News
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Trans-Pacific Partnership: China seizes trade opportunity after Donald Trump’s threat
United States President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to dump or renegotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on his first day in office is a gift for the Chinese in their drive to control the world economy. China is now positioning itself as free trade’s new champion and seizing economic leadership of the Pacific Rim. Under President Barack Obama the TPP was sold…
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Report on the growing US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region
Editor’s Note: The following article is an abstract from a report by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, headquartered in Haikou, capital of South China’s Hainan province. The United States’ military deployments and activities in the Asia-Pacific region are important manifestations of its “rebalancing” strategy. Since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the US global military strategy…
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U.S. Naval Patrols Threaten Sovereignty, Chinese Think Tank Warns
American military vessels and aircraft carried out more than 700 patrols in the South China Sea region during 2015, making China the U.S.’s No. 1 surveillance target, according to a report by China’s only state-backed institution dedicated to research of the waters. The patrols pose a threat to China’s sovereignty and security interests, said the report by the National Institute…
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Philippine fishermen decry Duterte’s disputed shoal ban
MANILA – Philippine fishermen on Wednesday criticized President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to ban them from a rich South China Sea fishing ground, part of his efforts to ease tensions over disputed waters controlled by China. Duterte’s aides said he had made a “unilateral” declaration to make the lagoon at Scarborough Shoal a protected marine sanctuary, after raising the issue during…
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Japan ‘willing to play peace role in South China Sea disputes’
JAPAN is willing to take on more roles in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea amid fractious territorial disputes between China and Asean members, government officials and scholars have said in Tokyo. Although Japan is not a claimant in the South China Sea, it is concerned about the safety of sea lanes and freedom of navigation in…
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China is no longer ruining their livelihoods, but these Filipino fishermen aren’t entirely grateful
A Filipino fishing association estimates that about 30% of some 4,000 fishermen have been affected by the closing of the Scarborough Shoal. Efren Forones jumped from his chair when he saw the news report on TV. Boats were coming back from Scarborough Shoal. Fishermen were wading through shallow waters carrying buckets spilling over with fish. From Our Partners: Filipino fishermen…
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Philippines to Declare Marine Sanctuary in South China Sea
HONG KONG — Philippine officials said Monday that President Rodrigo Duterte planned to declare a marine sanctuary and no-fishing zone at a lagoon within Scarborough Shoal, a reef China seized in 2012. The announcement followed Mr. Duterte’s meeting with President Xi Jinping of China on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Peru over the weekend. It…
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Philippines president to declare disputed area in South China Sea a no-fishing zone
MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to issue a formal order declaring a sprawling lagoon in a disputed South China Sea shoal a maritime sanctuary where Filipinos and Chinese will be prohibited from fishing, officials said in a statement Monday. National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Duterte relayed his plan to Chinese President Xi Jinping during…
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Experts warn vs PH ceding Scarborough to China, isolating nation
Maritime and law experts on Monday warned the Philippine government against unwittingly ceding Scarborough Shoal to China and isolating itself by pushing away allies like the United States. Dr. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines (UP) Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea (IMLOS), told reporters that the Philippines should not be satisfied with “being…
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Xi: Turn South China Sea issue into impetus for cooperation
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the Philippine side to join hands with his country to turn the South China Sea issue into an impetus for friendship and cooperation. During a meeting with Rodrigo Duterte in Lima, Xi Jinping called on both sides to ensure their bilateral relations move forward in a positive direction while enhancing consultations over maritime…
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Can anyone really rule the South China Sea?
Countries jockey for control as if oceans could be tamed, claimed and fenced off like the land Wherever you go in the Philippines, the sea is never too far away. I spent summers as a child lying on sunny beaches and playing in the waves. Sometimes we would go to an island where the white sand, framed by coconut trees,…
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Vietnam expanding South China Sea runway: U.S. think tank
Vietnam is extending a runway on an island it claims in the South China Sea in apparent response to China’s building of military facilities on artificial islands in the region, a U.S. think tank reported. Satellite images taken this month showed Vietnam had lengthened its runway on Spratly Island from less than 2,500 feet (760 meters) to more than 3,300…