MANILA – Soon after Lai Ching-te won Taiwan’s January 13 presidential election, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr made an unprecedented congratulatory call to the independence-leaning new leader who’s firmly in Beijing’s crosshairs. According to official reports of the conversation, Marcos Jr congratulated Lai as “Taiwan’s next president” while looking forward to “close collaboration, strengthening mutual interests […]

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MANILA – The Filipino military chief has announced new plans for massive construction activities across all Philippine-claimed land features in the South China Sea, a move that promises to intensify already hot tensions with China over contested territories. General Romeo Brawner made the high-stakes announcement, which covers as many as nine disputed sea features, directly […]

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MANILA – “The Philippines is an important partner of Indonesia,” declared President Joko Widodo during a high-profile visit to Manila, one of his last major diplomatic trips before stepping down from office later this year. “Many Indonesian defense equipment products are purchased by the Philippines and investment there is also quite significant,” the two-term leader […]

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MANILA – In another sign that the South China Sea is at the heart of a brewing US-China new Cold War, both superpowers conducted tit-for-tat wargames in the disputed maritime area in the opening days of the new year. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) conducted the […]

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MANILA – South China Sea disputes pitting China against Southeast Asian claimants are fast shaping to become the region’s major flashpoint of 2024. In its final act as the outgoing chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia corralled the bloc’s foreign ministers for an unprecedented diplomatic intervention. As the world prepared for […]

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MANILA – “China-Philippines relations are at a crossroads. Faced with the choice of where to go, the Philippines must act with caution,” warned Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat during a recent testy conversation with his Filipino counterpart, Enrique Manalo. According to a readout of the exchange, China squarely blamed the Southeast Asian nation for rising […]

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MANILA – Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wrapped up a special summit in Tokyo over the weekend, marking 50 years of bilateral relations. Ties between the two sides are deep and friendly thanks to Japan’s pivotal role in post-war economic development and industrialization throughout the Southeast Asian region. With flagging approval […]

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Vietnam has become the only nation this year to host the leaders of the world’s two most powerful nations, underscoring the remarkable rise of a once-impoverished and war-stricken nation.  Vietnam’s famed “bamboo” diplomacy shifted into high gear this week, as the Southeast Asian nation hosted Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping to mark a “new historic […]

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“The aggression and provocations perpetrated by [China’s maritime forces] over the weekend have only further steeled our determination to defend and protect our nation’s sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction” in the South China Sea,” declared Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr after yet another major incident in the hotly disputed waters.  According to Philippine authorities, a […]

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MANILA – “History has proven that they are not serious and have no sincerity when it comes to peace negotiations,” declared Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte in a spirited speech castigating the Marcos Jr administration’s plan to renew long-stalled peace negotiations with communist rebels. “They will use this peace negotiation to betray the government and […]

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MANILA – In yet another sign of Manila’s growing strategic resolve, the Philippines inaugurated a new coast guard monitory base in the hotly disputed South China Sea. Established on Thitu Island, the second-largest naturally-formed land feature in the Spratlys, the two-story facility boasts “advanced systems” including radars and satellite communication equipment as well as vessel […]

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MANILA – “I do not think anybody wants to go to war,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said following his meeting with Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco last week. “We really should view this as a work in progress. It’s a process,” Marcos Jr […]

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MANILA – The annual Kamandag exercises now underway in the Philippines are making a multinational splash with an estimated 2,749 participating troops, including 1,732 from the Philippines, 902 from the US, 57 from South Korea, 50 from Japan and eight from the United Kingdom. Significantly, the show of unified force comes as the Philippines and […]

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MANILA – “Are you sure you (Filipinos) want to get into a fight where you will be the battleground?”, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong cautioned at a recent forum in the city-state when asked about rising tensions in the South China Sea. The leader’s comments came shortly after yet another incident that risked tilting […]

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MANILA – Following his much-anticipated meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping hailed a “new starting point” in bilateral relations after years of escalating tensions and a tit-for-tat trade war. “The China-Australia relationship has embarked on the right path of improvement and development. I’m heartened to see that,” the Chinese […]

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MANILA – “I am honored to have the opportunity to be the first Japanese Prime Minister to speak here at the Congress of the Philippines, which has a long tradition,” Fumio Kishida said before the Special Joint Session of Philippine legislature during his two-day official visit to Manila last week. During the historic speech, the […]

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MANILA – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr was not among the 23 national leaders who attended last month’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit in Beijing, marking the 10th anniversary of the US$1 trillion globe-spanning infrastructure-building program. At the event, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced close to $100 billion in new state policy bank financing […]

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The Philippines and China are on a literal collision course at sea after their boats collided on October 22 near the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the bubbling South China Sea. Both sides blamed the other for the incident as diplomatic tempers flared in a maritime zone with high geopolitical stakes. A China Coast Guard […]

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“These [dangerous] maneuvers pose significant risks to maritime safety, collision prevention and danger to human lives at sea,” said Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, the chief of Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) amid yet another round of tensions in the South China Sea. “China must immediately halt these unsafe actions and […]

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MANILA – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is overseeing a historic expansion in military cooperation with the United States, putting the Southeast Asian nation on a collision course with China in the South China Sea. A new report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank […]

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