MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines should tread carefully in adopting a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea as such document would only legitimize Beijing’s incredible maritime claim, according to a maritime law expert. In an interview with “The Chiefs” Thursday night on One News-Cignal TV, Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP […]

  The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime H. Morente has released a statement that Chinese regular e-passports will have Philippine visas stamped directly on them instead of a separate paper. The question remains: Is this an action simply to address security concerns or is it a sign that the Philippines is growing more […]

  CHINA has launched a stinging attack on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, branding his recent criticism of the Chinese Communist Party “extremely dangerous” and ordering him to stop “jabbering on”. Last month, Mr Pompeo stepped up US rhetoric against China’s ruling Communist Party, saying Beijing was focused on international domination and needed to […]

  On Friday, China pushed back on a suggestion from a senior Vietnamese official that the country would be willing to pursue international arbitration over its disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. On Wednesday, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, speaking at a conference, said that Hanoi would look to arbitration and […]

  China has developed a long-range underwater drone designed to extend the range of its activities in the South China Sea. The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sea-Whale 2000 recently completed a non-stop 37-day test run in the South China Sea over a distance of 2,011km (1,250 miles), the Chinese Academy of Sciences said on Tuesday. […]

  Why millennials see destructive socialism as cool China’s claim to own the South China Sea are “preposterous” and illegal, according to a State Department report made public this week. Beijing’s “maritime claims in the South China Sea, exemplified by the preposterous ‘Nine-Dash Line,’ are unfounded, unlawful and unreasonable,” states the report on U.S. policy […]

  THE Bangkok summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded on Monday with the outbreak of an unseemly diplomatic spat between ASEAN states and the US over the South China Sea. ASEAN heads of state were deeply disappointed that Donald Trump chose not to attend the summit and sent a low-level diplomatic […]

  As part of the ongoing 11th South China Sea International Conference in Hanoi, delegates on November 6 afternoon attended a special session marking the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and 25 years since Vietnam approved the convention. Hanoi (VNA) […]

  In a move seen as a refusal to reinforce the maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea, Malacañang dismissed the harassment of a Filipino-manned vessel by a Chinese ship even if it happened within Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The vessel called Green Aura is not Filipino-owned. It came from Greece and carried a flag […]

  President Rodrigo Duterte returned to the country early Tuesday from the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, where he called for collective action to address territorial disputes, transnational crimes, trade-related tensions and climate change. Malacañang said Duterte had a “fruitful” participation in the 35th Asean Summit and Related Summits, […]