WASHINGTON — As a senator and vice president, Joe Biden — like politicians from both parties and presidents dating to Ronald Reagan — embraced the idea that the United States could coax China into acting as a “responsible stakeholder.” As the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden now calls Chinese President Xi Jinping a “thug.” Until recently, […]

A new Pentagon assessment of Chinese military power states it has outstripped the US in numbers of warships, land-based missiles and air defence systems. The news comes as a blow to US national pride. “Frankly, America slept while China grew,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday. The annual Military and Security Developments Involving […]

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy is opposing a plan by the Cavite provincial government to boot the military service command out of Sangley Point in Cavite as part of a P500-billion airport project that is expected to ease congestion at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in neighboring Manila. Vice Adm. Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, the […]

After China’s second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, embarked on a training voyage in the Bohai Sea last week, the country’s first carrier, the Liaoning, was spotted leaving its base and sailing in the Yellow Sea during the weekend. This was the first time known to the general public that China had two active aircraft carriers […]

China’s foray into the controversial and disputed South China Sea is not a new phenomenon. It is part of Beijing’s long term strategy to bring a large area of land and sea into its sphere of influence. This is being done by China mainly to harness resources exclusively. More recently, China’s firing of medium range […]

  To the question of whether we should elevate the arbitral ruling upholding our maritime rights to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for enforcement, my answer is “Yes, but not now, not during this regime.” Why “Yes”? Because the UNGA is the best forum to help us enforce the ruling. Should the UNGA side […]

  The geography of the Taiwan Strait, characterised by choppy seas, and rugged and mountainous terrain between potential landing zones and Taipei, provides the island with a defensive advantage. China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific over the last few months, from its strategic maneuvring of maritime forces in the South China Sea, to the successful passage […]

SOUTH CHINA SEA IS IN REAL DANGER OF SPARKING “ALL-OUT CONFLICT” AFTER DECADES OF ISOLATED INCIDENTS IN THE DISPUTED WATERS. China claims it has historic right of ownership to almost the entire South China Sea, despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling saying Beijing’s claim had no legal basis under international law. But the Philippines, Vietnam, […]

On Wednesday, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office announced a set of Indo-Pacific policy guidelines, becoming the second European nation after France to formally adopt a strategy for the Indo-Pacific region. According to a press release accompanying the announcement (the full 40-page guideline is yet to appear in English translation), the strategy is designed to allow Germany […]

  THIS is not about the Chinese people, lest someone accuse me of being engaged in racist rhetoric and Sinophobia. This is about the Chinese state, the one headed by Xi Jinping and his Communist Party, the one that is taunting us like barbarians at the gate that we call the West Philippine Sea. This […]