Of all the “strategic” challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific region, none is as underrated as the destruction of the marine ecosystem. The South China Sea’s status as a critical waterway draws attention away from the fact that littoral Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most diverse global marine bio-systems, hosting 76 percent of the world’s […]
Second, bilateral negotiations may increasingly be seen as a viable option. China’s ‘dual-track’ approach suggests that management of the South China Sea issue should be pursued at the multilateral level. It is the other track — the Chinese position of using the bilateral approach for resolving territorial disputes — that creates suspicions that China could […]
It seems if the People’s Republic of China is going to make a push to radically alter the status-quo in the South China Sea—by reclaiming the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal that is clearly within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines—we now have a good idea of when that might happen: sometime between early […]
A billboard featuring an image of an island in South China Sea on display that reads: “South China Sea, our beautiful motherland, we won’t let go an inch”. Credit CHINATOPIX, via Associated Press No one expected last month’s international arbitration court decision to be the last word on the tug-of-war over the South China Sea […]
Related news: According to one poll, more than 80% of the Chinese public think Rio’s judges have a sinister bias against China One week into the Olympic Games and Chinese patriots have a lot of complaints. A brief shortlist might start with judges biased against Chinese athletes. In all Rio venues, the points of the […]
One month has passed since the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague handed down its historic and sweeping award on maritime entitlements in the South China Sea (SCS), overwhelmingly favoring the Philippines over China. As expected, Beijing refused to accept the PCA ruling, hardened its legal and diplomatic positions, […]
Beijing and Manila could explore ways to open the Scarborough Shoal to fishermen from both countries and jointly develop fish farms in the disputed waters, according to the head of a government-affiliated think tank after talks with former Philippine president Fidel Ramos. Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said […]
On the West Philippine Sea dispute, former President Benigno Aquino III had taken an official position to defend what is legitimately ours as mandated by our Constitution. This led as a last resort to filing a compulsory arbitration case against China. As a private citizen of the Philippines, please allow me to humbly express my […]
MANILA, Philippines – President Duterte affirmed yesterday Manila’s strong alliance with Washington after the US State Department summoned Manila’s chargé d’affaires over what it described as Duterte‘s “inappropriate” remarks about US Ambassador Philip Goldberg. Duterte called Goldberg “bakla (gay)” and “buwisit (pest)” in a speech before soldiers in Cebu City last Friday. He also admitted […]
JAPAN and the Philippines joined forces on Thursday to call on China to observe the rule of law in resolving maritime disputes after an international tribunal rejected Beijing’s claims to most of the South China Sea. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Perfecto Yasay in the southern Philippine city of Davao where both […]