Jakarta is preparing to bolster its maritime security defences in the Natuna Sea, which is rich in fisheries and natural gas, after increasing incursions by Chinese vessels within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The news should provide some comfort to upstream oil and gas investors operating in the Natuna Sea. The announcement of the strategic […]
MANILA (UPDATE) — China has opposed a Philippines-led push for a review of its 70-year-old defense treaty with the United States, Manila’s defense chief said on Thursday, concerned that it could be seen in Beijing as an effort to contain its rise. The Philippines is keen to amend the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) to […]
The Philippine foreign secretary on Thursday ordered that new diplomatic protests be filed against Beijing over the ongoing presence of more than 100 Chinese ships in waters claimed by Manila in the South China Sea. Teodoro Locsin Jr., who is in the United States for an official visit, issued three messages via Twitter ordering the […]
Washington has strategic, economic, and normative reasons for safeguarding the island from Chinese coercion. Amidst talk of U.S.-China competition, Taiwan too often devolves into a policy football, a subset object at the prey of larger geopolitical forces. Calls to make an explicit security guarantee for Taiwan, maintain the status quo, or even abandon the island […]
Our admirals project that the Chinese Communists will attack Taiwan within six years, writes Seth Cropsey (“The Danger of Shrinking American Naval Power,” op-ed, Aug. 13). How about in six weeks? They have been laying the foundation for taking Taiwan for 25 years. Back then, the Chinese navy was a joke. No one is laughing […]
The largest US amphibious exercise in 40 years highlighted Washington’s anxiety to show its global military supremacy over Russia and China but also exposed some of its weaknesses, Chinese military observers have said. The Large Scale Exercise 2021 took place between August 3 and 16 across 17 time zones and involved 25,000 personnel from global […]
MANILA, Philippines—China recently fired flares at Philippine military planes conducting security patrols in the West Philippine Sea. These were recorded at least five times near Chinese outposts in the West Philippine Sea, according to Lt. Col. Bill Pasia, of the Palawan-based Western Command, at an online forum on Friday (Aug. 20). Pasia also said that […]
By: Antonio T. Carpio – @inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 04:06 AM August 05, 2021 The Philippines’ territorial claim to the Spratlys is limited only to the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), as formalized in Presidential Decree No. 1596 and clarified in Republic Act No. 9522. China’s and Vietnam’s territorial claims cover the entire Spratlys. Malaysia’s territorial […]
President Rodrigo Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 26, 2021 broke no new ground on the most important foreign policy issue facing the Philippines — China’s relentless encroachment on the West Philippine Sea. Sadly, President Duterte adopted and reiterated the position of China that rejected the validity of the Arbitral Award […]
By: Antonio T. Carpio – @inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 05:06 AM July 22, 2021 Two months ago, I had a Zoom meeting with fisherfolk from Zambales who complained that their fish catch had been dwindling because huge Chinese trawlers have been scooping the fish in their traditional fishing grounds in the West Philippine Sea, leaving […]