By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE reply of China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying to the question whether China plans to declare an air defense identification zone over parts of the South China Sea, after commercial aircrafts conducted two test flights in Fiery Cross Reef, was most unsettling. She didn’t confirm nor did she deny the
(On Tuesday, Nov. 17, on the sidelines of the 23rd APEC Leaders Meeting, President Aquino and Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang will hold bilateral talks in Malacanang. They will finally be signing the “Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership between the Republic of the Philippines and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” which
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS SOUTH China Sea looms large even if it is not in the agenda of the 23rd meeting of the leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Manila on Nov. 18 and 19. Foreign Undersecretary Lula del Rosario, chair of the APEC 2015 Senior Officials Meetings, which did all the
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s dogged determination to pursue the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea dispute through the rule of law has proven his approach correct. The court ruled that the case was “properly constituted” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, that China’s “non-appearance” (i.e., refusal to participate) did not
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS NO amount of China’s protestation that the Oct 29 decision of the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal is “null and void” and it has “no binding effect” on them, cancels the fact that it’s a major blow to them. Filipinos, on the other hand, should understand that the U.N. Arbitral Court’s decision,
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS In President Aquino’s talk with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines last Tuesday, about a third of the questions were about the challenge of the United States to China’s claim of sovereignty on the surrounding waters of its artificially-created islands in Spratlys in the South China Sea, which
The United Nations Arbitral Tribunal ruled on Thursday that it has jurisdiction to hear the case filed by the Philippines against China over the disputed areas in the South China Sea. In its claim, the Philippines asked the arbitral tribunal to rule on three basic issues: The validity of China’s nine-dash lines Low tide elevations
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS BEHIND the provocative rhetoric by American and Chinese officials over the plan of the United States to test freedom of navigation in the South China Sea after China has reclaimed some 2,900 acres of land
The commander of United States Pacific Fleet said it is the stand of the United States that international law allows them to conduct military activities in the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones of other countries. Admiral Scott Harbison Swift , who was in the country last week as part of his familiarization tour having
By TESSA JAMANDRE and ELLEN TORDESILLAS THE Philippines and Vietnam have agreed to conduct joint naval drills and scientific studies amid concerns over China’s intensified reclamations in the South China Sea. The planned activities are part of the soon-to-be signed “Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership between the Republic of the Philippines
