Tag: South China Sea

PHL, China eye joint exploration in South China Sea

  The Philippines and China are discussing joint mineral exploration in the South China Sea despite an ongoing territorial conflict over the strategic waterway, the foreign secretary said on Friday. The two countries, long embroiled in a dispute over their competing claims to the area, are hoping talks will open the door for them to jointly tap its resources, Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said. “We are pushing it aggressively because we need it,” Cayetano told […]

Palace says China’s naming of undersea features at PHL Rise not done in “bad faith”

(Eagle News) — The Palace on Thursday said it believes China’s naming of undersea features at Philippine Rise was not done “in bad faith.” “We’re not attributing any bad faith to China, but we’re just saying respect us too that we will give Philippine names to them,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing. According to Roque, because of the incident, the Philippines would now nominate its own expert in the International Hydrographic Organization’s […]

‘US presence matters’ says admiral on carrier in the South China Sea

by Ayee Macaraig Agence France Presse ABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON — With a deafening roar the fighter jets catapulted off the US aircraft carrier and soared above the disputed South China Sea, as its admiral vowed that the mighty ship’s presence was proof America still had regional clout. “US presence matters,” Rear Admiral John Fuller told reporters on board the USS Carl Vinson. “I think it’s very clear that we are in the South […]

Lorenzana says he would also assign PHL names to PHL Rise undersea features named by China

(Eagle News) — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday said he would also assign Philippine names to the features at the Philippine Rise that were named by China. “We will still discuss this with the National Security Adviser and other Cabinet members,” he said. Lorenzana issued the brief statement after the Palace condemned China’s move to name the five undersea features. In a Facebook post, Jay Batongbacal, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines […]

Chinese media: China building test site for unmanned ships in disputed South China Sea

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China has started building the world’s largest test site for unmanned ships — a technology with both civilian and military applications — off a port in the disputed South China Sea, state media said Tuesday. The test area is being constructed  off the southern port city of Zhuhai bordering Macau, the state Xinhua news agency said. China asserts sovereignty over almost all the South China Sea despite competing partial claims from […]

British warship to sail through disputed South China Sea

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A British warship will sail from Australia through the disputed South China Sea next month to assert freedom of navigation rights, a senior official said Tuesday in a move likely to irk Beijing. China claims nearly all of the resource-rich waterway and has been turning reefs and islets into islands and installing military facilities such as runways and equipment on them. British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said HMS Sutherland, an anti-submarine […]

Duterte: Benham Rise is ours but war with China over dispute not an option

  (Eagle News)– “Benham Rise is ours.” President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated this on Friday, days after he ordered a stop to all maritime exploration by foreigners at the undersea plateau located off the country’s northeastern coast. The President made the declaration upon conclusion of all foreign research studies in the area now called the Philippine Rise. This included one carried out by China, which began last month. According to the President, the Philippines would “claim exclusive ownership […]

Poe: Roque’s statement China will one day return PHL islands in S. China Sea just “wishful thinking”

(Eagle News) — Senator Grace Poe on Thursday described as mere “wishful thinking” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque’s statement China will one day return the islands the Philippines is claiming in the South China Sea. “The West Philippine Sea will freeze over first before China will even begin toying with the idea of giving us back those islands,” Poe said in a statement. According to Poe, “wishful thinking is like saying that a homeowner may soon […]

Roque: PHL will have China to “thank” for artificial islands in S. China Sea one of these days

(Eagle News) –One of these days, the Philippines will have China to “thank” for the artificial islands created by the Asian giant in the South China Sea. According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who gave an interview that was posted on his Facebook page, this was because “it is only the Philippines that can legally build on those artificial islands.” “Clearly, eventually, those artificial islands will be ours if we can ask China to leave […]

China deploys jet fighters to South China Sea — report

  (Eagle News) — Chinese jet fighters have been sent to the South China Sea, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force said on Wednesday. Su-35 Russia-made advanced fighters were dispatched to the sea for joint combat cruise missions, the official Sina Weibo account of the PLA Air Force said, according to a report published in the Global Times. Global Times is an English-language publication that is under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party newspaper People’s […]

China activity on reclaimed reef has eroded trust: ASEAN

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) – China’s continued reclamation in the South China Sea has eroded trust among claimants and could raise regional tensions, Southeast Asian foreign ministers said Tuesday. The ministers from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not mention China by name in their statement after a one-day meeting in Singapore, current chair of the grouping. Beijing claims nearly all of the waterway and has been turning reefs and islets into islands and installing military […]

China invited to take part in major US-led naval exercise in disputed South China Sea

China has been invited to participate in a major US-led naval exercise, Chinese officials said Thursday, in the disputed South China Sea. The Chinese military took part in the RIMPAC drill, billed as the world’s largest international naval exercise, for the first time in 2014 and again in 2016. “We have received the American invitation,” Chinese defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters. A Chinese delegation has been sent to the US to discuss logistics, […]