China’s sudden renewed interest in drafting a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea — by June this year — is sparking irrational exuberance in the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean). But the “framework” China is talking about is actually nothing but a skeleton of the agreement. It can be laid down […]

TAIPEI — China’s near completion of artificial islets and combat aircraft facilities in the Spratly Islands will give it extra power to make other countries keep out of the widely disputed South China Sea or get Chinese permission to use it, analysts say. Beijing is about to finish naval, air, radar and other facilities on […]

MANILA, Philippines — An internal journal of China’s armed naval wing is sending a message of dominance in South China Sea and two warnings on its possible future actions, an international security expert said. An article authored by South Sea Fleet officers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy boasted military supremacy in South China […]

MANILA, Philippines — An internal journal of China’s armed naval wing is sending a message of dominance in South China Sea and two warnings on its possible future actions, an international security expert said. An article authored by South Sea Fleet officers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy boasted military supremacy in South China […]

China is not militarizing the South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday, although he acknowledged that defense equipment on islands in the disputed waterway had been placed there to maintain “freedom of navigation”. China has drawn international criticism for large-scale building in the South China Sea, although Li told reporters in Australia the […]

Since his ascent to power, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has overseen a remarkable shift in his country’s foreign policy, particularly towards China. The tough-talking Filipino leader, who is as notorious abroad as he is popular at home, has described China as a friendly and generous nation, a partner for national development and a potential military […]

This week Japan said it plans to send its most formidable warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea. Observers waiting for an angry reaction from China—which claims nearly all of that sea and was mighty testy about it last year—were likely disappointed. Here’s what Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying had to […]

While the Philippines and Vietnam have been vocal in their maritime disputes with China, Malaysia has taken a more reticent tack to its claims Malaysian foreign minister Anifah Aman said in a spirited speech this week to parliament that Kuala Lumpur does not acknowledge Beijing’s “nine-dash line” expansive claim over territories in the South China […]

MANILA – Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio took a dig Monday at President Rodrigo Duterte for saying he could not stop China from building on the disputed Scarborough Shoal also known as Panatag Shoal because it was too powerful. “The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, which are expressly tasked by […]

CANDID THOUGHTS TRIUMPS at the international level are rare for a small country like the Philippines. But in 2012 and 2016, we did get two of those triumphs, historic ones if I may add. In 2012, The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) supported our contention that the 13-million-hectare underwater plateau […]