Monthly Archives: November 2016

What’s Special About This Taiwan Military Drill In The Contested South China Sea

Taiwan’s coast guard and navy are planning a drill on the biggest island in the widely disputed South China Sea. The exercise at Taiping Island in the Spratly chain will obviously remind rivals China and four Southeast Asian countries of Taiwan’s massive but normally passive claim to the sea. The government in Taipei uses historical […]

China pivot yields ‘modus vivendi’ at West PH Sea 1

THE Duterte administration’s pivot to China will bring about a change in perception on both sides, allowing a “modus vivendi” of “peace” at the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), the country’s next ambassador to China said on Thursday. Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana, president of the Philippine Association of Chinese Studies, said the country’s […]

Maritime security in the South China Sea common strategic concern for India and Japan

As India and Japan deepen their economic and strategic engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, the deteriorating maritime security environment in the South China Sea impinges on the economic and strategic interests of both states in the region. The South China Sea issue has started to figure prominently in the security dialogue between New Delhi and […]

Will India Spoil China’s South China Sea Ambitions?

Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte may have forgot all about last July’s international arbitration ruling, which found that China has no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea. But not investors fleeing Asian stocks. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn’t forgotten that either, and he may spoil China’s ambitions to dominate the South […]

Can President Trump Stand Up to the Bullies of Beijing?

The next president will have to cope with a China increasingly truculent, aggressive, and apparently confident that its rise is taking place as the United States declines There’s something every day. China just preempted the Hong Kong courts and prevented two elected candidates from taking their seats in the former colony’s legislature, because they modified […]

Rodrigo Duterte Is Crushing Philippines’ Stocks

The President of the Phillipines’ flip-flops over the South China Sea disputes have been crashing the country’s equities market, which is down 7.2 percent in the last month. Apparently, investors are concerned about the political and economic future of that nation, and the prospects for on-going economic integration of the region and the global economy […]

Duterte’s Defiance His Threat to Upend Washington’s Pivot to Asia

In a year of global populism, no world leader has been more conspicuous than Rodrigo Duterte, the new Philippine president. But Duterte’s inflammatory rhetoric and reactionary policies have trickled into foreign and security policy matters, too, threatening to upend Washington’s pivot to Asia. Most recently, Duterte announced that he was suspending joint military patrols and […]