ILOILO CITY – Senatorial candidates Neri Colmenares, Florin Hilbay and Chel Diokno faced off with former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque at a forum in Iloilo City on Friday. At issue at the forum organized by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines were the Philippines’ foreign policy and the West Philippine Sea. Former Rep. Neri Colmenares […]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte remains a popular figure in the country with a high approval rating, which he hopes to lend to his allies in the midterm elections in May. © Reuters MANILA — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s political opponents are zeroing in on his government’s dealings with China ahead of his visit to Beijing […]

Ten thousand sailors and marines from the U.S. Navy’s Third Fleet and U.S. Marines’ I Marine Expeditionary Force recently completed a two-week exercise in Southern California to explore new concepts for fighting in littoral environments among small islands like those in the found in the South and East China Seas. “Pacific Blitz” combined existing large […]

China has dismissed a request from the Vietnamese government for USD 130,000 (EUR 116,000) compensation for the sinking of a Vietnamese trawler in disputed waters of the South China Sea, claiming instead that the vessel was guilty of “illegal fishing” and was sunk before a Chinese vessel reached the scene. The Vietnam Fisheries Association, a […]

The South China Sea issue has increasingly been divided into two different issues: a solvable one between China and Asean countries, and an intractable one between China and the United States caused by the American insistence on using warships to get its point across, a senior Chinese official said. China also warned it may “take […]

Chinese analyst says American forces should have to think twice before going ‘too far’ with their activities in the contested waters In 2013, China embarked on a massive land reclamation project, expanding seven reefs in the Spratlys into large artificial islands. Photo: People’s Daily China should reinforce “deterrence facilities” in the South China Sea as […]

The top U.S. diplomat claimed that China’s growing presence in the South China Sea and its global project to promote Chinese investment abroad were all linked to Beijing’s plan to promote its own defense. Speaking at the National Review Institute’s 2019 Ideas Summit in Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged Thursday that “there is […]

MANILA, Philippines — Beijing’s economic strategy cannot be separated from its security efforts in the South China Sea, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said. Speaking at a forum in Washington, the top American diplomat noted that the trade between the US and China has not been “remotely reciprocal.” “But the threats that — the […]

A Supreme Court (SC) justice has expressed alarm over the Chico River irrigation loan agreement between the Philippines and China that is supposedly advantageous to Beijing. Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, in his speech at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila over the weekend, warned that China could seize oil and gas-rich Philippine assets in the […]

That was a common question when it became known that a complaint had been filed before the International Criminal Court or ICC against Chinese President Xi Jinping over his country’s island-building in the South China Sea. Xi is president for life. His government refused to participate in the proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration […]