An Economist ‘book of the year’
I’m very pleased to say that The Economist has listed South China Sea – the struggle for power in Asia as one of its best books of 2014. I’m honoured that it’s among such exalted company as Evan Osnos’s Age of Ambition and Louisa Lim’s People’s Republic of Amnesia. You can read the full list of books of the […]
Introducing the book – a vodcast for Yale
A vodcast for Yale University Press in which I talk about how I came to write the book, why the islands of the South China Sea are both tiny but very important, the origins of China’s claim to the South China Sea and the importance of the South China Sea to the wider world. It’s […]
SCMP review – ‘superb and timely’
Ben Richardson of the South China Morning Post has given the book a great review. My thanks to him for these fine words, among others, “Hayton makes full use of his trade-craft to spin a page-turning thriller packed with anecdotes, historical characters and eye-witness accounts”. Since the SCMP, more-or-less, overlooks the South China Sea, this […]
US Speaking Tour – October 2014
I will be visiting the northeastern US in the second half of October to talk about the South China Sea. I’m doing about ten talks in all and most of them will be open to the public (although you might need to check or reserve a place in advance). There might even be an opportunity […]
A business angle – interview with BNN
Why the South China Sea matters to business – an interview with the Canadian business channel BNN. Topics included the importance of the US pivot to the region, the overlap between the regional territorial disputes and the wider strategic relationship between the US and China, how much oil and gas is really in the sea? […]
First review – “A splendid book”
A really excellent review of the book by The Economist, “Bill Hayton’s splendid book lucidly covers these disputes in all their complexity from virtually every angle—historical, legal, political, economic and strategic. A journalist with the BBC and author of a previous book on Vietnam, he tells a good yarn, even when the topic is as […]
China’s construction boom in the Spratlys
What’s changed as a result of China’s massive construction projects in the Spratly islands? Legally – nothing – but strategically – we wait and see. All the features that the PRC occupies in the Spratlys would be naturally underwater at high tide, so building on them, doesn’t mean they will count as ‘territory’ under international […]
China’s Epic Fail in the South China Sea
By whatever metric you choose, China’s recent oil-drilling adventure in the South China Sea was a disaster. No new oil will reach Chinese consumers, no new maritime territory has been gained and regional advantage has been handed to the United States. ASEAN solidarity has held firm and the positions of ‘pro-Beijing’ forces in […]
China’s false memory syndrome
The nationalist academics and government committees of the first half of the 20th century have bequeathed the Communist Party an “official history” that is demonstrably false. It is this, and not the threat of nationalist mobs on the streets that makes the South China Sea disputes so intractable and dangerous. But to concede […]
Clashes and artificial islands, BBC interview
An interview for BBC World News about developments in the South China Sea – particularly the release by the Vietnamese government of video showing a Chinese ship chasing and sinking a Vietnamese fishing vessel and allegations from the Philippines government that China is constructing new artificial islands in the Spratlys. The interviewer is Kasia […]