Despite warmer ties over the past two years, China’s maritime row with the Philippines did not escape discussion during President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to Manila on November 20 and 21. It was tackled in the context of dispute management, confidence-building and the pursuit of practical cooperation, however, reaffirming both sides’ commitment to the […]

HAWAII, USA – The international court was unambiguous about China’s illegal occupation of Mischief Reef, an underwater feature that Beijing has reclaimed to host a runway and a missile system, among other structures that neighbors are protesting. The 2016 landmark ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration said China violated the sovereign rights of the […]

A statement released by the Southern Theatre Command said the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville had entered the waters around the Paracel Islands on Wednesday without the approval of the Chinese government. “The Southern Theatre Command organised navy and air forces to monitor the US vessel, and gave warning for it to leave,” the statement said. […]

HANOI — Vietnam and Russia are working more closely together on gas development projects in the South China Sea as they seek to reduce their dependence on trade with China. Locked in a bitter territorial dispute with China over islands in the area, Vietnam is trying to insulate itself from economic pressure by its giant […]

“USS Chancellorsville sailed near the Paracel Islands to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law,” US Pacific Fleet spokesman Nathan Christensen said in a statement. The US warship conducted the operation near the islands – known in China as the Xisha Islands – to challenge claims made […]

The Pentagon says the sail intends to ‘challenge excessive maritime claims’ by China and to ‘preserve access to waterways as governed by international law’ BEIJING, China – China on Friday, November 30, scolded the United States for sending naval vessels close to disputed islands in the South China Sea where Beijing has built military installations. […]

MANILA, Philippines — China was reportedly planning to build an undersea complex for its scientific and defense operations in the disputed South China Sea, and the Manila trench had been earmarked as one of the possible sites. Citing officials and scientists involved in the plan, the South China Morning Post reported on November 26 that […]

MANILA – China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, in defiance of a 2016 international arbitration ruling, is the “gravest external threat since World War II” to the Philippines, the acting head of the nation’s Supreme Court has said. At a forum in Manila on Saturday, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio encouraged Filipinos to […]

MANILA, Philippines — Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio disputed yesterday Malacañang’s claim that “no power on earth” can enforce an international arbitral court’s ruling invalidating China’s massive claim in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea. Speaking at the first general assembly and forum of the Akademyang Filipino at the University of the […]

It may be a tall task, but Filipinos should start educating 1.4 billion Chinese people that their belief that China owned the entire South China Sea is a “gigantic fraud,” acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio said on Monday. “The Chinese government today would not comply with the [arbitral] ruling until the Chinese people understand that […]