USA
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US, Japan vow to aid se Asians on sea row
TOKYO—Japan and the United States will pledge to jointly help Southeast Asian nations boost their marine surveillance capabilities, a newspaper said Saturday, as tensions over territorial disputes in the region simmer. US President Barack Obama will discuss the issue with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit to Japan next week. A deal is expected […]
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Asia seeks Obama’s assurance in territorial spats
WASHINGTON— As President Barack Obama travels through Asia this coming week, he will confront a region that’s warily watching the crisis in Ukraine through the prism of its own territorial tensions with China. Each of the four countries on Obama’s itinerary — Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines — has a dispute with Beijing […]
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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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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 […]
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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 […]
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China’s President Xi urges greater military use of space
(Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the air force to adopt an integrated air and space defence capability, in what state media on Tuesday called a response to the increasing military use of space by the United States and others. While Beijing insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes, a Pentagon report last […]
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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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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 […]
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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 […]