MANILA, Philippines – Amid China’s continuing maritime aggression, President Benigno Aquino III and visiting French President Francois Hollande on Thursday renewed their call for peace in Southeast Asia. “We reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability in Southeast Asia and promoting maritime security, freedom of navigation and the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance […]
Philippines and France, during the visit of President Aquino to France, made a stand to support peaceful settlement of maritime spats in South China Sea. Both countries uphold the rule of law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. “As President, I believe that with these concerns come the necessity for […]
BEIJING — As China boosts its military spending, rattling neighbors over territorial disputes at sea, an AFP investigation shows that European countries have approved billions in transfers of weapons and military-ready technology to the Asian giant. China’s air force relies on French-designed helicopters, while submarines and frigates involved in Beijing’s physical assertion of its claim […]
In 1933, the French flexed their colonial muscles and annexed nine of the Spratly Islands. When the news spread, the fledgling and troubled Chinese republic faced a basic problem: It didn’t know where the Spratlys were. A year earlier, the French had staked their claim to the Paracel Islands as part of their colony in […]