ASEAN and China have come to an agreement to exercise self-restraint over the disputed South China Sea (SCS) to expand vaccine cooperation in dealing with the Covid-19 situation. The foreign ministers of China and ASEAN both committed to exercise self-restraint during the Special Asean-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SACFMM) that was held in Chongqing, China, on June 7 to celebrate the …

The Philippines has dismissed a yearly summer fishing boycott forced by China in the contested South China Sea and urged its boats to continue to fish in the country’s regional waters. In view of this, The fishing ban forced by China since 1999 runs from May 1 to Aug. 16 and covers spaces of the South China Sea just as …

The Philippine military will hold joint activities with many US warriors over the course of the following fourteen days, its military boss said Sunday, in the midst of developing pressures with Beijing in the South China Sea. The yearly conflict games between the military partners were dropped in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic. The current year’s occasion will be …

MANILA – The Philippines’ foreign ministry said Tuesday that China’s “continuing infringements” in Philippine territory, despite “resolute protests,” are “contrary” to its “commitments under international law” and an agreement it forged with Southeast Asian countries. “The Philippines calls on China to faithfully honor its obligations as a State Party to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the …

MANILA – The US Navy deployed has deployed their Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group to resume maritime security operations in the region. The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group comprises of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) aircraft carrier with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 and Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54). SS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS John …

MANILA – Beijing and Manila announced that they have reached an agreement on the joint exploration of oil and gas resources in the South China Sea. The announcement came after President Rodrigo Duterte lifted the ban on oil and gas exploration in the contested West Philippine Sea area. According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China …

METRO MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has ended the ban on oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea, the Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed on Thursday. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said that the president approved the department’s recommendation to lift the ban that was placed in 2013. He thanked the President’s approval for the recommendation as they need …

KUALA LUMPUR – China’s State Councillor Wang Yi, said on Tuesday (Oct. 13) that China and the member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) should practice cooperation and remove “external disruption” in the South China Sea. Wang, in a joint news conference with Malaysia’s foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that both countries are in the same …

METRO MANILA – Filipino fishermen are will to get training from the government to become the country’s to become the country’s maritime militia to counter China’s growing paramilitary fishing fleet being deployed in the area. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told the Senate finance committee which is currently deliberating Department of National Defense (DND)’s proposed P283.2-billion budget for next year, that …

METRO MANILA – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in his first-ever address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, fully and unequivocally affirmed his country’s legal victory against China over the South China Sea. In a recorded speech for the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly that was released early morning, Duterte said that he stands by a …