President Rodrigo Duterte returned to the country early Tuesday from the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, where he called for collective action to address territorial disputes, transnational crimes, trade-related tensions and climate change. Malacañang said Duterte had a “fruitful” participation in the 35th Asean Summit and Related Summits, […]

  MANILA (UPDATE)—The Philippine immigration bureau announced Wednesday it would resume stamping passports of visiting Chinese nationals, following Manila’s reversal of a 7-year-old policy protesting Beijing’s expansive maritime claim. Immigration officers were instructed to now place arrival and departure stamps next to Philippine visas on Chinese passports, Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement. President […]

  BANGKOK—President Du-terte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed the South China Sea issue, particularly the need for a Code of Conduct, as the way to go to address tensions in the region. Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said this is one of the key regional and international concerns […]

  BANGKOK: The United States on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) accused China of intimidation in the South China (West Philippine) Sea as it put forward its strongest language yet rejecting Beijing’s claims in the strategic, dispute-rife waters. US National Security advisor Robert O’Brien attends the 14th East Asia Summit in Bangkok on November 4, 2019, […]

  CHINA and the US’ battle for supremacy in the South China Sea is heating up, and one expert told Express.co.uk that one element of the ensuing row between Washington and Beijing is worse than what was seen during the Cold War. Asian countries convened last weekend at the Bangkok ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian […]

  BANGKOK — U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser on Monday called on countries intimidated by Beijing in the South China Sea to seek arbitration, as Washington put pressure on China at one of Asia’s largest diplomatic gatherings. Robert O’Brien, who represented Trump during the ASEAN Summit and related meetings, also announced an initiative […]

  A Chinese warship tried to drive away a Filipino-crewed commercial vessel that sailed near Scarborough Shoal in late September. But the Filipino captain of the Liberia-flagged oil tanker stood his ground, insisting on the vessel’s right to passage. The incident came as Southeast Asian nations were negotiating a code of conduct with Beijing to […]

  A U.S. envoy on Monday denounced Chinese “intimidation” in the South China Sea at a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders, and conveyed an invitation from President Donald Trump for the leaders to attend a special summit in the United States. “Beijing has used intimidation to try to stop ASEAN nations from exploiting the off-shore […]

  ABSENT this recognition, it has been impossible to move even a millimeter forward discussions on the long proposed Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China. At the annual summit of the Asean in Bangkok, Thailand over the weekend, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made […]

  Trade woes It’s the last day of the ASEAN Summit in Thailand. Reports said the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which some have called the world’s largest trade pact that includes ASEAN countries, has been pushed back to 2020. China has been backing the pact and needs it more now to […]