West Philippine Sea
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China has forced a Pacific airline to close down because of diplomatic ties with Taiwan
An airline says a Chinese ban on tour groups visiting the Pacific nation of Palau has forced it to end its services “indefinitely.” Palau Pacific Airlines said sales plummeted since China began fining tour companies for planning trips to Taiwan allies Palau and the Vatican last year. Beijing has been accused of “dollar diplomacy” in […]
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China says U.S. blaming Xi for blocking trade deal is ‘bogus’
BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Thursday comments made by a senior White House official blaming Chinese President Xi Jinping for blocking progress on a deal to avert a trade war were “shocking” and “bogus” accusations. The United States and China this month slapped tariffs on $34 billion of each other’s imports in an escalating […]
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Media silent as Pacific powers prepare for showdown with China
The US and its allies continue to implement a dangerous strategy to counter China’s growing influence in the Pacific. These days, it’s all but too easy to get distracted by the stories the mainstream media overhypes on a regular basis and overlook some of those more pressing stories which fall beneath the radar. When […]
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AUSMIN summit to discuss Australia’s role in South China
China’s militarisation of the South China Sea will be a key topic at next week’s AUSMIN summit, but the government is declining to say whether Australia will play a greater role in asserting freedom of navigation through the disputed waterways. Defence Minister Marise Payne offered a spirited defence of Australia’s role in ensuring free movement […]
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Duterte trusts China ‘will be fair’ on South China Sea row
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is expecting China to be fair on the South China Sea row as he expressed optimism that Filipinos would eventually view Beijing as a “good neighbor.” Duterte, who has been accused of not doing enough to assert the country’s maritime claims, said the Philippines and China have agreed to […]
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China Is Winning in the South China Sea
The U.S. should respond more vigorously to Beijing’s violations of international law. Two years after an international tribunal rejected expansive Chinese claims to the South China Sea, Beijing is consolidating control over the area and its resources. While the U.S. defends the right to freedom of navigation, it has failed to support the rights of […]
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Do more to enforce ruling
Despite the bogey of war that President Duterte has raised every time China’s transgressions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is brought up, up to 8 out of 10 Filipinos still believe the government should enforce the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that favored the country’s claims over disputed […]
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SWS lies in its polls vs China and govt policy
THE Yellows’ old reliable, the Social Weather Stations, is at it again, disseminating falsehoods disguised as public opinion, undertaking propaganda through its interview questions themselves. Its recent poll on our territorial dispute with China was widely reported by media, with the TV network GMA-7’s article on it headlined: “81 percent reject govt’s ‘do nothing’ policy […]
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Duterte’s China policy: beyond law
Many local and international observers have denounced Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s conduct towards China as “appeasement” after he took the view there was nothing the Philippines could do to stop China’s militarisation in the South China Sea. Duterte’s defeatist attitude, allegedly the trade-off of comprehensive engagement with China, is being put to a critical test […]
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Where Duterte, Mahathir stand on pressing ASEAN issues
One embraces China investments with open arms, the other shows more caution. One sees US President Donald Trump as a ‘friend,’ the other calls him an ‘international bully.’ GAME-CHANGERS. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad are game-changers in the Southeast Asian region. Duterte photo from Malacañang, Mahathir photo from Agence France-Presse […]