In the latest incidents, a Chinese navy ship, China Coast Guard vessels and other Chinese boats shadowed a Philippine vessel belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources that was bringing food and fuel to Filipino fishermen, allowing them to spend more time at sea and pursue a larger catch. AFP correspondents and journalists … Read more
MANILA: The Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday (Feb 11) accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous” manoeuvres during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country. The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was deployed in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South … Read more
The US and Japanese navies held joint exercises in the Philippine Sea this week, in a show of force as tensions with China and North Korea rise. Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads over a raft of issues, from chips to tariffs, but both have been alarmed by the growing assertiveness of China’s military in … Read more
Tsai is now facing calls from her party to lead the inauguration of the renovated pier next month – in a symbolic reassertion of Taiwan’s claims over Taiping, also known as Itu Aba. Does Taiwan-held Taiping Island need a longer runway? Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CSA) said that the completed project cleared inspection checks on … Read more
While there are doubts as to whether the US can effectively support Ukraine against Russia and Israel against Hamas and its regional allies at the same time, does Beijing have the political, military and economic muscle to simultaneously handle three security challenges and then launch military operations against Taipei? That may be unlikely if the … Read more
BEIJING: Chinese state media accused the Philippines on Monday (Dec 25) of repeatedly infringing on China’s territory in the South China Sea, spreading false information and colluding with extraterritorial forces to cause trouble. The Philippines has relied on US support to continually provoke China, with such “extremely dangerous” behaviour seriously harming regional peace and stability, … Read more
BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the Philippines to address through dialogue what China sees as “serious difficulties” in their relations over the South China Sea, where incidents between vessels from the two sides have escalated. Beijing and Manila have traded sharp accusations in recent months over run-ins involving fishing boats, coastguard ships and … Read more
MANILA: The Philippine defence minister rebuked China on Wednesday (Dec 20) for accusing his country of provoking tension and stirring trouble in the South China Sea, saying only Beijing believed what it was saying. “Truth and in fact, no country in the world, none, supports unequivocally their claim to the whole of South China Sea,” … Read more
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including waters and islands near the shores of its neighbours, and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis. It deploys boats to patrol the busy waterway and has built artificial islands that it has militarised to reinforce its claims. Miller said … Read more
The China Coast Guard, however, accused the Philippine boat of “deliberately colliding” with the Chinese vessel after “disregarding our multiple stern warnings”. The Philippine boat “changed direction suddenly in an unprofessional, dangerous manner, deliberately colliding with our Coast Guard Vessel 21556, which was on a normal law enforcement route, and caused a scrape”, the China … Read more
