Foreign Secretary Alan Cayetano admitted that many of the country’s career diplomats still had “a hard time” following President Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign policy. A senator before he was appointed the country’s top diplomat a little over a year ago, Cayetano thanked officers and staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for being professionals. “To […]

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that China’s reported deployment of weapons in the South China Sea in recent weeks has escalated tensions in the contested waters. In an interview with Channel News Asia on June 1, which was aired last week, the defense chief finally spoke of China’s installation of weapons in the artificial islands […]

China gave Trump $500 million to get rid of the ZTE sanctions, but the Senate voted to reimpose the sanctions 85-10 as part of the must-pass NDAA legislation. Politico reported, “The provision targeting ZTE was part of the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass defense spending bill that cleared the Senate by a vote of […]

President Rodrigo Duterte uses the term ‘barter’ to describe the uneven ‘exchange’ of goods between China Coast Guard and Filipino fishermen, a word also used by Chinese envoy MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte downplayed the taking of Filipino fishermen’s catch by the China Coast Guard, saying it was a “barter” exchange and thus […]

Public backlash as documentary shows Filipino fishermen accusing Chinese para-military forces of forcibly taking the best of their catch Once again, the Scarborough Shoal dispute is threatening to torpedo Philippine-China relations. Two years into office, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is facing a widespread public backlash over reports that the Chinese coast guard is controlling the […]

Barely 24 hours after the U.S. hit China with new tariffs on imports, Beijing fired a return salvo Saturday in a growing trade dispute with President Donald Trump by imposing duties on a $34 billion list of U.S. goods ranging from soybeans to whiskey to cigars. Beginning July 6, China will slap an extra 25 […]

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte wants China out of the Philippine-claimed areas in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), but yesterday reiterated he would not declare war over the maritime row as Beijing is not a pushover that can be scared easily. Duterte, who has been accused of not doing enough to assert the […]

China and Russia are outmaneuvering the US, using aggressive actions that fall short of war, a group of generals and admirals have concluded. To counter them, the US needs new ways to use its military without shooting, concludes a newly released report on the Quantico conclave. The US military will need new legal authorities and […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose a 10 percent tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods, escalating a tit-for-tat trade war with Beijing. U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a meeting of the National Space Council in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 18, 2018. […]

China is reportedly looking to line up other countries against the U.S. in a pending trade war after the White House took an unexpected move forward on tariffs a day earlier, the Wall Street Journal said Wednesday, citing Chinese officials. On Tuesday, the White House announced it would have a final list of $50 billion […]