News
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How Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s stubborn pivot to China could cost him political capital at home
“Speech is the faculty by which men conceal their thoughts,” the legendary Napoleonic diplomat, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, once observed. In many ways, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest visit to China, his fourth in less than three years, illustrated Talleyrand’s reflections on talk. His stopover was filled with cordial rhetoric that concealed simmering tensions in the budding alliance. Though…
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Vietnam rejects China’s fishing ban in South China Sea
THE FOREIGN MINISTRY HAS CONDEMNED CHINA FOR VIOLATING VIETNAM’S SOVEREIGNTY BY IMPOSING A UNILATERAL FISHING BAN IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. China’s agriculture ministry announced the ban on Wednesday, which it said would apply to both Chinese as well as foreign vessels, warning violators would be detained and fined by Chinese authorities. Vietnam calls the waters the East Sea.…
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Duterte admin asked to heed SC order protecting PH reefs
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte and other government officials must enforce the Supreme Court’s writ of kalikasan order directing them to protect and rehabilitate the marine environment in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Saturday. Failure to heed the special order, which covers three-Philippine-claimed reefs in the disputed waters, could prompt the…
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South China Sea: Indonesia sinks scores of boats as rift with Beijing deepens
INDONESIA has sunk dozens of foreign boats within just hours to deter illegal fishing in its waters bordering the highly contended South China Sea, as the country continues to assert its sovereign authority over the area. As many as 51 foreign boats were sunk by Indonesia authorities as a warning to other nations, Fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti said. The…
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South China Sea WAR: Fears one simple mistake could ignite CONFLICT says expert
A US Navy warship colliding with a Chinese vessel could spark the beginning of a South China Sea war, warns James Holmes, Chair of Maritime Strategy at the Naval War College in Rhode Island. Although the prospect sounds hypothetical, a similar event took place in 2001 when a Chinese fighter jet slammed unto a US Navy EP-3 surveillance plane.…
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History Tells Us This Is How a South China Sea War Could Start
The Black Sea bumping incident amounted to little as diplomatic fracases go. In part that’s because the setting differed markedly from the Western Pacific today. The U.S. task force cruised along mainland Soviet shores where no one disputed Moscow’s sovereignty. This was not contested turf like China’s South China islands—ground wrested from China’s neighbors or manufactured wholesale. That muted…
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China to increase overseas military bases: Pentagon report
Beijing will seek to add bases to provide security to One Belt, One Road infrastructure projects, Pentagon report says. The US Defense Department expects China to add military bases around the world to protect its investments in its ambitious One Belt, One Road global infrastructure programme, according to an official report released on Thursday. Beijing currently has just one…
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SC issues writ of kalikasan for protection of West PH Sea marine environment
MANILA (UPDATE) – The Supreme Court on Friday issued a writ of kalikasan in response to a petition seeking protection of the marine environment in the disputed West Philippine Sea, sources told ABS-CBN News. In an en banc ruling, the high court granted the plea filed by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and fishermen from Palawan and Zambales,…
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China stealing foreign military technology in race to become world power: Report
China continues building up its military to transform from regional power to “world-class,” investing heavily in modernization and expanding its global influence, according to a new Pentagon report that was released on Thursday. The report highlights how China is rushing towards that goal by using covert techniques to steal foreign military technologies and “leapfrogging” the development phases of complex…
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Biden says China is ‘not competition for us,’ prompting pushback from both parties
Former vice president Joe Biden on Wednesday dismissed the notion that the United States should be worried about China as a geopolitical competitor, prompting criticism from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as well as some Republicans who argued that Biden is underestimating the world’s second-largest economy. The argument is one Biden has frequently made in speeches throughout the years, but…
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Annual fishing ban begins in South China Sea
The annual fishing ban in the South China Sea started Wednesday and will last until August 16, local agricultural authorities said Thursday. No fishing activities are allowed in parts of the sea under China’s jurisdiction except angling during the period, according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of south China’s Hainan Province. A fishing ban in inland…
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China poised to deploy stealth fighters in South China Sea says US as tensions mount
CHINA will “keep pushing the envelope”, particularly in the South China Sea region, as it prepares to unveil its first stealth fighter before the end of the year, and is also developing long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons, a top US Air Force commander has warned. And General Charles Brown, the head of Pacific Air Forces, admitted the…