In shift, Xi says China, US and other nations can share the region BEIJING — China appears set to take a softer hand with its neighbors as tensions with the U.S. escalate, seeking friends that will take its side in a long-term battle with Washington for influence in the Asia-Pacific region. The Pacific Ocean is […]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s time in office has shown how a charismatic, populist leader can recalibrate a country’s foreign policy almost single-handedly. Under his watch, the Philippines has pursued an “independent” foreign policy, one that is less hostile to China and less dependent on the United States, the Philippines’ sole treaty ally and former colonizer. […]

  ABOUT 87 percent of Filipinos wanted the Philippines to regain control of the disputed West Philippine Sea, including the islands being occupied by China, according to June 27 to 30 poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS). Of the 87 percent, 69 percent said it was “very important” while the remaining 18 percent […]

There is overwhelming support among Filipinos for getting back Philippine islands that had been seized by China in the West Philippine Sea, according to survey results released on Saturday. The June 27-30 survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed 87 percent, or about nine of 10 adult Filipinos, believe it was important to regain […]

A product image demonstrates the Naval Strike Missile being fired from a truck. (Courtesy of Kongsberg) WASHINGTON — The U.S. surface fleet’s brand-new anti-ship missile was used as part of the barrage of rockets and missiles that put an end to the landing ship tank Racine on July 12 during the Rim of the Pacific […]

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine riot police used shields and a water hose Saturday to disperse more than 100 left-wing activists in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila in a confrontation that injured more than a dozen protesters. The farmers and workers belonging to the militant Bayan group burned cardboard showing the U.S. and […]

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — China is waging a “quiet kind of cold war” against the United States, using all its resources to try to replace America as the leading power in the world, a top CIA expert on Asia said Friday. Beijing doesn’t want to go to war, he said, but the current communist government, […]

China’s actions in recent years in the South China Sea (SCS), including its island-building and base-construction activities at the sites it occupies in the Spratly Islands, have heightened concerns that the country is rapidly gaining effective control of the SCS, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on 17 July. Short of […]

The 65,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest warship to be built in Britain. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Australia and the UK are discussing plans for the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to be sent to the Pacific amid tensions over China’s militarisation in the South China Sea. The Australian defence minister, Marise […]

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed charter of President Duterte’s consultative committee (Concom) allows China to undertake joint development with the Philippines in disputed areas of the South China Sea, former solicitor general Florin Hilbay said yesterday. In an interview the other day with “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News channel, Hilbay pointed out that […]