MANILA – The counsel who will represent the Philippines in its maritime arbitration case against China is a “lawyer’s lawyer.” At a forum in New York, Ambassador Libran Cabactulan said Paul Reichler has a reputation of being the preferred lawyer of sovereign states. Cabactulan is the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations. “Reichler is […]
The complaint for arbitration against the People’s Republic of China filed with the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea is mainly to defend the Philippine’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, and to reserve the right to request for provisional measures should these become necessary. The UN Convention on […]
MANILA, Philippines – The decision of the Arbitral Tribunal on the maritime dispute case between the Philippines and China may come “a lot faster” because of China’s refusal to participate in the proceedings, the Philippines lead counsel said in an interview with a newspaper in the United States. “Arbitrations under the Law of the Sea […]
The Philippines’ SCS strategy, meanwhile, is motivated by a perceived Chinese westward push at its expense. Despite long administering the largest features in the Spratlys, Manila’s military capabilities are limited. The occupation of Mischief Reef came about two years after the removal of the U.S. bases, and marked the point at which the much talked-about […]
HONG KONG — There’s no question that Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” is a brilliant strategy manual. Everyone from Oracle’s Larry Ellison to the New England Patriots’ Coach Belichick has cited the ancient general’s maxims. Even Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf was a Sun Tzu devotee. But when it comes to China’s foreign policy, Sun Tzu’s theories […]
TOKYO: Cam Ranh Bay, in southern Vietnam on the South China Sea, is a good natural harbor. Its mouth is about one kilometer wide so the harbor is somewhat protected from waves. The bay was one of the key Soviet strongholds during the Cold War. The Vietnamese military has a base on the bay to […]
BRUSSELS—The European Union has a “vital interest” in a secure and open maritime trade routes even as it expressed alarm at the escalating tension in the South China Sea. “As far as maritime security is concerned, I strongly believe that the EU has a vital interest in a securre, open and clean maritime environment that […]
Recent attempts by China to challenge territorial rights in the East China Sea are the latest chapters in an ongoing story of two heavily contested parts of the western Pacific Ocean. The East and South China Seas have become flashpoints for trouble between a host of neighbouring countries, and experts worry that the chances for […]
Paul Reichler, a Washington-based lawyer, has spent much of his career representing small countries against big ones: Nicaragua versus the U.S.; Georgia versus Russia; Mauritius versus the U.K., Bangladesh versus India. His first big victory made headlines in the 1980s when the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that U.S. support for Contra […]
In response to the government shutdown at home, President Obama decided last week to cancel his planned participation in a series of Asian and Pacific summits. Unsurprisingly, the decision has provoked considerable consternation abroad as the United States’ allies fret about American dependability, particularly in the shadow of a rising and increasingly assertive China. Perhaps the […]