Earlier this week, a United States (US) navy aircraft carrier made its way to Vietnam for the first time since the end of the Vietnam war in 1975. The central coastal city of Da Nang saw the arrival of the USS Carl Vinson which had more than 5,000 crew members along with a cruiser and destroyer. Da Nang was also the first location where US troops landed during the Vietnam war, making the visit even more significant.

On Thursday, the Philippines announced that it was in talks with a Chinese state firm for joint exploration of the South China Sea. The aim of this joint exploration is to look for and extract energy resources such as oil and gas in the area. The proposed deal was described by President Rodrigo Duterte as a ‘co-ownership’ of the disputed areas."Now their (Beijing's) offer is joint exploration, which is like co-ownership. It's like the two of us would be the owners.

The rivalry between China and the United States seems to be heating up – this time outside of the economic sphere. Just a couple of months after President Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos where he called out China on their alleged unfair trade practices, US admiral Harry Harris has come out saying that the US must prepare for the possibility of war with China.

In recent times, China has been strengthening its relations with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states. The two parties have agreed on a series of new initiatives to grow bilateral ties and towards the later part of this year, are expected to hold their first joint naval drills.

2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Cambodia and China. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Cambodia in January 2018 and oversaw the signing of 19 new deals to celebrate this milestone.

Recent reports that China’s military and naval facilities are nearing completion have not fazed the Philippines, who have not taken any form of military action to halt the further progress of China into the waters of the South China Sea (SCS).

With the growing influence of China over Southeast Asian waters, the Indian government has expressed a readiness to bolster maritime security in the region, particularly in ensuring peace prevails in the disputed areas of the South China Sea.

Spotlight on energyThis week, The ASEAN Post highlighted some challenges that ASEAN is facing in terms of deploying renewable energy and electrification throughout the region. As the region’s energy demands grows, countries such as Myanmar are moving forward in order to quench the thirst for electricity.

On the agenda for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year – as it has been for many years before – is the South China Sea dispute. Singapore, as chairman of ASEAN will go into the year with the foundations towards dispute resolution seemingly made. Last November, China and ASEAN formally announced the start of negotiations for a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea.

The issue of overfishing is the greatest threat to ocean ecosystems today. Overfishing occurs where fish are netted at a more rapid rate than they can reproduce. Some reasons that have led to overfishing are advanced fishing technologies, increased demand for fish and illegal fishing.