There were a dozen things President Rodrigo Duterte said in his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 22. A highlight of his speech was how he defended his policy toward China and the South China Sea despite accusations that he has been trading the country’s sovereignty in appeasement of China. Duterte said […]

  MANILA — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is treading carefully for once. Keen to keep Chinese money rolling into his country despite domestic pressure over his overtures toward Beijing, Duterte said Monday he is performing a “delicate balancing act” on the South China Sea territorial dispute with China. The president used an annual national address […]

MANILA, Philippines — “In due time.” President Rodrigo Duterte said this Monday as he touched the issue on the country’s sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea in his fourth State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa. “Of course we will do, in due time,” said Duterte on enforcing the historical arbitral ruling, […]

Preaching is one of the things that Chinese leaders and officials do –and do brilliantly – on the international stage. Wherever they go, they always preach about how international relations should be conducted and paint their country as a responsible, benign and altruistic power. Chinese President Xi Jinping has used speeches at international forums such […]

  BEIJING (Reuters) – Remarks by U.S. officials on China’s role in the South China Sea are slanderous, its foreign ministry said on Monday, after the United States voiced concern over reports of Chinese interference with oil and gas activities in the disputed waters. China’s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 […]

CHINA has tested out Russian-made fighter jets over the disputed South China Sea. The South China Morning Post reported the exercises included a three aircraft attack on a seaborne target. Beijing possesses 24 SU-35s that are used by a brigade based near Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province, that is nicknamed “Sword of the South”. A Chinese […]

The new tensions reinforce existing worries about Chinese conduct in the South China Sea. Over the past few weeks, another round of tensions has been simmering between China and Vietnam over energy resources in the South China Sea. The renewed tensions fit into a familiar pattern we have seen regarding Chinese conduct in the South […]

  HANOI, Vietnam— The United States said it’s concerned by reports of China’s interference with oil and gas activities in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where Vietnam accuses Beijing of violating its sovereignty. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that China’s “repeated provocative actions aimed at the offshore oil […]

WASHINGTON – The United States has weighed in on an ongoing standoff between Vietnam and China over Chinese operations in the South China Sea, urging Beijing to cease interfering with oil and gas activities in the disputed waters. The statement from the State Department on Saturday (July 20) came after a statement from Hanoi on […]

  The risk of collisions between Chinese vessels and those from Malaysia and Vietnam in the South China Sea has been heightened in recent weeks as China has tried to obstruct the two countries’ oil and gas exploration, a Washington-based think tank said on Wednesday. The analysis comes with a stand-off simmering between Chinese and […]