Nations’ ties reshape through time. Each side’s expectation needs periodic reassuring. Leaders thus must restate exactly where they stand. Visiting Barack Obama reportedly will bring up today corruption and human rights issues. Noynoy Aquino is to table the strain Beijing is causing in the West Philippine (South China) Sea. Of concern to Filipinos is the […]
MANILA – President Benigno Aquino summarized the Philippines’ case against China when he called some of the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea as mere “rocks” and not islands. Aquino, during his press briefing at the Palace on Monday with his US counterpart, Barack Obama, described the disputed areas as a “few rocks that […]
“IS this how the Philippines should deal with its powerhouse neighbor?” Former President Fidel V. Ramos raised this question in 2011 following conflicting reports on the dates of President Benigno S. Aquino’s state visit to China. But back then, relations between the Philippines and China were still in good shape. Hu Jintao was then the […]
As the Filipino and American governments formally signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) Monday, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg said that the forging of this latest initiative will greatly aid in the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). “It (EDCA) will also support the shared goal of promoting the long term modernization […]
Baby steps, baby steps. Last week, some twenty Pacific navies meeting at the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao agreed to what participants are styling as a Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). CUES, like the Cold War-vintage INCSEA agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia, calls on mariners to forego provocative […]
Quần đảo Hoàng Sa or Paracel Islands include over 30 islets, sandbanks and reefs over a maritime area of around 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi) with less than 8 square kilometres (3.1 sq mi) of land. It had been under the administration of Vietnam since 15th century until ARVN forces were repelled by the PLA navy in 1974. […]
During his recent China visit, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel reportedly got an earful from his Chinese counterpart and others on his country’s perceived meddling in regional affairs. While maintaining necessary courtesies during such visits, his Chinese hosts did not hold off from saying their piece. China’s Minister of Defence, Chang Wanquan, said that Beijing […]
KUALA LUMPUR: US President Barack Obama’s visit to Malaysia this weekend will provide assurance to Malaysia in terms of national security in regard to the territorial dispute over the Nine-Dash Line in the South China Sea, said the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia. “It think it will bring us assurance on the Nine-Dash Line […]
The South China Sea has become the focal point of maritime disputes in Asia. Two of the claimants are China and Taiwan, while the other four—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam—are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. While Asean as a grouping is not a party to the disputes, the organization has an […]
BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) — The international community must keep vigilant as Japan’s right-wing politicians have raised risks for the peaceful development of Asia. On Tuesday, a Japanese cabinet minister and nearly 150 lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine, and Monday saw Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe make a ritual offering to the war-linked shrine, just […]