News
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China air force lands bombers on South China Sea islands
SHANGHAI – China’s air force has landed bombers on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of a training exercise in the disputed region, it said in a statement. “A division of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) recently organized multiple bombers such as the H-6K to conduct take-off and landing training on islands and reefs…
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Beijing lands nuclear bombers in the South China Sea in clear sign that it has pushed out the US without firing a shot
Beijing upped the ante in the South China Sea on Friday by releasing footage of its H-6K nuclear-capable bombers landing on artificially made islands in disputed waters — and it sends a clear message of who dominates the region. China has taken an increasingly aggressive stance to back up its unilateral claims to the waters of the South China Sea,…
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Duterte: Why question China’s WPS actions?
President Duterte on Thursday said there was no use questioning why he had allowed China to land planes and install missiles on artificial islands claimed by the Philippines in the South China Sea. Explaining his administration’s stand not to “go to war” with China, President Duterte told reporters he would discuss with them geopolitical realities and “why I allow things…
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Vietnam says conducts maritime oil operations under international law
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s maritime oil and gas operations are in accordance with international law and conducted in waters in which it has total sovereignty, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of Russian state oil firm Rosneft (ROSN.MM), is concerned that its recent drilling in an area of the South China…
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Vietnam unit of Russia’s Rosneft fears Beijing backlash over South China Sea drilling
HANOI (REUTERS) – Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of Russian state oil firm Rosneft, is concerned that its recent drilling in an area of the South China Sea that is claimed by China could upset Beijing, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Wednesday (May 16). Rosneft said on Tuesday its Vietnamese unit had started drilling…
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Beijing says no oil, gas activities in the South China Sea waters without its permission
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that no country, organization, company or individual can carry out oil and gas exploration or exploitation in Chinese waters without permission from Beijing. Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the comment at a regular news briefing when asked about recent drilling by Rosneft Vietnam BV, a unit of Russian state oil firm…
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Rosneft says South China Sea drilling is within Vietnam waters
HANOI, May 17 (Reuters) – Drilling in the South China Sea by Rosneft is within Vietnamese territorial waters, the Russian state oil firm said in a statement on Thursday, two days after its Vietnamese subsidiary began drilling in Vietnamese waters claimed by China. Rosneft’s local unit, Rosneft Vietnam BV, is concerned that its recent drilling in an area of the…
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Analyst’s take on Duterte’s remarks about arms buildup in disputed sea
GMA News’ resident analyst Richard Heydarian on Thursday said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s remark that there is no point in questioning China’s militarization of the South China Sea was “wrong.” In an interview on News To Go, Heydarian opposed Duterte’s view that engaging in war with China was the only way to assert the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the disputed…
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THE DANGERS OF ALLOWING U.S.-PHILIPPINE DEFENSE COOPERATION TO LANGUISH
On April 17, Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana and U.S. ambassador Sung Kim took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the first official construction project under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The project to build a warehouse for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies at Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga Province comes more than four years after the…
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Is Duterte a traitor or plain pragmatist?
Is President Rodrigo Duterte a traitor, a tuta (lapdog) of China, or simply a pragmatist trying to get the most of a delicate situation? The question is being raised again in social media and other opinion forums after the President delivered remarks at the sendoff Tuesday of 50 Filipino scientists tasked to do research at the Philippine (Benham) Rise off…
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Duterte’s claim of China ‘assurance’ vs ouster ‘dumbfounding’: maritime expert
President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands prior to their bilateral meetings at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 20, 2016. King Rodriguez, Malacañang Photo/File MANILA- President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that Chinese President Xi Jinping assured him that he would not get ousted is “dumbfounding,” a maritime expert said Wednesday. Jay Batongbacal, director…
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China’s South China Sea Grab Now Complete, Report Says
Military analysts now believe that China dominates the South China Sea militarily to the extent that it would prevail in any situation other than an all-out war with the United States, according to a report by the Manila-based country risk firm Pacific Strategies & Assessments. “A series of reports over the past several months indicate that China has deployed new…