In U.S.-China relations, “coordinated inauthentic behavior” is no longer just a polite description for bilateral summits, but the latest tactic in the ongoing competition for power and influence in the Indo-Pacific. On September 22, Facebook announced that it had dismantled a Chinese disinformation campaign that used false accounts and profiles to dupe unwitting individuals into […]

Last Sept. 22, 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping spoke before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) via video broadcast and declared, “We will never seek hegemony, expansion, or sphere of influence.” Forty-six years earlier on April 10, 1974, China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping declared before the UNGA, “If one day China should change her color […]

MANILA, Philippines — China has always been a “staunch guardian” of international fairness and justice, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, belying accusations by many of its neighbors and the US of bullying and intimidation in disputed waters. The US, however, said the threat posed by China needs to be taken seriously. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson […]

WHAT should we do about the flotillas of maritime militia sent by China to disputed areas in the South China Sea (SCS), including waters near Pag-asa Island, Ayungin Shoal, and other spots occupied by our forces? How about training, arming and sending 200 militia of our own? That’s the plan of the Philippine Navy, deploying […]

In 2020, The Trump administration has dramatically increased the number of Freedom of Navigation missions. Over the past two years, the United States has dramatically increased the number of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and destroyers sent into the South China Sea as a freedom of navigation show of force missions to remind the Chinese government […]

SOUTH CHINA SEA tensions have erupted, with an army chief warning Beijing is creating a “potential flash point” with its military force. A Philippine armed forces chief said military posturing in the disputed waters has created a “very tense” situation. Beijing has claimed nearly all of the South China Sea as its own. Philippine Army […]

The Philippine Navy is hiring maritime militia forces to patrol and protect fishermen in the South China Sea from intruding Chinese forces. Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo told reporters on Tuesday that it is preparing to send over 200 militiamen to the disputed South China Sea. One company is to watch the islands […]

SUMMARY Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Gilbert Gapay said that the South China Sea situation “remains volatile and uncertain” – quite different from the picture painted by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana just the day before. “The situation in South China Sea remains volatile and uncertain. We have seen aggressive actions in the […]

  China is the first major economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic that originated on the mainland itself. While the overall economy could not avoid a slowdown, the country’s ability to control the virus by March meant economic activity was able to resume relatively quickly. That activity in turn has powered more wealth creation, […]

Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana downplayed the threat of China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea on Monday, October 12. Facing senators through a Zoom budget hearing, Lorenzana described the “situation in the West Philippine Sea” as “stable” and “manageable.” Lorenzana was responding to Senator Risa Hontiveros, who asked what the DND […]