MANILA- The Philippines and the United States reaffirmed on Tuesday their commitment to uphold the lawful use of the disputed South China Sea as Washington reiterated its support for Manila. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and his US counterpart Mark Esper emphasized during a meeting in Manila on Tuesday the need to uphold freedom […]

New Filipino coast guard chief prefers cooperation over confrontation in South China Sea Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has named a new coast guard commandant who is widely viewed as his new “czar” for the South China Sea, an appointment that could put the wider military establishment on a back foot regarding their sea tensions with […]

  ASEAN members remain optimistic that they can come up with a substantive and effective code of conduct on the South China Sea by 2021. Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen said developing the code of conduct is vital as there is potential for mishaps and incidents to occur in the disputed waters. May Wong […]

  BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s first domestically-built aircraft carrier is on its way to the South China Sea for tests and to take part in exercises, the Chinese navy said on Monday, after sailing through the Taiwan Strait in a mission denounced by Taipei as intimidation. Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Sunday a Chinese carrier […]

  North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un speaks as he stands with US President Donald Trump south of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) on June 30, 2019. (CNN)China’s Defense Minister told his US counterpart that Washington must […]

  The tensions created by the United States’ trade war with China and Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, and American pushback, pose challenges for closer ties between their militaries. Evidence of that is the US exclusion of China from last year’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest multinational naval war […]

  SOUTH CHINA SEA tensions have provoked a chilling arms race between the US and China as President Donald Trump looks to thwart Beijing in the region, but Washington’s move could spark fury from North Korea too as disarmament talks falter. The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) signed between Washington and the Soviet Union […]

  SOUTH CHINA SEA disputes have seen Asian countries furious with China for its aggressive actions in asserting its so-called Nine-Dash line claim, but one expert told Express.co.uk that Vietnam is the country most likely to retaliate with force. China and Vietnam have a long history of disputes and the troubled relationship is pock-marked with […]

South China Sea likely to headline ASEAN defence meet New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) Defence Ministers from India, the US, China and 10 ASEAN member countries are meeting in Thailand to discuss “sustainable security” against the backdrop of concerns in the international community over the lack of free navigational movement in South China Sea because […]

  Beijing should either get the South China Sea map right or forget the Vietnamese market — for every Chinese product, from smartphones to automobiles. That’s the message Hanoi sent recently to Beijing, taking the lead once again, among its neighbors, in the fight to contain China’s South China Sea ambitions. The South China Sea […]