Vietnam has been stealthily militarising disputed islets, reefs and sandbanks, adding to tensions in the strategically important South China Sea. Satellite photographs show that it is not only China that has been at work. While the focus of international criticism has been directed against China, its regional rival, Vietnam, is also taking part in […]

The US sent a fighter-jet-carrying warship to join drills near the disputed Scarborough Shoal for the first time, sending a pointed message to China as tensions simmer over territorial claims in the region. The USS Wasp — an amphibious assault ship outfitted last year with F-35B jets — joined the annual Exercise Balikatan with the […]

BY ANTONIO CONTRERAS “THE China Syndrome” is a 1979 movie which starred Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas. The title refers to a fictional nuclear plant meltdown, where radioactive materials melted through their compartments deep into the earth hitting the groundwater and seriously contaminating the surrounding area, with intensity that was exaggerated to have […]

MANILA, Philippines — The West Philippine Sea is “ours” and China “took it,” Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Wednesday. “The stand is that it is ours. And they took it. World’s highest court ruled that. Period,” Locsin tweeted in response to a Twitter user who asked for the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) […]

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday urged Filipinos to remain steadfast in upholding the country’s sovereignty, as about 1,000 protesters descended on the Chinese Embassy in Manila to oppose the Asian superpower’s presence in the disputed South China Sea. 📷MEMORIALIZING A MEMORY. Anti-China protesters carrying the tricolors and placards march towards the Chinese Embassy grounds through […]

  One of the more successful regional relationships that China has pursued in the past few years is with the Philippines. Before Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in May 2016, he had for several months been the front runner in the contest and concerns had been expressed among Filipinos that Duterte’s established style – […]

  There may be a greater risk of incidents between the United States and Chinese navies in the South China Sea because the US military has been given more decision-making authority, a Chinese think tank warned on Tuesday. In a report, the think tank said the White House National Security Council had become less involved […]

The US has sailed its USS Wasp amphibious assault vessel (pictured) near a strategic reef claimed by the Philippines but occupied by China around 230km from the Philippine coast. Filipino fishing crews reported seeing the large ship near Scarborough Shoal and said planes were landing and taking off from the vessel. The US military refused […]

THE GROUP of 7 (G7) nation’s mention of the 2016 arbitration victory of the Philippines over the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) dispute indicates that it can be a basis for a resolution of conflicting claims, according to a maritime expert. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs […]

  In the latest show of military muscle in the South China Sea, the U.S. has apparently sailed its USS Wasp amphibious assault ship near a strategic reef claimed by Beijing and Manila that lies just 230 km (140 miles) from the Philippine coast. Filipino fishermen near the site known as the Scarborough Shoal initially […]