In mid-2014, the People’s Republic of China deployed an oil rig, protected by Chinese coast guard vessels, into waters claimed by Vietnam. Prior to this, the Chinese tried to prevent the resupply of Philippine Marines based on the Second Thomas Shoal in March 2014. Hence, buoyed by an economy that fuels its regional military preponderance, […]
The Philippines has put its disputed territorial claims before an arbitration tribunal in The Hague. According to Gregory Polin, Manila’s arguments against China’s ‘nine-dash line’ and rival claims are entirely justified. It’s now up to the tribunal to weigh in and convince Beijing of these ‘facts’. By Gregory Poling for Pacific Forum CSIS Editor’s note: […]
The U.S. has criticized China for provoking the Philippines in the Second Thomas Shoal even as Manila air-lifted supplies to its marines stationed on the disputed reef. On Sunday, Chinese coast guard vessels blocked two Filipino civilian vessels from resupplying marines located on the Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines calls the Ayungin Shoal and […]
WASHINGTON — China’s blocking of supplies to a Philippine outpost in the South China Sea is “provocative” and raises tensions, the United States said Wednesday, in its latest criticism of China’s assertive conduct in disputed seas of East Asia. The Philippines, a U.S. ally, protested to China Tuesday its prevention of two Filipino vessels from […]
MANILA, Philippines — China rejectd anew the Philippines’ protest against its actions in the disputed seas after Beijing admitted preventing Filipino-owned ships from delivering construction materials to a Philippine-occupied shoal. “The Foreign Ministry has summoned the head of the Philippines Embassy in China to lodge solemn representation on this event,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang […]
MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese coast guard prevented delivery of supplies to Filipino soldiers guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea and an envoy rejected a Philippine protest over the interference, officials said Tuesday. Chinese ships prevented two Filipino civilian vessels hired by the Philippine navy from reaching Second Thomas Shoal on Sunday, […]
BEIJING – China said on Monday that its coast guard ships had driven away two Philippine that which had tried to approach a shoal in the South China Sea in the latest flare-up of a long-running territorial dispute. The Chinese ships were patrolling waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as the Ren’ai reef, […]
MANILA, Philippines—China is turning the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) into “one country’s lake,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Tuesday, pressing Manila’s effort to roll back Beijing’s expansive claims in the strategic waterway. Speaking before an experts’ roundtable on maritime security in Brussels, Belgium, Del Rosario said China’s assertion of ownership over […]
Southeast Asia has seen its fair share of happenings in recent months, ranging from the maritime incidents in the South China Sea to the recurring haze problems affecting some ASEAN members. Moreover, the much vaunted ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which is supposed to mold ASEAN into a single market and production base, is scheduled to […]
TWO WEEKS ago, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused ASEAN of an anti-Beijing conspiracy over disputed South China Sea (SCS) territory at the start of the foreign ministers meeting in Brunei, and called the Philippines a provocateur for stirring tensions in the SCS. That imperious salvo triggered a sharp response from DFA Secretary Albert del […]