Category Archives: News

China-Philippines ties getting better and better – Xi

  BEIJING – For Chinese President Xi Jinping, relations between the Philippines and China are getting stronger and better. “We are happy to see Philippines-China relations getting better and better. The cooperation between the two sides is very good and getting stronger,” Xi said in his opening statement at a bilateral meeting with President Duterte […]

PHL won’t bar Chinese proposals for shipyard takeover

  MANILA — All offers from potential buyers of a strategically located but debt-laden Philippine shipyard will be welcome, the trade minister said on Thursday, ruling out barring Chinese firms over national security fears. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the government would not, and could not, block interested buyers of distressed shipbuilder Hanjin Philippines, which […]

Duterte urged to seek end to Chinese clam harvesting

  MANILA, Philippines — While in Beijing to strengthen bilateral ties, President Duterte can press for an end to the harvesting of giant clams and other activities by the Chinese that destroy the maritime environment in the West Philippine Sea, according to a Filipino maritime expert. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines-Institute […]

Duterte, Xi agree on bilateral talks to resolve sea dispute

  MALACAÑANG said Thursday, April 25, that President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed that the long-standing disputes over the resource-rich West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) could be addressed through bilateral consultations. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte raised the sea disputes, but tried to ease the tension over the issue, […]

Should President Duterte confront China on SCS?

  PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is leaving for Beijing this week to attend the Belt and Road forum. Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and his comrades are agitating for the President to raise the issue of Philippine sovereignty over the South China Sea when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping. Such a proposal only shows […]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte tries to smooth over South China Sea tensions in meeting with China’s Xi Jinping

  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, before the meeting at the Great Hall of People in Beijing on Thursday. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte tried to play down tensions over the South China Sea and restated his support for Beijing’s contentious global infrastructure and trade plan as he courted Chinese […]

Duterte raises PH concerns over South China Sea incursions with China’s Xi

  MANILA (UPDATE) – President Rodrigo Duterte raised Manila’s concerns over rising tensions in the West Philippine Sea during his bilateral meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Malacañang said Thursday. Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte particularly discussed the situation in Pag-asa Island. “Both agree that the situation can be managed by the mechanism of […]

Special Report: How China is replacing America as Asia’s military titan

  He has donned camouflage fatigues, installed himself as commander-in-chief and taken control of the two million-strong Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army. It is the biggest overhaul of the PLA since Mao led it to victory in the nation’s civil war and founded the People’s Republic in 1949. Xi has accelerated the PLA’s shift […]