SUMMARY The Philippines reiterated its call for respect and adherence to international law regarding the West Philippine Sea at a virtual bilateral meeting with China on Friday, May 21. The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a press statement on Saturday, May 22, that the call was made at the 6th Bilateral Consultation […]
Japanese leader Yoshihide Suga brings up his worries about China’s Coast Guard Law and expresses support for the Hague ruling won by the Philippines against China China’s controversial Coast Guard Law and the 2016 Hague ruling won by the Philippines against Beijing were discussed by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga […]
BEIJING — China said on Thursday a U.S. warship had illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea, the latest salvo in the two nations’ dispute over Beijing’s territorial claims in the busy waterway. In a statement, the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command said the USS Curtis Wilbur entered the waters near the […]
A United States warship sailed through the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea on Thursday after passing through the Taiwan Strait, in defiance of a protest from Beijing. The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur had conducted freedom of navigation operations in the vicinity of the […]
President Duterte’s mantra is “China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea (WPS).” The President made this declaration on several occasions: the November 2018 Asean-India Summit in Singapore, his July 2019 and 2020 State of the Nation Addresses, and his late night TV addresses on April 19, 2021 and April 29, 2021. The reason […]
Opposition groups in the Philippines have joined forces in a bid to defeat the party or anointed successor of President Rodrigo Duterte. The country’s presidential election is scheduled for May 9, 2022. Duterte is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term, but some of his supporters are urging him to run as vice president if […]
China has long denied that it uses maritime militia forces to assert its maritime and territorial claims in the South China Sea, often describing the Chinese vessels clustered around disputed reefs and islets as just fishing boats. But the paper trail left by the Chinese bureaucracy tells a different story. Radio Free Asia analyzed bidding […]
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed their opposition to China’s growing maritime assertiveness during phone talks Monday, the first between the two leaders since Chinh was elected last month. Can Beijing stop other countries getting dragged into their island dispute? In their roughly 30-minute call, the […]
MANILA – Former senator Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday claimed the United States will not be able to protect the Philippines if hostilities with China erupt in the West Philippine Sea. Enrile, in a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, claimed the the area is not covered by the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the Philippine […]
Some 400 American soldiers and defence contractors deployed in the southern Philippines could be pulled out within months if Washington and Manila do not sign a new Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) by then. So heard an international conference titled “The Philippines Hedging Between Alliance or Appeasement: Can the Biden Administration Tip the Balance?” The US […]