BEIJING – From a military rules-of-the-road agreement with Washington to $20 billion in loans for Southeast Asia, Beijing has set aside the tensions of recent years to present a softer side to the world in the last week. But proof of whether President Xi Jinping is serious about narrowing differences that have marked his first two […]
SINGAPORE — Philippine President Benigno Aquino yesterday said he was hopeful of a peaceful resolution to his country’s territorial dispute with China after holding informal talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping last week, where the two sides pledged to find a constructive solution to the issue. Mr Aquino met Mr Xi last week on the […]
For decades Beijing’s communist rulers have been feeding the Chinese hoodoo history. They preach in schools that China has owned the islands, rocks, reefs, and waters of the South China Sea since time immemorial. “Abundant historical facts” supposedly back this up. Yet genuine accounts from 6,000 years ago to the present disprove Beijing’s propaganda. Records […]
MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs dismissed Wednesday views that China’s Maritime Silk Road plan excludes the Philippines. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road aims to build infrastructure across the region to bolster trade among the nations. DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said the Chinese embassy has already clarified the matter. […]
For the first time since 2007, the leaders of the United States, Australia, and Japan met on the sidelines of the G20 conference in Brisbane, Australia and agreed to deepen their military cooperation. Specifically, U.S. President Barack Obama, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to deepen their cooperation on […]
MANILA, Philippines — Chinese officials pushing for Beijing’s claims on the West Philippine Sea believe the Philippines is still a “factotum” of the United States. This is what lawyer Harry Roque, among the petitioners questioning the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), noted before the Supreme Court during the oral arguments on Tuesday. Senior Associate Justice […]
China may be Asia’s economic powerhouse but it won’t become the region’s dominant power, according to a new report. “In examining the factors that go towards the development of Chinese national power-and its ability to use it to achieve national objectives-predictions about a Chinese superpower with the ability to dominate Asia would be premature, if […]
The event, themed “East Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development,” entered its last day on Tuesday, with a hot issue raised: whether China will announce its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East Sea after it has already announced the same zone in the East China Sea. Professor Robert Beckman, director of the […]
Tensions in Asia are rising over unresolved territorial disputes and sovereignty issues. In contrast to the immediate post-Cold War period, recent tensions are characterized by the evident proclivity of some, if not all, parties towards the threat or use of limited force. As a much preferred tool of statecraft, maritime platforms tend to be the […]
The United States, Japan and Australia all took aim at China and Russia at the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Brisbane, Australia, says Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet. The final day of the G20 summit on Nov. 16 had been slated for a discussion about economic growth and developing employment opportunities, […]