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by Andrew BEATTY Nicholas PERRY VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — US President Barack Obama warned Beijing Thursday it could not ignore a tribunal’s ruling rejecting its sweeping claims to the South China Sea, driving tensions higher in a territorial row that threatens regional security. The dispute has raised fears of military confrontation between the world’s superpowers, with China determined to cement control of the strategically vital waters despite a July verdict that its claims have no […]
by Jerome TAYLOR Nicholas PERRY VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — North Korea’s defiant missile testing and the South China Sea territorial row were among a barrage of security threats in focus Thursday as US President Barack Obama gathered with East Asian leaders in Laos. The annual event this year comes at a time of heightened tensions on a wide range of fronts across the region, with terrorism also a concern after deadly bomb blasts in Thailand […]
VIENTIANE, Laos (Reuters) — China has confidence that it can work with the Philippines to return to a healthy relationship, Beijing’s vice foreign minister said on Wednesday (September 7), after the two countries locked horns over a recent arbitral ruling on the South China Sea. Speaking on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vientiane, Laos, Liu Zhenmin said that China and the Philippines had had “thousands of years” of good relations. “In the past […]
VIENTIANE, Laos (Reuters) — Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged all parties with claims to South China Sea to exercise restraint during a meeting with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos on Wednesday (September 7). “Differences should be settled peacefully accordance to international law. And until they are, we will draw side to act with restrain and avoid any steps which will create or add tensions,” said Turnbull, during an opening […]
VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — US President Barack Obama warned Thursday an international tribunal’s ruling that China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis was “binding”, after Beijing vowed to ignore the verdict. “The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped clarify maritime rights in the region,” Obama told a summit of Asian leaders in Laos. The comments are sure to draw ire from Beijing, which has taken an increasingly […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s anti-drugs chief has supported implementing a bloody crackdown on traffickers like the war on crime in the Philippines that has left almost 3,000 dead. Budi Waseso, the tough-talking anti-drugs czar who once proposed holding death row traffickers on a prison island guarded by crocodiles, said he believed such a campaign would safeguard “our beloved country”. Indonesia says it is fighting a war against rising narcotics use. It has stepped up executions […]
* Chinese coast guard involved in two-thirds of incidents – CSIS * Coast guards not covered by expanding communications agreements * China now has largest coast guard fleet in the world (Adds Chinese Foreign Ministry comment) By Greg Torode HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Increasingly assertive action by China’s coast guard ships in the South China Sea risks destabilising the region, according to the authors of new research tracking maritime law enforcement […]
by Karl MALAKUNAS VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — The Philippines said China Wednesday of secretly preparing to build an artificial island on Scarborough Shoal, a tiny and remote outpost in a contested area of the South China Sea. Doing so risks a military confrontation between China and the United States. Here are five key questions and answers about the shoal and why it is so important. What is it? A small ring of reefs that lie […]
VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — Japan is “seriously concerned” about Beijing’s increasingly muscular claims in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Asian leaders Wednesday. Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to almost all of the strategically vital waters, where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims. It also has a simmering territorial row with Tokyo over disputed islands in the East China Sea. “I am seriously concerned with the continuing […]
(REUTERS) U.S. President Barack Obama and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shook hands and had a brief chat on Wednesday, officials said, easing a standoff after Duterte called Obama a “son of a bitch” ahead of a summit of Asian leaders in Laos. The presidents of the two longtime allies were due to hold talks on Tuesday but the White House canceled the meeting after Duterte’s insult. “I’m very happy that it happened,” Philippines’ foreign […]
UNITED States President Barack Obama met briefly with Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, their two governments said. The encounter took place just before a dinner during a summit of regional leaders in Laos, officials indicated. “They met at the holding room and they were the last people to leave the holding room. I can’t say how long they met,” Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, travelling with Duterte, told reporters shortly afterwards. “I’m very […]
by Martin Abbugao and Karl Malakunas VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — Beijing came under pressure at an Asian summit Wednesday over its “illegal” island-building in the South China Sea, after the Philippines produced photos it said showed fresh construction activity at a flashpoint shoal. Any artificial island at Scarborough Shoal could be a game-changer in China’s quest to control the South China Sea and raises the risk of armed confrontation with the United States, security […]
