A lawmaker has filed a bill to declare July 12 as a special working holiday, seeking to mark the day an international tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines in its arbitration case against China over the disputed West Philippine Sea. READ: Hague tribunal’s ruling on West PH Sea In a statement, detained Sen. Leila […]

New nuclear aircraft carriers and state-of-the-art carrier-borne fighter jets will join China’s revamped navy by 2035, local military experts say. It’s part of an ambitious push to modernize and overtake the US in the Pacific. The drive will see Beijing build at least six aircraft battlegroups that will be available for missions on the high […]

MANILA, Philippines — While the Philippines is repairing its facilities on Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea, China has deployed ships near the island, according to a report from an independent think tank. Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) observed People’s Liberation Army Navy, Chinese Coast Guard ships and fishing vessels near Subi Reef, […]

Beijing started sending vessels to Thitu, part of the Spratly chain, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) run by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The fleet of ships, dispatched from the nearby Subi Reef, includes vessels from the navy and coastguard along with dozens of fishing boats. The report said […]

MANILA, Philippines – China deployed its maritime militia to the vicinity of Pag-asa Island (Thitu Island) in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) after the Philippines began constructing on the island, an international think tank said. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that […]

One of the US’ most senior military figures and an adviser to President Donald Trump has called for firmer rules governing naval encounters in disputed waters such as the South China Sea, where near misses between warships continue to test territorial claims and rights to “free navigation”. “Let’s not be obstructing one another, driving our […]

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has canceled the residency of a wealthy Chinese property developer and political donor, but the foreign minister said on Wednesday she did not expect Beijing to protest. Australian officials denied Sydney resident Huang Xiangmo a passport, rejecting his application to become an Australian citizen and canceling his permanent residency, leaving him […]

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from “Policy Roundtable: Competing Visions for the Global Order” from our sister publication, the Texas National Security Review. Be sure to check out the full roundtable. The next decade is likely to bring an intensification of great power competition. This is not a new or recent development, although Donald […]

Philippines’ Defence Secretary, Delfin Lorenzana at a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in late December last year spoke of the need for a review of the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) with the United States given the growing security concerns in the South China Sea. The Defence Secretary had mentioned, given the ambivalent stand of […]

A British naval presence in the South China Sea strengthens global security and Britain’s global role. But it must be matched with a more systematic approach to the region, and to China’s defiance of legal norms. Last summer, the HMS Albion, an amphibious assault ship colloquially described as one of the Royal Navy’s ‘Swiss Army […]