News
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Chinese boats stir Philippine anxieties
While Filipino leader Rodrigo Duterte plays down reports that China has occupied another contested land feature in the South China Sea, his defense establishment is calling for a tougher stance “Why should I defend a sandbar and kill Filipinos because of a sandbar?” declared Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte when asked about reports suggesting China has sought to occupy a…
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Sharing resources could calm seas for China and Philippines
Richard Heydarian says China’s and the Philippines’ weighing of resource sharing marks an upward turn for two nations once awash in acrimony For the Filipino president, who is intent on improving strategic relations with Beijing, this is the best available modus vivendi to manage and eventually resolve territorial disputes among claimant states. While in theory a JDA could break the…
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Use it or lose it: Why Canada’s navy needs to be in the South China Sea
Canada’s diplomatic and strategic engagement in East Asia has been erratic over the past two decades. Successive governments have been incapable or unwilling to clearly articulate a regional strategy, remaining virtually silent on major geopolitical tensions. Some observers have advocated regular deployments of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) to create a visible, routine presence in the region. One unexplored…
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Yin and Yang: China’s Rise and the Future of the Pacific
Rise of China: China is a rising revisionist power, seeking to realign the status quo in the Pacific and assure its security via domination of its periphery regions, after a “century of humiliation.” In 1978, its GDP was a mere US$150 billion, while 39 years later, its economy stands at $11.2 trillion, with the country now standing as the…
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Beijing runs circles around our Digong!
MANY concerned Filipinos are horrified seeing China’s leaders and diplomats running circles around our one-year-old President and his three-month-old sidekick of a Foreign Secretary. The diplomatic duo looks on helplessly as some of our outlying islets are being occupied, enlarged and armed with weapons disguised as navigational aids – with the artificial islands to be claimed at the…
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Leveraging US Military Power in South China Sea
The U.S. should leverage the prospect of new military balancing capabilities to establish an accommodation with China in the South China Sea. The South China Sea is the nexus of numerous disputes among China and its Southeast Asian neighbors, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia, and involving extra-regional powers like Japan and the United States. These range from…
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China’s latest moves in the South China Sea have sparked fears of a new land grab
In 2012, China wrested control of Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea from the Philippines. With the shoal—reefs, rocks, and a vast lagoon—located just 220 km (137 miles) from the Philippines’ main island Luzon, the incident heightened tensions and embarrassed Manila, which the following year opened a case in an international tribunal challenging Beijing’s territorial moves in the…
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Hypocrisy at Sea at sea, even China argues its own behavior is illegal.
Every nation is hypocritical. Just like every man. There are, of course, differences in magnitude. Such as right now: China tells other navies not to sail through its waters—as it sails through theirs. In July, China sent two ships to sit off the coasts of Alaska, United States, and Queensland, Australia. Because the two were “intelligence-gathering ships” and they watched…
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5 important facts about China’s alleged incursion in Pag-Asa Island
Not long after the Philippines hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings, reports emerged that Chinese vessels have been gathering near Pag-Asa (Thitu) island in the West Philippine Sea. The source of the information is reportedly the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which has been monitoring Chinese activities close to our land features in the area.…
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South China Sea: A Chinese ‘Invasion’ Near the Philippines’ Pag-asa Island in the Spratlys?
Recent events near Pag-asa Island raise distressing questions. Last week, a Philippine lawmaker, Congressman Gary Alejano, released images showing Chinese coast guard, naval, and civilian vessels within a stone’s throw of Pag-asa, or Thitu, Island — a significant Philippine possession in the disputed Spratly group. Pag-asa, which is administered as part of Kalayaan municipality, an archipelagic cluster in the South…
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Justice Carpio bares invasion of PH islet
Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio urged the government to act on what he called an “invasion of Philippine territory by China” as he confirmed Chinese ships were now guarding a newly created island well within Philippine territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea. In a statement on Saturday, Carpio said two…
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Global Geo-political Series: U.S. toughens stance on China over South China Sea
The United States is toughening its stance over the South China Sea on China, which considers most of the energy rich sea as its own sovereign territory and has built artificial islands and converted them as military outposts. Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and defense secretary Jim Mattis held a joint meeting with their Japanese counterparts…