VIENTIANE, Laos—Vietnam has warned that the inability of Southeast Asian nations to forge a unified front against Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea is a “test” of the regional bloc in the face of its greatest security challenge. The unusually strong comments from a key claimant to the contested waters, comes as diplomats meet […]

On July 14, Taiwan’s ex-president Ma Ying-jeou held up a bottle of water during a press conference to prove a key point—that 400-meter-wide Itu Aba, the largest feature in the contested Spratly archipelago, is clearly not a rock. The water, sourced from the feature Taiwan calls Taiping Dao, is proof that it is actually an […]

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25, hailed an arbitral tribunal’s historic ruling on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). “With regard to the West Philippine Sea, otherwise known as the China Sea (sic), we strongly affirm and respect the outcome of […]

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he would “strongly affirm and respect” the outcome of an international court’s ruling that invalidated China’s vast claims in resource-rich waters in favor of the Philippines. In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), Duterte said the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) would help […]

OTTAWA – Canada weighed in Thursday in the ongoing South China Sea dispute, with a thinly-veiled call to China to abide by an international ruling that has angered Beijing. While the statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion doesn’t specifically name China, it appears aimed at the country, which is angry after an international panel […]

Just as China may distrust Eurocentric rules, smaller states may want the added safety of laws In September 2003, I found myself in the German city of Hamburg for a significant event in Singapore’s legal history – the city state’s first appearance before an international court. Unhappy with Singapore’s reclamation works off Tuas and at […]

I refer to Philip Bowring’s column on the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines (“Beijing’s claim about its ownership of the South China Sea needs to be rebutted, July 16) and letters by Peter Wei (“China is right to take this strong stance”, July 14) and W. L. Chang (“Grim future for […]

Following a UN tribunal’s recent ruling on the South China Sea, media attention focused mostly on the court’s rejection of China’s vast territorial claims in an area larger than the Mediterranean. But the court’s comments on the disputed region’s endangered marine environment also sent a strong message to China. On July 12, an arbitral tribunal […]

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden left some none-too-subtle hints that America would intervene in the South China Sea dispute if needed, and potentially laid the groundwork for a request that Australia join the fray also. Biden’s speech at Sydney’s Paddington Town Hall was the centrepiece of a whirlwind Australian visit, where he focused on emphasising […]

MANILA, Philippines – Taiwan wants to be included in multilateral talks on the South China Sea, saying it has turned out to be a “victim” of the ruling by a UN-backed arbitral tribunal dismissing China’s “nine-dash-line” historical claim as “illegal.” Gary Song-Huann Lin, representative of Taiwan in the Philippines, said the July 12 ruling of […]