Philippines
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PH has ‘right’ to defend its territory like China
MANILA – The Philippines also has the right to defend every inch of its territory, President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman said on Sunday, after China made a similar warning. Spokesman Herminio Coloma’s remarks came after China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said on Saturday said his country would vigorously defend its sovereignty against “unreasonable demands from smaller […]
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US Freedom of Navigation ops in 2013 targeted PHL, China, Iran
WASHINGTON – The US military carried out freedom of navigation operations challenging the maritime claims of China, Iran and 10 other nations last year, asserting its right to use the seas in defiance of their restrictions, a Pentagon report said Thursday. The Defense Department’s annual Freedom of Navigation Report to Congress for the 2013 fiscal […]
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China to Foreign Fishing Boats: ‘Get Out’ of South China Sea
Back in November, Hainan Province issued new maritime regulations, including an article stating that “foreigners or foreign fishing ships entering sea areas administered by Hainan and engaged in fishery production or fishery resource surveys should receive approval from relevant departments of the State Council.” As many, including “Naval Diplomat” James Holmes, pointed out, this provision […]
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Protecting the Nation’s Marine Wealth in the West Philippine Sea
China, Continental Shelf, EEZ, History, Hugo Grotius, Islands, Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Mare Liberum, marine biodiversity, marine wealth, Maritime Resources, Maritime Sovereignty, ocean conservation, Philippines, Philippines marine protection, Philippines maritime strategy, Reefs, Rocks, Shoals, South China Sea, South China Sea Dispute, territorial waters, West Philippine SeaSpeech delivered before the Philippine Women’s Judges Association on 6 March 2014. Learn how the Philippines safeguards its marine wealth in the West Philippine Sea. Explore strategies, challenges, and the significance of maritime resources for the nation’s future.
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Philippines rejects China deal in South China Sea; China denies making any such offer
The Philippines has rejected a Chinese offer to withdraw its ships from the Scarborough Shoal, if Manila did the same and delayed international arbitration on the territorial dispute. China‘s offer was made “informally through back channels”, Roilo Golez, a former congressman and presidential national security adviser told the South China Morning Post yesterday. Citing a […]
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China apprehending boats weekly in disputed South China Sea
(Reuters) – Chinese patrols enforcing disputed new fishing rules in the South China Sea are apprehending foreign boats on a weekly basis, Communist Party officials said on Thursday. In comments that provide the first window on how China is enforcing new rules criticized by Washington, the party secretary for Hainan Island said Chinese patrols attempted […]
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Ex-Navy chief prods US to act on sea row
A retired Philippine Navy admiral has asked the United States to be more resolute in preventing China’s continued aggressive action in the West Philippine Sea and called on the international community to fight off illegal actions in the already tense-environment in the Asean region. Speaking at the Center for American Security Forum at the Willard […]
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Malaysia seeks hotline with Philippines on Sabah
MANILA, Philippines – Malaysia wants to establish a “hotline” between its security forces and that of the Philippines to prevent a repeat of the standoff in Lahad Datu, Sabah last year between over 200 Filipino militants and Malaysian troops. The Filipino militants, who called themselves the royal security forces of the sultanate of Sulu and […]
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Malaysia joins forces with Philippines and Vietnam against China in sea dispute
China, Diplomatic Relations, Foreign Policy, Malaysia, Militarization, Philippines, President Benigno Aquino III, South China Sea Dispute, USA, VietnamThe submerged reef would be easy to miss, under turquoise seas about 80 km (50 miles) off Malaysia’s Borneo island state of Sarawak. But two Chinese naval exercises in less than a year around the James Shoal have shocked Malaysia and led to a significant shift in its approach to China‘s claims to the disputed […]
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UNCLOS explained: Why China’s claims in South China Sea are invalid
MANILA, Philippines — With a little over a month before the Philippines submits its written arguments to the international Permanent Court of Arbitration, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza publicly spoke for the first time about the basis of the Philippines’ case against China’s claim to nearly the entire South China/West Philippine Sea. “You need to have […]