A maritime law expert on Thursday slammed the Duterte administration’s refusal to confront China in the South China Sea, saying the Philippines had already lost much because of the government’s cop-out. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said that by saying he did […]

MANILA, Philippines — Citing strong evidence that Beijing has deployed weapons and jammers in the Spratly Islands, Washington called out Chinese President Xi Jinping for violating his promise not to militarize the South China Sea. The Pentagon withdrew its invitation for China to participate in the 2018 Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RimPac), a multinational […]

Satellite imagery shows that China has put nearly 400 buildings on Subi Reef in the South China Sea. Data shows that the number of buildings on Subi Reef is about double that on China’s other large outposts in the hotly contested region, known as the Spratly Islands. Experts are concerned about China’s increasing militarization of […]

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) — The Philippine government should file a formal protest after Chinese bomber planes landed for the first time on an island in the contested South China Sea, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Vice President Leni Robredo said Tuesday. The statements comes after reports of long-range H-6K bombers […]

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE – At first glance from above it looks like any clean and neatly planned small town, complete with sports grounds, neat roads and large civic buildings. But the town is on Subi reef in the Spratlys archipelago of the hotly contested South China Sea and, regional security experts believe, could soon be home […]

Amid South China Sea dispute, President Rodrigo Duterte balks at pushing back after landmark maritime rights ruling. Manila, Philippines – “I cannot go to war with China,” says Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte whenever he is pressed about his country’s challenged sovereignty claim over a portion of the South China Sea. It’s the same line he […]

ITU ABA, South China Sea — The largest natural feature of the Spratly Islands, the hotly disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, is a forested, sun-drenched oval of land, cleaved by a single runway that gives the place the appearance of a raw coffee bean floating in bright blue water. Called Itu Aba, it […]

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 21) — President Rodrigo Duterte again denied it was during his term when an international tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines over claims in the South China Sea. “It did not come during my term, ‘yung award. Excuse me. Hindi sa panahon ko ‘yan, nandiyan na ‘yan pagdating ko […]

The Philippines and other claimants should band together and oppose China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea, acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio said on Monday. For the nth time, Carpio called on the Duterte administration to bring a formal diplomatic protest opposing China’s militarization of the disputed waterway, the latest of which was […]