China has to learn to “play by the rules” and the Philippines must sharply boost its defences to keep South China Sea territorial spats from escalating, two former US officials said on Friday. The Philippines has consistently accused China of aggressively pressing its claim to most of the South China Sea, even up to the […]
Rafael M. Alunan III Asian Institute of Management October, 4, 2013 Former President FVR; former Prime Minister Cesar Virata; distinguished speakers (who will be properly introduced later); members of the Cabinet and sub-Cabinet, past and present; the national security sector; diplomatic corps; members of academe and the business community: Good morning! This is the […]
(Reuters) – The Philippines’ legal challenge against China’s claims in the South China Sea is gathering pace, emerging as a “proxy battle” over Beijing’s territorial reach. Manila has assembled a crack international legal team to fight its unprecedented arbitration case under the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea – ignoring growing pressure […]
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel toured Southeast Asia several weeks ago. In Brunei, he met with the ten defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their seven counterparts from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and South Korea. En route and afterwards, he stopped in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. With […]
For today, I will cite and abridge the most important passages of Justice Antonio T. Carpio’s treatise — “The Rule of Law in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)” — for the reader to get a clear picture of where we stand legally versus China’s spurious claims. “In 1609, Hugo Grotius argued in his classic Mare […]
Whatever happened to the much-heralded Chinese policy of a “peaceful rise”? While the other great powers lauded the awakening giant for the emphasis it placed on “peaceful,” China’s smaller neighbors noted with increasing concern its single-minded focus on “rise.” In Asia, the reality is clear and stark: The operative term in the famous Chinese policy […]
MANILA: The Philippines accused China on Tuesday of laying concrete blocks on a small group of reefs and rocky outcrops within its territory, the latest escalation in a hostile maritime dispute. Defence department spokesman Peter Galvez released to the media an aerial photograph of what he said were about 30 blocks on Scarborough Shoal in […]
The recent publication of China’s new national map – which both re-affirms its historical claims to the South China Sea and incorporates a 10th ‘dash’ in the East China Sea, near Taiwan – has created ripples in Southeast Asia and beyond. Since the 10th dash is not, in fact, new, there is less novelty to […]
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine officials said Monday that President Benigno Aquino III canceled a trip to a Chinese trade fair after Beijing demanded that he first withdraw a legal complaint over disputed territories in the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and two other diplomats relayed conditions for Aquino to attend the annual […]
MANILA, Philippines – The United Nation’s Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague has given the Philippines until March 30, 2014 to make all the necessary submissions in its case on the territorial dispute with China. The Arbitral Tribunal has issued its first Procedural Order, which establishes the initial timetable for the arbitration and adopting Rules of […]