China’s seemingly unstoppable expansion through the South China Sea finally hit a wall last week, an unyielding, uncompromising wall named Indonesia. Unlike in the Philippines where Chinese fishing and coast guard vessels seemingly have almost […]
• Editorial
Government officials and heads-of-state in Asean appears to have a collective aversion to speaking up in public about Chinese transgressions and coercion in the South China Sea (SCS). Such reticence is based on misplaced fears […]
Filipinos finally heard last Sunday (April 14) what many have dreaded hearing for sometime. Scarborough Shoal has been lost to China. The candid and perhaps unintentional admission, largely overlooked by the Philippine media, first came […]
In a pointed address from the strategic island of Palawan on Saturday (November 10) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said his country is “not ready” for a looming war in the South China Sea. The president […]
The Philippine Navy managed to get its stranded flagship, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, off Half Moon Shoal on Monday night, but the dignity of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) remains firmly aground. The […]
A ground-swell of discontent is gaining momentum in the Philippines to President Rodrego Duterte’s apparent preparedness to surrender control of Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc) to China (who call it Huangyan Dao), with […]
Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday defended the administrations apparent soft stance against China saying the country would go to war if its new-found benefactor crosses a red line. Reporters in Manila […]
‘The United States (US) has invaded China’. This would certainly be the message that Chinese President Xi Jin Ping will tell to the Chinese masses if ever US President Donald Trump makes good on his […]
Now that he is at the helm of the Philippine government the question that remains is: Will President Rodrigo Duterte be able to fulfill the campaign promises he made to the Filipino people during his […]
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s whirlwind tour of Brunei, Cambodia and Laos between April 22 and 24, 2016 courted support for his country’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. But the issue of China’s […]
Southeast Asia has descended into a maritime insecurity spiral since the April–June 2012 stand-off at Scarborough Shoal between Chinese maritime security forces and the Philippine Navy which led Manila to initiate legal arbitration proceedings in […]
Recent months have seen a continuing increase in military activities in the South China Sea, particularly by the United States and China, but also by ‘bit players’ like India and Japan. These activities only serve […]