I have written repeatedly about the need to resolve the West Philippines Sea dispute with China through litigation. At the time when the Department of Foreign Affairs was still debating internally on whether to submit the issue to arbitration or resolve it through diplomacy, I was already arguing that arbitration was the only option given […]
Optimism over a relaxation of tensions in the South China Sea generated by China’s agreement to discuss a code of conduct with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next month is rapidly dissipating in the wake of Beijing’s clear reluctance to reach an early agreement. In late June, when China and ASEAN agreed […]
BANGKOK – Southeast Asian nations on Wednesday vowed unity in pressing China to accept a binding code of conduct for handling disputes in the South China Sea, the Thai foreign ministry said. Competing claims to the sea have for decades stirred tension in the region and the waterway, which is believed to sit atop vast […]
Beijing: China has called on countries involved in the South China Sea issue to avoid aggravating conflicts, as Manila continues to add fuel to its maritime dispute with Beijing. The call was given by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi while addressing a high-level forum between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Bangkok […]
If there is ever going to be an end to tensions over the South China Sea, one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, countries in the region need to find a way to work out their volatile maritime disputes. China, more than any other nation, has fanned those hostilities with sweeping sovereignty claims and […]
Being open about its intentions is the best way for China to ease the minds of those worried about its growing might. A lack of transparency amid a marked naval buildup and greater assertiveness over territorial disputes in the East and South China seas has raised tensions and prompted nationalism and military buying sprees. President […]
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed a three-pronged solution to the disputes over the South China Sea while meeting with the chairman of the Asia Peace Reconciliation Council in Bangkok on August 2. The solution, which includes a commitment to exploring ways. Fishing boats set off for fishing from a fishing port in Qionghai City, […]
China has made three reservations to the compulsory and binding dispute settlement procedure of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Of these, only two appear to be relevant to the Philippine arbitral submission against China involving the West Philippine Sea. The first, a reservation on maritime delimitation, does not appear to be […]
After fortifying its naval outposts in the South China Sea, China has established a maritime surveillance patrol route that covers practically all disputed reefs, shoals and islets in the sea, even those within 85 nautical miles of the Philippines’ westernmost island province of Palawan, a classified military report seen Monday by Kyodo News says. The […]
Sino-Japanese relations do not look promising at the moment. Obviously, the Diaoyu-Senkaku dispute is not the only factor in play, but it does focus nationalist passions on both sides. Yet both countries are capable of wiser conduct if their leaders can manage to rise above the dangerous temptations to beat military drums. As China and […]