Philippines
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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 weakness are fueling the aggressiveness…
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Japan backs PH in case before UN
MANILA, Philippines—Japan, which is facing similar security issues with China, has reaffirmed its support for the Philippine recourse to international arbitration over its dispute with Beijing involving territories in an area of the South China Sea, called the West Philippine Sea by the Philippines, citing its basis in international law. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has conveyed his government’s support…
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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 on this sensitive issue. Last…
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PH Navy asking for 3rd warship from US
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is pursuing its request for a 3rd Hamilton Class cutter from the United States, Navy chief Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alano told Rappler. “As far as we are now looking at it, there will be a positive action for getting a 3rd Del Pilar frigate as we now call the Hamilton Class cutters,” said Alano…
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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 a country compromise its sovereignty…
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NO TREATY, RENT, LIMITS | Party-list solons say impending pact with US worse than bases treaty
MANILA – As negotiators from both the United States and the Philippines wrap up an Agreement on Enhanced Defense Cooperation (AEDC), party-list lawmakers are preparing to question it before the Supreme Court on grounds of constitutionality. “This early, we are already studying the option of questioning the AEDC at the Supreme Court because it is a clear violation of our…
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Comment: Why Beijing should let international law reign in the South China Sea
The perilous churn in the South China Sea, dubbed “Asia’s Cauldron” by one leading strategic analyst, stems from the overlapping claims of six states – Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – over a body of water vital to global trade, which contains energy resources and abundant fish stock in its vast depths. Negotiations over a maritime Code of…
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US-Philippines deal won’t stop China in disputed sea – analyst
MANILA, Philippines — The new defense cooperation agreement between the Philippines and the United States will not deter China from conducting activities in the West Philippine Sea, an international security analyst said. Rommel Banlaoi, chief of the Center for Intelligence and National Security Studies, said in a phone interview with Philstar.com on Tuesday that China may step up its activities…
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Solons support backdoor talks to help resolve PH-China row
Lawmakers are seeing backdoor negotiations as among the “effective” peaceful strategies that could be employed to help resolve the long-standing dispute between Manila and Beijing over the West Philippine Sea. Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Deputy Speaker and Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao and AKO Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe said “behind-the-scenes negotiations” could ease the tension between the countries. Belmonte expressed…