US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lauded Indonesia’s “decisive action” to protect its maritime sovereignty around the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lauded Indonesia’s “decisive action” to protect its maritime sovereignty around the Natuna Islands, which China claims as its territory. The top US diplomat is on […]
CHINESE military chiefs have held crisis talks with their US counterparts against a backdrop of soaring tensions in the South China Sea after reports the US was planning drone strike in the troubled region. The emergency meeting came as US Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Asian countries to co-operate […]
Last Oct. 15, 2020, President Duterte announced the lifting of the moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). The Aquino administration imposed the moratorium in 2014 due to the harassment by Chinese coast guard vessels of Philippine commissioned ships undertaking seismic surveys in the Reed Bank. Forum Energy, which was […]
STATE DEPARTMENT – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo embarks on a week-long trip to South Asia on Sunday, as the United States looks to confront Chinese geopolitical and economic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. The top U.S. diplomat is traveling to New Delhi, India; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Male, Maldives; and Jakarta, Indonesia from October […]
A few days ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the Chinese Armed Forces to prepare for war with all their minds and energy. This happened during a visit to the military base in the southern province of Guangdong. During an inspection tour of the People’s Liberation Army Marine Corps in Chaozhu City, state news […]
After six years since 2014, the President Rodrigo R. Duterte finally lifted the moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a unilateral action that Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi described as an exercise of sovereign rights of the Philippine government in accordance with existing international laws, particularly the United Nations Convention […]
Indonesia has rejected the US proposal to allow its P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance planes to land and refuel in the country, according to a Reuters report. This exclusive report is based on information from four senior Indonesian officials familiar with the matter. “We don’t want to be duped into an anti-China campaign,” former Indonesian ambassador […]
The guided-missile destroyer John S. McCain linked up with the Royal Australian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force in the South China Sea to conduct naval exercises on Monday. The exercises, which signify the fifth time this year that the U.S. has conducted exercises in the 7th Fleet’s area of operations with Australia […]
A group of fishers lambasted President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent move to lift the exploration ban in the disputed West Philippine Sea. The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said on Sunday that pursuing the joint exploration with China “abandons” the 2016 ruling of an international tribunal in The Hague invalidating China’s claim on […]
CHINA is building its military forces on its southeast coast in preparations for a possible invasion of Taiwan, military analysts have said. The People’s Liberation Army has been upgrading its missile bases on the coast that faces the island nation of Taiwan. A China-based military source said the country had deployed its advanced hypersonic […]