(Publication Version) Speech delivered before the Philippine Bar Association 29 August 2013 Justice Antonio T. Carpio In the 17th century, England, Spain and Portugal, the naval superpowers of the day, claimed ownership of the oceans and seas they discovered, and enforced their claims through the barrel of the naval cannon. In 1609, Hugo Grotius, the […]
ussian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to expand military supplies to Vietnam, a move that looks set to raise concerns from Beijing as tensions over the South China Sea linger. In the latest sign of deepening military ties between the former allies, Putin made the announcement yesterday during a one-day state visit to Vietnam. While […]
In the wake of the devastating Typhoon Haiyan, international aid is flowing to the Philippines. The United Nations released $25 million from an emergency fund and the United States pledged $20 million in immediate relief. But, for the moment at least, precious little assistance is coming from the region’s behemoth. The Chinese authorities announced a […]
Participants to the recently concluded 4th biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law in New Delhi, India last November 15, 2017 heard for the first time the Chinese position on the Philippine arbitral claim on the West Philippines Sea dispute. In the said conference, I delivered a paper entitled “What next after the […]
MANILA – Super typhoon Yolanda has sent home Chinese maritime and Navy vessels at the Ayungin Reef in Palawan, while the half a dozen Philippine Marines on board a rusting and grounded World War II-era ship are safe, a source told InterAksyon.com. This effectively ends the standoff between the two countries some 100 nautical miles […]
China has painted itself into a diplomatic and legal corner regarding its claims in the South China Sea. Its infamous and ambiguous “historic” nine-dash line has been variously interpreted by rival claimants as a national boundary; a sovereignty claim to all water and land within it; and, more optimistically, as an indicator of a sovereignty […]
MANILA, Philippines – Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin is hoping that China would not intrude into areas that are within Philippine territory. Asked to comment on reports quoting a Chinese general as saying that China should take more areas from the Philippines, Gazmin said: “Huwag lang pakikialaman yung ating lugar (They should not touch our territory).” […]
That’s the so-called cabbage strategy that China is employing to stake its maritime territorial claims, and a ranking Chinese military officer says his country should take more disputed territory from the Philippines, The New York Times Magazine has reported. Quoting Maj. Gen. Zhang Zhaozhong of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Sunday magazine cover article […]
DESPITE notable progress over the past few years, the sea-based leg of the Chinese nuclear triad will remain significantly constrained by geographical and technological factors. In the last weeks of October the Chinese media provided unprecedented coverage of the shadowy Chinese nuclear submarine force. During a slew of media reports and interviews, numerous Chinese military […]
MANILA – The counsel who will represent the Philippines in its maritime arbitration case against China is a “lawyer’s lawyer.” At a forum in New York, Ambassador Libran Cabactulan said Paul Reichler has a reputation of being the preferred lawyer of sovereign states. Cabactulan is the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations. “Reichler is […]