West Philippine Sea
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‘TWAS A HYPERBOLE’ You can’t expect me to jet ski to disputed territories —Duterte
President Rodrigo Duterte has said there was no way he would have ridden a jet ski to the disputed Scarborough Shoal as he proclaimed in a debate during the presidential campaign earlier this year. In an interview with Al Jazeera that aired over the weekend, Duterte said it was a hyperbole to drive home the […]
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Beijing ‘aid’ always has strings attached
Admitting to be a tyro in diplomacy, President Rodrigo Duterte is to square off with a 4,000-year master of the craft: China. His visit to the giant neighbor this week aims for some economic favors. Bulging in his coat pocket would be an international court ruling favoring Manila against Beijing’s spurious ownership claim over the […]
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Duterte to raise South China Sea ruling with Beijing, says won’t ‘barter away’ territory
MANILA, Phililppines – (UPDATE, 8:04 P.M) President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday he would raise a controversial arbitral ruling on the South China Sea with China’s leaders, and vowed not to surrender any sovereignty or deviate from the July award by the tribunal in The Hague. Duterte said his trip to China this week represented […]
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Duterte Acknowledges He Can’t Concede Sea Claims to China
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine president acknowledged Sunday that he can be impeached if he concedes his country’s territorial claims in the South China Sea in talks with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders this week in Beijing. President Rodrigo Duterte said in a speech before leaving for Brunei and China that while he […]
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Duterte before China trip: Let’s not dwell on Scarborough Shoal
But the President says he will ask China to allow Filipino fishermen to fish in the West Philippine Sea MANILA, Philippines – Days before his visit to China, President Rodrigo Duterte said he would likely not dwell on Scarborough Shoal, an area in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) being claimed by both the […]
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Carpio: With Malampaya gas gone in 10 years, PH must assert EEZ control in West PH Sea
MANILA – The Philippines must assert its claim over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) now more than ever, as it has to begin looking for a substitute to the Malampaya gas field, which supplies 40 percent of Luzon’s energy, and will run out of gas in 10 years. This is according to Supreme Court Senior […]
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Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot to China
Duterte is questioning the Philippines’ century-old US alliance while ramping up his diplomatic flirtation with China. “I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people,” proclaimed Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ controversial leader. It was a defiant remark in response to […]
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The Philippines Is About to Give Up the South China Sea to China
‘We cannot win that,’ President Rodrigo Duterte said of Scarborough Shoal this week. ‘We can’t beat” China. Next week Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who took power in late June, will make his first state visit to China. Of course he’s hoping for a bonanza of loans and trade deals. What he’s not expecting or demanding: […]
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South China Sea Disputes Are On Duterte’s China Agenda Ahead of Visit, But to What Ends? Can Duterte make China a workable offer concerning the South China Sea disputes?
Speaking on Monday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told an audience of local government officials that the country should not “dwell on Scarborough Shoal.” According to a translation of his Tagalog remarks posted by Rappler, Duterte said the Philippines should not dwell “because we don’t have the capabilities.” “Even if we express anger, it will just […]
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The Rising Environmental Toll Of China’s Offshore Island Grab
To stake its claim in the strategic South China Sea, China is building airstrips, ports, and other facilities on disputed islands and reefs. Scientists say the activities are destroying key coral reef ecosystems and will heighten the risks of a fisheries collapse in the region. In the late 1980s, marine biologist John McManus and his […]