A recent decision by an international tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, has significant implications for other maritime disputes, freedom of navigation, and future oil and gas claims in the Arctic. The arbitral award issued on July 12, 2016, by a unanimous five-member panel or Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the dispute between the Philippines […]
MANILA As the Indonesian army marched at the presidential palace in Jakarta in August to celebrate the nation’s Independence Day, the navy and coast guard units were smashing holes in fishing boats that had encroached on its territory. They sank 60 vessels that day, most of them were foreign-flagged. The record-setting action brought to 236 […]
MALACAÑANG on Wednesday was uncertain whether China will permanently allow the Filipinos to fish in the Panatag Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella told reporters that the present arrangement between the Philippines is that Filipino fishermen can now “go and fish” in the shoal. “At this stage, we’re not talking guarantees. […]
The Philippines should find a “win-win” solution and a “face-saving” scenario for China in the issue of the overlapping claims in the South China Sea, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has said. Carpio made the remarks in the wake of President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s bilateral talks in Beijing and Filipino fishermen […]
Conservationists are delighted that the Ross Sea has been designated a marine protected area Delegates from 24 countries and the European Union have agreed that the Ross Sea in Antarctica will become the world’s largest marine protected area (MPA). Some 1.57m sq km (600,000 sq miles) of the Southern Ocean will gain protection from commercial […]
Australia is considering joint naval patrols with Indonesia in the contested South China Sea, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Tuesday. Bishop said Indonesia’s request for joint patrols at a bilateral meeting in Bali last week was “consistent with our policies of exercising our right of freedom of navigation.” “That’s in accordance with international […]
PLA Navy carrier battle group in formation in the South China Sea. The complex disputes over islands, rocks and reefs in the South China Sea involve six countries: China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. They have a long history, with their origins in the interruption of traditional practices by European and Japanese colonialism, […]
At the same time, leaders in Tokyo and Seoul have also expressed strong concerns over recent Chinese provocations. Two days after Chinese fighter aircraft conducted an unsafe intercept of a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft operating in international airspace, on June 9 a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate entered a contiguous zone (CZ) adjacent to the […]
The disputed territory is significant not only for fishing, but for the broader balance of power in the South China Sea, and the circumstances behind China’s apparent softening of its position are not clear. Asked about Philippine fishermen entering the area unimpeded, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said China always had “normal administration” over […]
Malacañang has had to deflate its party balloons. Days ago it was boasting of enticing $15 billion in investments from President Duterte’s China visit. But then a congressman-ally noted that two Chinese state firms with which Manila had inked major deals previously were entangled in sleaze, and a third one in Beijing’s illegal construction of […]