The early 20th century Italian thinker Antonio Gramsci observed that a “common error” among historians was their “inability to find the correct relation between what is organic and what is conjunctural”. Seeing his home country transformed overnight after the second world war, Gramsci cautioned against mistaking fundamental shifts for historical accidents or ephemeral change. Under […]

MANILA—The Philippine Navy said it is set to acquire 25 to 30 warships in the next decade in a bid to strengthen maritime security. Navy chief Vice Adm. Robert Empedrad on Thursday said the government plans to purchase offshore patrol vessels and submarines, according to a Philippine News Agency report posted Saturday. “I think there […]

  Asian seas are far from tranquil as Beijing asserts control and builds its military presence in the South China Sea. The strategic waterway is now one of the world’s most volatile geopolitical fault lines, and smaller countries in the region are faced with the thorny problem of how to respond.For the Association of Southeast […]

  Greg Poling, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, explained the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia rely on fishing and fishing-related industries. He said the decreasing fish stocks would “accelerate the disputes”, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) reported. His warning comes after Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte accused China of fishing within their Exclusive Economic Zone […]

CHINA has responded angrily to plans by a group in US Congress to impose new sanctions over Beijing’s building work in the disputed South China Sea. A group of Republicans and Democrats, led by Marco Rubio, are demanding sanctions on Chinese firms involved in the construction. Beijing’s territorial claim in the South China Sea overlaps […]

  The Pearl Harbor destroyer USS Preble and its crew of more than 300 have angered China twice this week with a transit of the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday and a South China Sea passage Monday close to Scarborough Shoal — a feature controlled by China but also claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines. Preble’s […]

  MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will reassert the country’s commitment of upholding freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea during his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in Japan next week. Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Meynardo Montealegre said Duterte and Abe would hold a bilateral meeting on May 31, their […]

  As the United States and China volley round after round in an escalating trade war, a second front of conflict is brewing in the contested South China Sea, one that could soon force smaller regional states to take geopolitical sides. This week, a US Navy guided-missile destroyer was deployed near the Scarborough Shoal, a […]

  MANILA, Philippines — With Chinese ships watching from a distance, Philippine and US Coast Guard vessels conducted drills near a disputed reef in the South China Sea on Tuesday, in the first civilian maritime exercises between the two Pacific allies in the heavily contested waterway. The Philippine Coast Guard’s vessels BRP Batangas and BRP […]

  TOKYO: Hawaiian “super corals” that have recovered despite living in warm and acidic water offer a glimmer of hope that dying reefs across the world could be saved, a new study says. The research suggests that the gloomiest climate change picture of a world without the kaleidoscope underwater habitats could still be avoided, according […]