Author Archives: admin

China’s Defiance in the South China Sea

A billboard featuring an image of an island in South China Sea on display that reads: “South China Sea, our beautiful motherland, we won’t let go an inch”. Credit CHINATOPIX, via Associated Press No one expected last month’s international arbitration court decision to be the last word on the tug-of-war over the South China Sea […]

The South China Sea Ruling: 1 Month Later

One month has passed since the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague handed down its historic and sweeping award on maritime entitlements in the South China Sea (SCS), overwhelmingly favoring the Philippines over China. As expected, Beijing refused to accept the PCA ruling, hardened its legal and diplomatic positions, […]

China-Philippines fishing deal ‘may help calm troubled South China Sea waters’

Beijing and Manila could explore ways to open the Scarborough Shoal to fishermen from both countries and jointly develop fish farms in the disputed waters, ­according to the head of a ­government-affiliated think tank after talks with former Philippine president Fidel Ramos. Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said […]

Del Rosario — Personal Statement on Final Arbitral Award

On the West Philippine Sea dispute, former President Benigno Aquino III had taken an official position to defend what is legitimately ours as mandated by our Constitution. This led as a last resort to filing a compulsory arbitration case against China. As a private citizen of the Philippines, please allow me to humbly express my […]

Philippines-US alliance remains strong – Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – President Duterte affirmed yesterday Manila’s strong alliance with Washington after the US State Department summoned Manila’s chargé d’affaires over what it described as Duterte‘s “inappropriate” remarks about US Ambassador Philip Goldberg. Duterte called Goldberg “bakla (gay)” and “buwisit (pest)” in a speech before soldiers in Cebu City last Friday. He also admitted […]

PH, Japan to China: Respect law in sea row

JAPAN and the Philippines joined forces on Thursday to call on China to observe the rule of law in resolving maritime disputes after an international tribunal rejected Beijing’s claims to most of the South China Sea. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Perfecto Yasay in the southern Philippine city of Davao where both […]

Japan to fund $2.4-B railway to ease Manila’s hellish traffic

Japan on Friday announced it is pouring a massive $2.4 billion into a new railway in the Philippines aimed at easing Manila’s notorious gridlock. Japan, Philippines’ top trading partner and source of aid, said the 38-kilometer (24-mile) elevated commuter line would connect Manila to nearby Bulacan province to decongest the capital and help spur economic […]

No one knows what these hexagonal structures the Chinese keep building in the South China Sea are for

Unidentified hexagonal structures at Fiery Cross, Subi, and Mischief reefs.CSIS/AMTI/Digital Globe/Amanda Macias/Business Insider In addition to China’s lightning-fast construction of military aircraft hangars on reefs in the South China Sea, mysterious facilities have also emerged. Satellite imagery published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), a unit of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, […]