Archive - South China Sea

  By ELLEN TORDESILLAS THE decision of U.S President Barack Obama to get the approval of Congress before he orders a missile attack on Syria should shatter the illusion of those who believe that America will immediately come to the rescue of the Philippines in the unlikely event of an armed conflict between the Philippines

CHINESE Foreign Secretary Wang Yi made an offer yesterday during the Asean Regional Forum in Brunei that rendered the articulate Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario speechless. Del Rosario told reporters that Wang said “Scarborough and Ayungin were theirs, historically, and we were the ones sending ships, interdicting their fishermen, and the grounded ship has

IN Bangkok last week, the commander of the United States Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said the usual line that their Asian allies expect from visiting American officials: we will oppose China’s expansionism. “We will oppose the change of status quo by force of anyone,” Locklear said referring to the situation in South China Sea

IT was 1974 and I was taking up an advanced course in Mechanical Engineering at the US Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

CHINA on Tuesday announced that it returned the  Philippine notification of its suit filed at a United  Nations arbitral court  handed to the Chinese ambassador in Manila last. Jan 22, a Xinhua report said. The report carried by China.org.cn said, “The Chinese government has rejected a Philippine move to take their dispute regarding sovereignty issues

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
THE Philippine government decided Tuesday to ask the United Nations arbitration tribunal to declare as illegal China’s nine-dash line map that covers a large part of country’s territory in the South China Sea including the disputed Spratlys group of islands and Bajo de Masinloc.

THE permanent stationing of three of its ships in Bajo de Masinloc is part of China’s “creeping invasion” of disputed territories in the South China Sea, a high-ranking Philippine government official said.

(First of two parts) THE Philippines is at a loss over China’s declaration its ships will stay permanently in Bajo de Masinloc, a declaration some experts say could lead to the Philippines losing 38 percent of its territorial waters. Bajo de Masinloc, a triangular-shaped coral reef formation that has several rocks encircling a lagoon, is

“THIS is what we need to face China” was the recurring comment from visitors as they admired four types of automatic rifles displayed on a rack at a recent gun show held at SM Megamall.

Adverse weather situation provided a face-saving exit for both the Philippines and China in the more than two-month standoff over Scarborough shoal, also referred to as Panatag shoal or Bajo de Masinloc by Filipinos and Huangyan island by the Chinese.

By TESSA JAMANDRE
IT'S now one against three in the ongoing standoff in Scarborough shoal in the South China Sea, with a lone Philippine Navy vessel up against three Chinese Marine Surveillance (CMS) ships whose presence, officials say, violates Philippine sovereignty.

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
HARDLINERS in the Chinese Military Academy are raring to teach China’s neighbors “a lesson” for intruding into the South China Sea, which they consider part of their national territory, a Chinese Southeast Asian expert said.