Beijing lands nuclear bombers in the South China Sea in clear sign that it has pushed out the US without firing a shot

Beijing upped the ante in the South China Sea on Friday by releasing footage of its H-6K nuclear-capable bombers landing on artificially made islands in disputed waters — and it sends a clear message of who dominates the region. China has taken an increasingly aggressive stance to back up its unilateral claims to the waters […]

Duterte: Why question China’s WPS actions?

President Duterte on Thursday said there was no use questioning why he had allowed China to land planes and install missiles on artificial islands claimed by the Philippines in the South China Sea. Explaining his administration’s stand not to “go to war” with China, President Duterte told reporters he would discuss with them geopolitical realities […]

Beijing says no oil, gas activities in the South China Sea waters without its permission

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that no country, organization, company or individual can carry out oil and gas exploration or exploitation in Chinese waters without permission from Beijing. Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the comment at a regular news briefing when asked about recent drilling by Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit […]

Analyst’s take on Duterte’s remarks about arms buildup in disputed sea

GMA News’ resident analyst Richard Heydarian on Thursday said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s remark that there is no point in questioning China’s militarization of the South China Sea was “wrong.” In an interview on News To Go, Heydarian opposed Duterte’s view that engaging in war with China was the only way to assert the Philippines’ […]

THE DANGERS OF ALLOWING U.S.-PHILIPPINE DEFENSE COOPERATION TO LANGUISH

On April 17, Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana and U.S. ambassador Sung Kim took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the first official construction project under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The project to build a warehouse for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies at Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga Province comes more […]

Is Duterte a traitor or plain pragmatist?

Is President Rodrigo Duterte a traitor, a tuta (lapdog) of China, or simply a pragmatist trying to get the most of a delicate situation? The question is being raised again in social media and other opinion forums after the President delivered remarks at the sendoff Tuesday of 50 Filipino scientists tasked to do research at […]

Duterte’s claim of China ‘assurance’ vs ouster ‘dumbfounding’: maritime expert

President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands prior to their bilateral meetings at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 20, 2016. King Rodriguez, Malacañang Photo/File MANILA- President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that Chinese President Xi Jinping assured him that he would not get ousted is “dumbfounding,” a maritime expert […]