ASEAN
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A “Weak” America is Making Asia Uneasy
Chinese actions in maritime Asia are raising questions about American willingness and ability to act decisively in the region. That ambiguity is bad news for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), traditionally dependent on the U.S. security umbrella and more recently enjoying rapid expansion of trade with China. Chinese perceptions of American […]
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Asean-China looks for common grounds
Next Monday the senior officials from Asean and China will be meeting in Pattaya after they met last September at Suzhou, China where they kicked off official consultation on the process of formulating code of conducts (CoC) for the South China Sea. It was a turning point as China expressed the readiness to engage Asean […]
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Are U.S. Security Forces a Threat to Philippine Sovereignty? A Call for Principled Statesmanship
Philippine undersecretary of defense Lorenzo Batino said April 11 that negotiators had reached “consensus on key points” of a new deal to allow a greater U.S. rotational military presence in the Philippines. But this raises a dilemma for Philippine lawmakers attempting to define and craft “an independent and nationalistic” foreign policy. At what point should […]
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Hagel Confirms US Support for Japan, Asian Allies
HONG KONG — The head of the U.S. Defense Department says Washington plans to send two more missile defense warships to Japan to counter the threat posed by North Korea’s actions. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told a news conference in Tokyo Sunday after meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, that two AEGIS […]
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‘Phl chose right course in sea row’
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines chose the right course, an international think tank said of the country’s filing a case before an arbitral court on its overlapping claim with China in the Spratlys. The Philippines may face repercussions for bringing its territorial dispute with China before an international court but complacency may be costlier, US-based […]
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China’s position on the territorial disputes with the Philippines
ASEAN, Ayungin Shoal, BRP Sierra Madre, China, Code of Conduct, ICJ, itlos, Memorial, Philippines, South China Sea Dispute, UNCLOSOn March 30, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs stated that it submitted its Memorial to the Arbitral Tribunal that is hearing the case it brought against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in January 2013. A lot of media friends ask for comments on this issue. In order […]
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Jakarta rejects China’s ‘nine-dash line’
ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, Indonesia, Jakarta, Militarization, Mischief Reef, Natuna Islands, Nine Dash Line, South China Sea Dispute, UNCLOSIn a significant policy shift, Indonesian officials on March 12 announced that China’s nine-dash line map outlining its claims in the South China Sea overlaps with Indonesia’s Riau province, which includes the Natuna Island chain. For over two decades, Indonesia has positioned itself as an independent mediator in the South China Sea disputes between its […]
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China to PH: ‘Friends avoid lawsuits’
MANILA, Philippines – China remains convinced that a bilateral negotiation, and not international arbitration, is the best way to settle its territorial dispute with a “good neighbor” and long-standing “friend” like the Philippines. “A resort to arbitration does not meet people’s expectations for friendship in both China and the Philippines,” said Zhang Hua, spokesperson of […]
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Is a Philippine-Vietnam Alliance in the Making?
Walden Bellow, a representative of Akbayan (Citizens’ Action Party) in the Philippine House of Representatives, recently wrote an opinion-editorial in Foreign Policy in Focus (March 18) entitled, “A Budding Alliance: Vietnam and the Philippines Confront China.” Bello argued that, “The Philippines and Vietnam are natural allies in their common struggle against China’s drive for hegemony […]
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South China Sea: Beijing’s ‘Salami Slicing’ Strategy – Analysis
Analysis, ASEAN, Ayungin Shoal, BRP Sierra Madre, China, Philippines, Salami Strategy, South China Sea Dispute, UNCLOSThe South China Sea is seeing increasing tension amongst the claimants. The Second Thomas Shoal is the latest addition to Beijing’s ‘Salami Slicing’ strategy of slowly acquiring small reefs and islands to consolidate its contested claim. By Darshana M. Baruah THE MOST recent tension in the South China Sea over the Second Thomas Shoal indicates […]