James Borton: Dispatches from the South China Sea

Abstract

In his new book Dispatches from the South China Sea, veteran foreign correspondent James Borton chronicles how the sea’s sustainability is being threatened by the negative impact of continuous coastal development, climate change, ocean acidification, plastic pollutions, reclamations, destruction of corals and overfishing, as well as population and political pressures from all neighboring states. A blend of participatory research and field reportage, Dispatches paves the way for a transformation of policy and provides a basis for the eventual resolution of some of today’s major maritime conflicts.

Biography

James Borton is a veteran editor and writer with over 25 years’ experience in southeast Asia. He is a former director for Asia Pacific Projects for Foreign Affairs, published by the Council of Foreign Relations in New York and Asia Pacific correspondent for the Washington Times, where continues to contribute op-eds and special reports from the region. He is the author of Venture Japan (Probus 1992). He has also edited The South China Sea: Challenges and Promises (Xlibris 2015) and Islands and Rocks in the South China Sea: Post Hague Ruling (Xlibris 2017). 

Borton holds both a B.A and a M.A with honors in English and American Studies from the University of Maryland and has been a National Endowment for the Humanities recipient at Yale University. He is a National Fellow in The Explorers Club, an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and is currently a Nonresident Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC.