News
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Phl case vs China will fail – US expert
MANILA, Philippines – An American academic expert on Chinese studies believes that the international arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China’s sweeping territorial claims won’t succeed. Marwyn Samuels, professor emeritus at the Syracuse University in New York, said this is because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) will take a long time to scrutinize…
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Expert believes PH arbitration case vs China won’t succeed
An academic expert believes the Philippines’ arbitration case against China will not succeed. Marwyn Samuels, professor emeritus of Chinese studies at Syracuse University in New York, pointed out that China has repeatedly said it will not participate in the arbitration case. He added since the territorial dispute involves legal and technical matters, it will take the arbitration panel a long…
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China challenges Philippines in the South China Sea
While much of the world was busy watching Russia swallow Crimea, few realised that an also dangerous territorial tit-for-tat had begun to unfold earlier this month more in the South China Sea. At Second Thomas Shoal, a handful of Philippine marines have long been stationed and re-provisioned on the rusting deck of the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine naval ship half-sunk…
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Philippines Invokes Law to Fight Chinese Muscle
MANILA, Apr 2 2014 (IPS) – After a year of futile diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the South China Sea disputes, the Philippines has risked permanent estrangement with China by pressing ahead with an unprecedented arbitration case before a United Nations court at The Hague, while ironing out a new security pact with the U.S. The primary goal of the…
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‘Phl has the right to protect territorial integrity, sovereignty’
MANILA, Philippines – China should join the Philippines’ peaceful and diplomatic approach to settling the West Philippine Sea dispute rather than make adverse statements or accuse Manila of damaging relations with Beijing. In a press briefing, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Philippines is entitled to pursue whatever it feels is necessary to protect its territorial…
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Phl Navy ready to pay price for maintaining ‘ghost’ ship
MANILA, Philippines – Preserving the decrepit BRP Sierra Madre and keeping it habitable for a handful of soldiers guarding the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal may be costly, but the stake – the country’s sovereignty – is priceless. This is according to the Marines assigned to the remote outpost, which of late had been a target of harassment by Chinese vessels…
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China to US: Respect the facts
MANILA, Philippines – China has called on the United States to stop making “irresponsible remarks” supporting Manila’s position on the West Philippine Sea issue and denouncing Chinese vessels’ blockade of Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. “We urge the US to respect facts, stop making irresponsible remarks and cease to encourage the provocative and risky actions of relevant country,” Chinese foreign ministry…
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Beijing laying a trap for the Philippines in South China Sea, say experts
With tension running high between the Philippines and China because of their maritime dispute, one wrong move could see Beijing grabbing all the disputed islands, say regional experts. “The danger really is a short, sharp conflict due to miscalculation,” said Chito Santa Romana, former ABC News Beijing bureau chief who was once shortlisted to become Manila’s ambassador to China. “The…
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China’s position paper on sea disputes with Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — Chinese Embassy in Manila spokesperson Zhang Hua on Thursday released a position paper on the sea disputes with the Philippines. The full text of the document is copied below: On March 30, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs stated that it submitted its Memorial to the Arbitral Tribunal that is hearing the case it brought against China…
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Jakarta rejects China’s ‘nine-dash line’
ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, Indonesia, Jakarta, Militarization, Mischief Reef, Natuna Islands, Nine Dash Line, South China Sea Dispute, UNCLOSIn a significant policy shift, Indonesian officials on March 12 announced that China’s nine-dash line map outlining its claims in the South China Sea overlaps with Indonesia’s Riau province, which includes the Natuna Island chain. For over two decades, Indonesia has positioned itself as an independent mediator in the South China Sea disputes between its partners in the Association of…
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China to PH: ‘Friends avoid lawsuits’
MANILA, Philippines – China remains convinced that a bilateral negotiation, and not international arbitration, is the best way to settle its territorial dispute with a “good neighbor” and long-standing “friend” like the Philippines. “A resort to arbitration does not meet people’s expectations for friendship in both China and the Philippines,” said Zhang Hua, spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Manila,…
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A Merkel, a Map, a Message to China?
HONG KONG: Last week German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping at a dinner where they exchanged gifts. Merkel presented to Xi a 1735 map of China made by prolific French cartographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville and printed by a German publishing house. According to an antique-maps website, d’Anville’s map was based on earlier geographical surveys done by…