A verbal tussle in a Regional Security Forum in Brunei earlier this week did not stop Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario from inviting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Manila for “consultations.” “I indicated to him that that perhaps it’s timely for him to do this because I have been to Beijing three times […]
Chinese destroyer Wuhan leads a fleet of naval ships, heading to take part in a joint exercise with Russia in the Sea of Japan. China and Russia have launched what Beijing described as its “largest ever joint naval exercise” as an armada of military hardware descended on the Sea of Japan. Read more at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/tom-phillips/
Synopsis Increasing Chinese maritime law enforcement capabilities in the South China Sea (SCS), ostensibly to protect the interests of its fishermen, may only exacerbate tensions in one of the world’s closely monitored regional flashpoints. This is especially so in the context of increasing commercial fishing operations by SCS littoral states and the absence of a […]
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard expects to wrap up talks with the Japan International Cooperation Agency within the next few months for the acquisition of 10 brand-new patrol boats from Japan in late 2014 or early 2015. This was disclosed to the Inquirer on Thursday by Cmdr. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, who said “the talks are ongoing.” […]
This week the Association of Southeast Asian Nations appeared to make progress on addressing territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Following meetings in Brunei, the group announced that China had agreed to discuss a set of rules known as the “code of conduct” to avoid conflict in the disputed waters. Last year’s ASEAN forum […]
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario walked into a regional security forum this week to hear his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi reel off a list of complaints against Manila for stirring tensions over the South China Sea. Del Rosario was not scheduled to speak, but after hearing Wang’s speech at Sunday’s […]
MANILA – There’s some progress but little breakthrough in the ASEAN meetings in Brunei dominated by China’s territorial disputes with its neighbors including the Philippines. China has agreed to host talks on a code of conduct in the South China Sea in September but the talks were carefully described in the join ASEAN-China statement as […]
(Reuters) – China agreed to hold formal talks with Southeast Asian nations on a plan to ease maritime tensions on Sunday as the Philippines accused it of causing “increasing militarization” of the South China Sea, one of Asia’s naval flashpoints. The rebuke by Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario at a regional summit in Brunei came a […]
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei: The Philippines accused China of a “massive” military buildup in the disputed South China Sea, warning at a regional security forum today that the Asian giant’s tactics were a threat to peace. The statement by Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario ensured that the growing row over rival claims to the strategically […]
At a fund raiser for the Filipino Advocates for Justice in Oakland on June 20, I sat down with the former national chair of Bayan USA to ask him if his group planned to join the July 24 global protest against China’s occupation of the Ayungin Reef. Model of the Philippine Independence Day float of […]