News
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Can ASEAN Respond to the Chinese Challenge?
ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, Disunity in ASEAN member countries, Philippines, South China Sea DisputeChina and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, resumed consultations on the South China Sea in Singapore Tuesday. In theory, active work on a declaration and code of conduct for the South China Sea—the arena of conflicting territorial claims—should ease tensions, but the opposite may be true. On March 9 China took the […]
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The pressure on the Sierra Madre
Banyan The pressure on the Sierra Madre A beached ship risks becoming the South China Sea’s latest flashpoint Mar 22nd 2014 | From the print edition IN ONE respect, the meeting in Singapore this week between officials from the Association of South-East Asian Nations and China could not have come at a better time. Tensions […]
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EDITORIAL – Territorial greed
Ayungin Shoal, BRP Sierra Madre, China, EEZ, Mischief Ref, Oil, Panganiban Shoal, Philippines, South China Sea DisputeIt must be good to wake up one day, look at the vast expanse of ocean around your land, and decide that all the waters as far as the eye can see are yours. That’s what Beijing is doing in the sea to its south that needs an official change of name because the country […]
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Int’l political group to China: Follow rule of law in South China Sea dispute
A transnational organization of political groups from 60 countries has called on China to follow the rule of law in resolving the territorial dispute over parts of the South China Sea. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) unanimously adopted an emergency resolution on March 19 calling on China […]
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The devil and the deep South China Sea
Last year, the Philippines brought a complaint against China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea to the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. The Chinese “were really unprepared for that and were really embarrassed by it”, one of Vietnam’s top experts on Chinese diplomacy told me during my recent visit to Hanoi. It was a master […]
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What did Estrada and Arroyo promise China?
China escalated its already heightened maritime conflict with the Philippines on March 9 by blocking two Philippine vessels from delivering fresh supplies and troops to its marine outpost in the sunken ship Sierra Madre beside the Ayungin Shoal. Two days later, when the Philippines summoned China’s Charge d’Affairs in Manila to protest China’s provocation, Beijing immediately […]
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China warns Philippines: We will never tolerate ‘occupation’ of disputed shoal
China warned the Philippines on Monday to abandon a disputed shoal in the South China Sea after Manila said it planned to challenge a Chinese naval blockade of the area by sending supplies to its troops stationed there. Last week, a senior Philippines military official said his country would send civilian supply ships to its […]
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Palace: Let China interpret US-PH talks
MANILA, Philippines – It will be up to China to interpret the ongoing talks on enhancing military cooperation between the Philippines and the United States, Malacanang said yesterday. “Let China interpret that… We don’t need to send a message. The medium is the message,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said when asked if the government was […]
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Amid China’s assertiveness, Vietnam leader warns vs use of force in territorial rows
TOKYO – Vietnam’s president on Tuesday warned against the use of force in territorial disputes as his nation and its neighbours lock horns with an increasingly assertive China over competing claims in the South China Sea. President Truong Tan Sang made the comments in Japan’s parliament during a four-day visit. A joint press briefing with […]
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Forget Oil and Gas, the South China Sea Just Got More Complicated
As former-best-friends-turned-sour during the Cold War, the Sino-Vietnamese relationship has managed to overcome a number of issues and has progressed to levels of cooperation unimaginable only 10 years ago. Vietnam’s civilian-led patrols, backed by marine police and a border force, will be deployed from 25 January within Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea. Photo: […]
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Countering China in the South China Sea
On March 18, officials from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet in Singapore to discuss steps towards an elusive code of conduct in the contentious South China Sea dispute. If the past is any indicator, China will ensure that such diplomacy will produce little significant progress even as it continues […]
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Eyes on Crimea, China makes its move
While much of the world was busy watching Russia swallow Crimea, few realized that an also dangerous territorial tit-for-tat had begun to unfold earlier this month more than 5,000 miles away 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 […]