IMOA
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A Code of Conduct for the South China Sea?
A series of high-level ASEAN meetings culminated in Suzhou, China on September 15, when senior officials from the forum for the first time met to formally discuss the possibility of a code of conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting ended positively, with an agreement […]
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America’s Inadequate ASEAN Approach
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel toured Southeast Asia several weeks ago. In Brunei, he met with the ten defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their seven counterparts from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and South Korea. En route and afterwards, he stopped in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. With […]
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The high costs of neglect and freedom
For today, I will cite and abridge the most important passages of Justice Antonio T. Carpio’s treatise — “The Rule of Law in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)” — for the reader to get a clear picture of where we stand legally versus China’s spurious claims. “In 1609, Hugo Grotius argued in his classic Mare […]
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Philippines says China moving to occupy disputed reef
ASEAN, Bajo de Masinloc, China, Code of Conduct, Philippines, Scarborough Shoal, South China Sea Philippines(Reuters) – China plans to occupy a disputed chain of reefs and rocks in the South China Sea to expand its territory before regional rules on maritime behaviour come into effect, the Philippines’ top diplomat said on Wednesday. The Philippines believes China’s incursion into the Scarborough Shoal is a threat to peace in Southeast Asia, […]
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China’s not-so-great wall
ASEAN, Bajo de Masinloc, China, Code of Conduct, Militarization, Philippines, Scarborough Shoal, South China Sea DisputeWhatever happened to the much-heralded Chinese policy of a “peaceful rise”? While the other great powers lauded the awakening giant for the emphasis it placed on “peaceful,” China’s smaller neighbors noted with increasing concern its single-minded focus on “rise.” In Asia, the reality is clear and stark: The operative term in the famous Chinese policy […]
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Philippines says China is building at disputed shoal
MANILA: The Philippines accused China on Tuesday of laying concrete blocks on a small group of reefs and rocky outcrops within its territory, the latest escalation in a hostile maritime dispute. Defence department spokesman Peter Galvez released to the media an aerial photograph of what he said were about 30 blocks on Scarborough Shoal in […]
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China’s New Map: Just Another Dash?
ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, Malaysia, Nine Dash Line, Philippines, South China Sea Dispute, Taiwan, Ten Dash Line, UNCLOS, VietnamThe recent publication of China’s new national map – which both re-affirms its historical claims to the South China Sea and incorporates a 10th ‘dash’ in the East China Sea, near Taiwan – has created ripples in Southeast Asia and beyond. Since the 10th dash is not, in fact, new, there is less novelty to […]
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Manila: China set impossible conditions for visit
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine officials said Monday that President Benigno Aquino III canceled a trip to a Chinese trade fair after Beijing demanded that he first withdraw a legal complaint over disputed territories in the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and two other diplomats relayed conditions for Aquino to attend the annual […]
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History the Weak Link in Beijing’s Maritime Claims
Beijing’s claims to nearly all of the South China Sea are now embossed in new Chinese passports and official maps. Chinese leaders and foreign ministry spokespersons insist with increasing truculence that the islands, rocks, and reefs have been China’s “territory since ancient times.” Normally, the overlapping territorial claims to sovereignty and maritime boundaries ought to […]
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UN tribunal gives first order on Phl’s case vs China
MANILA, Philippines – The United Nation’s Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague has given the Philippines until March 30, 2014 to make all the necessary submissions in its case on the territorial dispute with China. The Arbitral Tribunal has issued its first Procedural Order, which establishes the initial timetable for the arbitration and adopting Rules of […]