China lashed out at Britain on Thursday for sending a warship close to disputed islands in the South China Sea, where Beijing has built military installations despite competing claims from other nations. The US and its allies have in recent times sent planes and warships to the area for “freedom of navigation” operations intended as […]
US private sector intelligence company Stratfor has tipped that the US will solidify its naval presence in the South China Sea in the latest bout of US-China rivalry. In its third quarter forecast, Stratfor also tipped that US President Donald Trump will continue to pile the tariffs on Chinese goods. That could certainly have a […]
BEIJING – A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves: ___ EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest […]
Philippines President Rodrigo R. Duterte was taking office in 2016 at just about the time that the Philippines won a historic case in the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague thoroughly humiliating China by ruling that all of China’s activities in the South China Sea are illegal and in violation of international […]
The Philippines has relinquished its legal win over the right to territory in the South China Sea, handing a significant victory to China in its claim to sovereignty over the strategically important shipping lane. Manila and Beijing are negotiating a deal that would enable them jointly to exploit an underwater oil and gas field. In […]
In August 2018, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte did something unusual: he publicly criticized China. He asserted that China did not have the right to drive away aircraft and ships passing by its man-made islands in the South China Sea. He explained that no country can create an island and then claim sovereignty over the airspace […]
China claims to have successfully tested a new sea plane, purportedly the largest in the world, and while its primary purposes are firefighting and water rescue, this new aircraft could be used to advance the country’s ambitions in the disputed South China Sea. The AG600 Kunlong, a domestically-built Chinese aircraft roughly the size of a […]
THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday gave assurances of the constitutionality of a planned joint exploration agreement between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). In a news conference following the DFA’s 2019 national budget hearing, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said, “Rest assured that we are […]
THE UNITED States risks infuriating China after American warships performed a military exercise in the hotly contested South China Sea with Japan. The Ronald Reagan Strike Group operated a gathering of its magnificent aircraft carriers on waters the Chinese are notoriously territorial about. Up to five ships were spotted in the waters and surrounding areas […]
A former Nato supreme allied commander has called on Indo-Pacific countries to take “collective action” to tackle China’s rising sea power and military expansion in the region. But instead of taking a hostile approach, the action should be carried out in smart and diplomatic ways, James Stavridis, a retired US Navy admiral, said on Thursday. […]