WHY AFRAID?: China believes in the validity of its sovereign claim over shoals and islets in the West Philippines Sea. It insists on a one-on-one discussion to resolve territorial disputes with neighbors, while avowing friendship and peaceful intentions in dealing with the Philippines. It is a member of the United Nations and signatory to the […]
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III said the Philippines has no intention to provoke a military confrontation with China, after challenging its claims over the West Philippine Sea in a formal pleading before the United Nations tribunal in The Hague. “We are not here to challenge China or to provoke them into any action. But I do […]
As expected, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario announced Sunday that the Philippines has submitted a memorial seeking a ruling on China’s “nine dash line” from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The Philippines seeks to have China’s claim to much of the South China Sea, including several features within the […]
BEIJING – China summoned the Philippines ambassador on Monday to lodge a strong complaint over Manila’s seeking of international arbitration in a festering territorial dispute over the South China Sea. The Philippines filed the case against China on Sunday at an arbitration tribunal in The Hague, subjecting Beijing to international legal scrutiny over the waters […]
BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) — A Foreign Ministry spokesman said here on Saturday that China will never allow the Philippines to occupy the Ren’ai Reef off China’s Nansha Islands in any form. Hong Lei, the spokesman, made the remarks in a written statement in response to the Philippines’ action of sending a supply ship to […]
MANILA — Amid another incident in the Ayungin Shoal on Saturday, the Philippines said it will not be stopped from pursuing a case against China before an arbitral tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The country will file Sunday its “memorial” – or written arguments – justifying its […]
A Philippine government ship slipped past a Chinese coast guard vessel Saturday and brought food and fresh troops to a marooned navy ship used as a base by Filipino troops to bolster the country’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. The incident was witnessed by journalists who were invited by the Philippines military […]
The South China Sea is seeing increasing tension amongst the claimants. The Second Thomas Shoal is the latest addition to Beijing’s ‘Salami Slicing’ strategy of slowly acquiring small reefs and islands to consolidate its contested claim. By Darshana M. Baruah THE MOST recent tension in the South China Sea over the Second Thomas Shoal indicates […]
BY FORCE: Is physical occupation backed by military force the only option left in resolving territorial disputes between the Philippines and China in their common waters? That is another way of saying war looms as a possibility as the options for peaceful settlement dwindle. A military scenario is emerging with the reckless rhetoric coming from […]
A global association of political parties has condemned China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), in a move the Philippines hailed as an “international expression of support” for its claim on isles in the disputed territory. In a one-page resolution issued in Brussels, the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) said it “condemns the […]