SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is in talks to possibly include Australia and Japan in planned joint South China Sea patrols with the United States, a senior diplomat said on Monday, February 27, in another sign of concern over Beijing’s activities in the strategic waters. “Meetings have already been set and probably we may have the Japanese and […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and the United States are discussing conducting joint coast guard patrols, including in the South China Sea, a Manila official said on Monday, February 20. With overlapping sovereign claims in the strategic waterway, the Philippines has ramped up rhetoric against what it describes as China’s “aggressive activities” in the South China Sea, which has […]
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – At a premier security conference in Munich, Germany, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo drew attention to China’s increasing harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, describing it as an occurrence that now formed part of the “daily situation” in the volatile waterway. “On a day-to-day basis, there are still […]
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 5:17 p.m.) — Several countries have expressed their support for the Philippines after the coast guard reported being tailed and directed a military-grade laser device by China during a rotation and resupply mission in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal last week. Read More –> Countries rally behind Philippines in maritime incidents with […]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 16) — China on Wednesday denied that its coast guard ship pointed a military-grade laser at the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel, saying the use of laser was for “navigation safety.” The denial came after nations expressed support for the Philippines and called out the Chinese Coast Guard’s (CCG) recent […]
MANILA, Philippines — It was “offensive and unsafe,” Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said yesterday of a Chinese coast guard vessel’s beaming a military-grade laser light at a Philippine boat, blinding crewmembers on a mission to resupply a military outpost in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea last Feb. 6. Read More –> DND […]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 14) — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has urged Beijing to restrain its forces after the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) pointed military-grade laser light at a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel near Ayungin Shoal. –> Read More AFP tells China to ‘restrain its forces’ following laser incident in […]
The United States stands with our Philippine allies in the face of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Coast Guard’s reported use of laser devices against the crew of a Philippine Coast Guard ship on February 6 in the South China Sea. The PRC’s conduct was provocative and unsafe, resulting in the temporary blindness of […]
Op-Ed for TMT Rafael M. Alunan III Feb. 14, 2023 Future ready Over a week ago, U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael A. Minihan, who heads the Air Mobility Command, told his troops to get battle ready for 2025 when he expects the U.S. and China to clash. If war breaks out, his command that transports […]
“With respect to the Philippines’ Submission No. 5, the Tribunal concludes that both Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Shoal are located within 200 nautical miles of the Philippines’ coast on the island of Palawan and are located in an area that is not overlapped by the entitlements generated by any maritime feature claimed by China. […]