Philippines
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Hard diplomacy ahead despite China showing its softer side
BEIJING – From a military rules-of-the-road agreement with Washington to $20 billion in loans for Southeast Asia, Beijing has set aside the tensions of recent years to present a softer side to the world in the last week. But proof of whether President Xi Jinping is serious about narrowing differences that have marked his first two […]
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Aquino hopeful of resolving islands row with China
SINGAPORE — Philippine President Benigno Aquino yesterday said he was hopeful of a peaceful resolution to his country’s territorial dispute with China after holding informal talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping last week, where the two sides pledged to find a constructive solution to the issue. Mr Aquino met Mr Xi last week on the […]
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Faulty translations misled Beijing’s sea claims (1)
For decades Beijing’s communist rulers have been feeding the Chinese hoodoo history. They preach in schools that China has owned the islands, rocks, reefs, and waters of the South China Sea since time immemorial. “Abundant historical facts” supposedly back this up. Yet genuine accounts from 6,000 years ago to the present disprove Beijing’s propaganda. Records […]
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PH not excluded from Beijing’s ‘Silk Road’: DFA
MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs dismissed Wednesday views that China’s Maritime Silk Road plan excludes the Philippines. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road aims to build infrastructure across the region to bolster trade among the nations. DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said the Chinese embassy has already clarified the matter. […]
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EDCA critic: China execs think Philippines a US lackey
China, EDCA, Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Mutual Defense, Philippines, South China Sea Dispute, Supreme Court, USAMANILA, Philippines — Chinese officials pushing for Beijing’s claims on the West Philippine Sea believe the Philippines is still a “factotum” of the United States. This is what lawyer Harry Roque, among the petitioners questioning the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), noted before the Supreme Court during the oral arguments on Tuesday. Senior Associate Justice […]
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Experts worry over possibility of China setting up ADIZ in East Sea
ADIZ, Air Defense Identification Zone, ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, East China Sea, Philippines, South China Sea Dispute, VietnamThe event, themed “East Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development,” entered its last day on Tuesday, with a hot issue raised: whether China will announce its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East Sea after it has already announced the same zone in the East China Sea. Professor Robert Beckman, director of the […]
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Beijing could win over S Korea if US sides with Japan on E China Sea
A symposium on the tension between the United States, China and Japan in the East China Sea was held in Taipei on Friday, according to our Chinese-language sister paper Want Daily. At the forum Taiwanese scholars said the US has sided with Japan in the region, forcing South Korea to ally with China as a […]
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Aquino dares China: Act ‘Go beyond diplomatic moves in sea dispute’
NAYPYITAW, Burma—President Aquino on Thursday challenged China to take “concrete action” in the South China Sea to match its diplomatic overtures in the Southeast Asian region. Speaking at the dialogue between the 10 Southeast Asian countries and China near the close of the 25th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit here, Aquino said the […]
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‘Arbitration, better ties can go together’
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines does not see the need to withdraw its case before the international arbitral tribunal against China to move its relations with Beijing forward, Malacañang said yesterday. At the same time, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told a press briefing that the country would stick to the multilateral approach in resolving its […]
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Large-Scale South China Sea Reclamation Projects Raise Questions Under International Law
Artificial Islands, ASEAN, China, Code of Conduct, Philippines, Reclamation, South China Sea Dispute, SpratlysThe international media has reported that China is undertaking large-scale South China Sea reclamation works on several of the seven reefs it occupies in the Spratly Islands. The 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea states that the parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that […]