“I am ready to not really break ties [with America] but we will open alliances with China and . . . Medvedev [Russia],” the Philippines’ firebrand leader Rodrigo Duterte recently exclaimed. “I will open up the Philippines for them to do business, alliances of trade and commerce.” In a matter of months, the Philippines has […]

Three months after the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea, the defiant words and actions of Beijing continue to perpetuate the widespread belief that the decision was a complete defeat for China. It may be true that the tribunal severely undercut China’s claim to sovereignty over nearly all of […]

The organizers of this gathering requested a “provocative” presentation. They knew not what they were asking! I will do my best to oblige. Regional politics underwent a phase change last July, when jurists in The Hague struck down China’s claim to “indisputable sovereignty” over some 80-90 percent of a major waterway. The Permanent Court of […]

Outspoken Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to eject American troops from his country, but that could leave the Philippines powerless against potential Chinese encroachment. The U.S. and Philippines were enemies during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902, with Washington only granting Manila full independence in 1946. But since a 1951 treaty that enables each country […]

MANILA — The Duterte administration’s “independent” foreign policy should not be belittled or underestimated, as it could “substantially” undermine the influence of the United States, a long-time ally and global superpower, in the region, the research arm of debt watcher Fitch Ratings said. “Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s apparent foreign policy shift away from the US […]

The world is closely watching several contentious flash points that have potential to ignite. The behavior and rhetoric of China and Russia regarding vital shipping lanes in international waters have been alarming. Disputed sovereignty claims and efforts to enforce them have the maritime world on edge. China’s nine-dash line claims about owning the entire East […]

The Government of Antigua & Barbuda has come under fire for its policy of support for the claims made by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the disputed South China Sea and has been accused of a “foreign policy of hypocrisy”. The criticisms come from two academics, one a student, and the other a […]

In September last year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), then the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, told a diplomatic reception: “A future DPP administration will be committed to following…the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and respecting freedom of navigation. We are ready to engage in dialogue with different parties […]

NEW DELHI: Asean Unity can challenge Beijing on its claims over the South China Sea, noted an expert on the subject. “If anybody can challenge China, it is the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations),” said Baladas Ghoshal, ex JNU professor and Secretary General of the Society for Indian Ocean Studies (SIOS), which organised the […]

The South China Sea has become the flashpoint between the ambitions of rising superpower China and a decades-long regional status quo upheld by the United States. The Spratly Islands, a small group of reefs and shoals off the eastern coast of the Philippine island of Palawan, has become the focal point of that struggle. Tensions […]