency 12/9) Taiwanese fishing vessel rescues 3 Filipino fishermen in China Sea: Philippine Coast Guard- Aparri Chief Petty Officer Ernesto Renon reported that a message brought to his attention that a Taiwanese vessel was bound to the nearest shoreline of the country to bring back the rescued fishermen.

- (Time of India 13/9) Post-Airavat 'harassment', Krishna heads to Vietnam: Weeks after the Chinese navy "harassed" an Indian assault vessel INS Airavatoff the Vietnamese coast, foreign minister S M Krishna is headed to Vietnam for talks with the leadership. Krishna will be in Hanoi from 14 to 17 September for the joint commission meeting with his counterpart Pham Binh Minh.

- (South China Morning Post 12/9) Beijing takes softer line with its neighbours: Meetings with Vietnamese and Philippine officials suggest a more conciliatory approach to easing tensions over the South China Sea: Recent diplomatic efforts to improve relations between China and its neighbours, which have been strained by disputes over the South China Sea, suggest that Beijing is taking a more conciliatory approach to resolving the tensions..

-  (Foreign Policy 12/9) Asia’s New Great Game: “China and India are both hungry for Burma’s vast natural riches. But will Burma’s people pay the price or can this Southeast Asian backwater finally enter the 21st century?”

- (New Vision 12/9) Sea frontiers: “The Indian Navy revealed recently that one of its vessels, the amphibious assault ship INS Airavat, was hailed by a Chinese naval officer demanding to know why it was in Chinese territory – while it was actually off the Vietnamese coast heading for the Vietnamese port of Haiphong.”

- (Inquirer 12/9) In light of sea claims, Aquino orders tighter security around archipelago: Amid unresolved territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea among several countries that include the Philippines, President Benigno Aquino III has signed an order that would ensure the country’s entire archipelago would be guarded against maritime threats and other security concerns.

- (Asahi 11/9) ANALYSIS/ South China Sea disputes: Harbinger of regional strategic shift? “The more fundamental challenge is how the regional countries, including Japan, should deal with the emerging strategic ambivalence, which is caused by both the growing economic interdependence with China and the continuing dependence on the regional security order guaranteed by the United States.”

- (Economic Times 12/9) Uncle Sam's decline and rise of China: The most enduring images of what is known as the "9/11 decade" are of suicide bombings, Predators, dead al-Qeada leaders and new al-Qaeda leaders. But did we miss another, equally powerful image? Yes, that of China, growing unhindered and becoming a superpower in its own right, when the US was busy fighting its wars? 

- (Business World 11/9) New directive sets up system to strengthen border control: According to the statement released by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr., Philippino President Benigno S. C. Aquino III has issued Executive Order (EO) 57, signed on Sept. 6, that creates the National Coast Watch System (NCWS), an expanded version of the defense establishment’s Coast Watch South against terrorism.