MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III said Tuesday he sees “very, very substantial progress” in discussions within ASEAN of the South China Sea issues. Arriving in Manila from Malaysia, where he attended the 26th ASEAN Summit and pushed for asserting ASEAN centrality in facing China’s increasingly aggressive moves to control the strategic waters, Aquino […]
News that the People’s Republic of China is claiming ownership of and enlarging the size of some disputed islands in the South China Sea, and building air strips to enhance its ability to project its air power in the region, has been met with predictable alarm by a variety of countries in the region and […]
MANILA – A United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal is set to conduct a hearing in July 2015 to decide whether it has jurisdiction on the case submitted by Manila against Beijing regarding the disputed South China Sea. The arbitral tribunal at Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), based in The Hague, The Netherlands, noted that while China […]
MANILA – It’s a checkmate. The Philippines has lost the West Philippine Sea to China, according to analysts. In light of recent intelligence photographs that show massive and extensive construction and reclamation activities by China in the West Philippine Sea, Congressman Ashley Acedillo and military historian Jose Custodio both believe that it is a veritable […]
Introduction of Lecturer for the Antiquarian Map Exhibit Atty. Stephanie V. Gomez-Somera Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Today I have the privilege to introduce our guest lecturer for the opening of the antiquarian map exhibit, Common Ground. Excellence is the hallmark of this man’s career. He was the valedictorian of Class 1975 of the […]
A conference on the international law perspective on the East Sea came under the spotlight in an article carried by the Belgian Euro Press Image (EPI) portal on March 11. Professor Erik Franck, a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) chaired the conference in Brussels, which brought together over 100 scholars, lawyers, researchers […]
MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines will be submitting a “voluminous” amount of documents containing arguments, maps and charts to the United Nations arbitration tribunal to bolster its case in its South China Sea territorial dispute with China. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the supplemental submission to be sent to the tribunal in the Hague between […]
Over the past two years, China has been methodically terraforming small reefs and shoals into islands in the highly contentious South China Sea (SCS). The SCS is important not only because of its strategic, trade, and resource potential but also because many of the claimants’ direct links with the U.S. such as the Philippines. China’s progressive […]
JAKARTA: The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) supports the Philippines’ bid for a peaceful resolution of its own territorial dispute with China, as well as the stance of other claimant countries that reject Bejing’s “dotted line” policy in asserting its sovereignty over rocks and islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). […]
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ recourse to arbitration to settle disputes in the West Philippine Sea is proof of its commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, a diplomat told a Security Council debate convened by China, with whom the country is locked in a bitter row over contested territory. “The Philippines believes that […]