Sailors man the rails aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) as the ship transits along the coast of Valparaiso, Chile during a parade of ships on Nov. 19, 2018. US Navy photo. A U.S. destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the Spratly Islands today. Arleigh […]

  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot toward China will come under the spotlight as he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. The Southeast Asian nation is a long-time ally of the U.S., but since Duterte took office in 2016, the Philippines’ ties with China have been warming. Duterte’s visit to China — from Aug. […]

Philippine president is facing pressure over what critics say is an increasingly close relationship with China. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday, in the run-up to talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. And it could be a tense meeting for China and the Philippines. Duterte says he is planning to raise […]

  MANILA, Philippines — China’s People’s Liberation Army might be encouraged to take control of the Scarborough or Panatag Shoal, as well as parts of the Spratly Islands, as the country grows its missile arsenal, according to an Australia-based think tank. The United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney warned that Beijing’s […]

  In this edition of #MattersofFact, a maritime law expert expresses doubts over President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise to raise Manila’s arbitral victory over Beijing in the South China Sea dispute during his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping this week. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law […]

  In an unusually strong statement by the Pentagon, the U.S. has accused Beijing of employing “bullying tactics” in the disputed South China Sea, citing what it said was “coercive interference” in oil and gas activities in waters claimed by Vietnam. “China will not win the trust of its neighbors nor the respect of the […]

  BEIJING: China accused the United States on Tuesday (Aug 27) of “maliciously hyping up” the South China Sea situation and making warrantless criticism, after the Pentagon said China was carrying out “coercive interference” in waters claimed by Vietnam. A Chinese survey vessel on Saturday extended its activities to an area closer to Vietnam’s coast, […]

  The recent passage of Chinese warships through the Sulu Sea generated an outburst of criticism by Philippine officials and pundits. Since February 2019, at least 14 Chinese warships including its aircraft carrier have passed through Philippines’ territorial and archipelagic waters in the Sulu Sea using the Balabac Strait -Sibutu Passage route in a manner […]

Whether Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is scheduled to visit China from Wednesday to Sunday, will discuss the South China Sea issue with Beijing has caused quite a stir among some Western and Philippine media outlets. The interaction between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea issue in 2019 has seen interference by […]

  MANILA – The Philippines may have lost credibility and valuable support for its arbitration win against China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea after the government decided to shelve the victory for the past 3 years, an analyst said Tuesday. A United Nations-backed court in 2016 junked Beijing’s “historic rights” to nearly 90 […]