Despite its advocacy for Beijing's controversial and important position in the disputed South China Sea, the Institute for China-American Studies (ICAS) -- the only Chinese think tank based in Washington DC -- has been unable to rise from obscurity. Google their initials and they come up on the third page, behind the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, the International Council of Air Shows, and the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, a tribe in Alaska. It has all of 43 Twitter followers.

To date, the most effective counterbalance or check to Beijing’s campaign of tailored coercion in the East China and South China seas is the U.S. “rebalance to Asia” — an amalgamation of integrated soft and hard deterrent powers (multilateral diplomacy, economic integration and military presence) to reassure allies and partners; demonstrate resolve and commitment; and enhance force posture, capabilities, and readiness.

He plans on working in partnership with the private sector in creating a geopark that encompasses a marine protected area. [...] there’s hope that it may be recognized as a global geopark by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). [...] Ly Son Island is considered a living museum for Hoang Sa artifacts. The museum displays more than 1,000 documents, photos, and artifacts associated with the heroic Hoang Sa and Truong Sa troops.

In recent weeks, business deals between Australian and Chinese media groups have raised concerns over potential Chinese government influence in the Australian press. But according to a report in the Australian Financial Review, the media is not the only institution that has recently received Chinese government money as part of a soft power push by Beijing.

When the Chinese government donated a library to the University of Technology Sydney few people noticed. Only slightly more seemed to care when groups friendly to Beijing began funding think tanks in Australia, making political donations and paying primary schools to run Chinese language programs.

In recent months, Taiwan has been taking steps via public diplomacy and public relations to bolster its argument that Taiping is naturally capable of habitation and is thus an island. Last month, it invited the international media to visit the island, where goats roam and fresh well water is available. 

China today faces a multitude of security challenges in its neighborhood, with the South China Sea leading the issues that will test China’s global strategy of peaceful development. What are the salient features of the security situation in China’s neighborhood?

China’s actions in recent months have elicited growing concerns, not just from the US and Australia, but increasingly from across ASEAN. Singapore’s leaders have expressed disquiet about the deteriorating situation. Even Malaysia, which has historically preferred “quiet diplomacy” and been reluctant to criticise Chinese actions...