MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has advised the Duterte government to elevate to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Chinese President Xi Jinping’s threat of war against the Philippines should the latter insist on drilling for oil in the disputed South China Sea, or […]

President Rodrigo Duterte should take China to the United Nations (UN) for threatening the Philippines with war if it drills for oil in an area in the West Philippine Sea that has already been declared within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Saturday. The world body “outlaws the […]

MANILA can file another case against Beijing before a United Nations tribunal for threatening war against the Philippines over the dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Saturday. In a statement, Carpio said the Philippine government can run to the UN tribunal under the United Nations […]

WASHINGTON – China has deployed HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles on Hainan Island in the northern part of the South China Sea, an Israeli satellite imagery company has learned, citing analysis of recently captured images. Amid concern about Beijing’s militarization and island building in disputed areas of the South China Sea, the observation that “China is apparently […]

A Chinese state-run Defense Times newspaper has said Norinco CS/AR-1 55mm anti-frogman rocket launcher defense systems with the capability to discover, identify and attack enemy combat divers had been installed on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. While Pentagon officials did not wish to specifically comment on this report, saying they do not discuss […]

SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday, May 19, said he is wary of having  a “legally binding” Code of Conduct (COC) in the disputed South China Sea. In his first interview with reporters at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Cayetano said he prefers the COC to first […]

On May 10, seven Republican and Democratic senators sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump urging his administration to resume the United States’ freedom of navigation operations, or FONOPs, in the South China Sea. The timing of the bipartisan letter was striking. Senior lawmakers chose a moment when Washington was consumed by a number […]

MIAMI: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations marked the 50th anniversary of its foundation in April with fanfare – celebrating its mission of “one vision, one identity, one community” in Manila with the habitual group photo of members crossing their arms across their chests to link hands with the representatives next to them, mimicking their […]

Beijing trades promises to help for U.S. acceptance of its Western Pacific hegemony The provocative actions by North Korea over the past three months since President Trump took office should not come as a surprise. In his campaign for the presidency, candidate Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the Obama administration for failing to take stronger action […]

President Trump wants China’s help to rein in North Korea and has been open to negotiating with Beijing to deal with Pyongyang. Negotiations began with obtaining a more beneficial trade deal with the United States. There are now reports that the Pentagon turned down a freedom-of-navigation operation request in the South China Sea to avoid […]