Speaking on Monday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told an audience of local government officials that the country should not “dwell on Scarborough Shoal.” According to a translation of his Tagalog remarks posted by Rappler, Duterte said the Philippines should not dwell “because we don’t have the capabilities.” “Even if we express anger, it will just […]

To stake its claim in the strategic South China Sea, China is building airstrips, ports, and other facilities on disputed islands and reefs. Scientists say the activities are destroying key coral reef ecosystems and will heighten the risks of a fisheries collapse in the region. In the late 1980s, marine biologist John McManus and his […]

Next week Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who took power in late June, will make his first state visit to China. Of course he’s hoping for a bonanza of loans and trade deals. What he’s not expecting or demanding: the return of Scarborough Shoal, which China seized from the Philippines in 2012, sparking demonstrations by Filipinos […]

A fishing boat in Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the major players in the South China Sea dispute. It’s been nearly three months since the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued its landmark ruling in the Philippines vs. China case, resulting in a nearly unanimous victory for Manila and a humiliating legal defeat […]

Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy May 21, 2015. A top mainland research institute is developing the world’s smallest ­nuclear […]

TOKYO—The issue involving the South China Sea is of vital significance for East Asia. It is a priority not only in relations among Japan, the United States and China, but also in relations between China and Asean. It was thought that the US freedom of navigation operations and the ruling handed down by the Permanent […]

SINGAPORE — Following the back-and-forth between Singapore and Chinese state-owned newspaper Global Times over the South China Sea issue, some Singapore businessmen with interests in China are being questioned by their Chinese counterparts, on where they stand on the matter. Singapore companies TODAY spoke to are concerned that this, along with the increasingly shrill comments […]

“I am ready to not really break ties [with America] but we will open alliances with China and . . . Medvedev [Russia],” the Philippines’ firebrand leader Rodrigo Duterte recently exclaimed. “I will open up the Philippines for them to do business, alliances of trade and commerce.” In a matter of months, the Philippines has […]

Three months after the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea, the defiant words and actions of Beijing continue to perpetuate the widespread belief that the decision was a complete defeat for China. It may be true that the tribunal severely undercut China’s claim to sovereignty over nearly all of […]

The organizers of this gathering requested a “provocative” presentation. They knew not what they were asking! I will do my best to oblige. Regional politics underwent a phase change last July, when jurists in The Hague struck down China’s claim to “indisputable sovereignty” over some 80-90 percent of a major waterway. The Permanent Court of […]