(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday acknowledged that the South China sea row was one of the challenges the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was facing. Duterte, who spoke at the High Level Forum on ASEAN@50, said however, that “we are not in a hurry.” “And as a matter of fact, what we did was really the correct step and to avoid confrontational talks with almost all of the parties concerned, just ask […]
Tag: South China Sea
China lodges protest with US over sail-by in South China Sea
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said Wednesday it has lodged a protest with the United States after an American warship sailed near disputed islands in the South China Sea. The US Navy missile destroyer Chafee entered into China’s territorial waters near the Paracel Islands on Tuesday, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry. China immediately dispatched military vessels and aircraft for identification and warned the US ship to leave, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing. […]
Vietnam slams China over military drills in disputed sea
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam has delivered a sharp rebuke to China over military drills in the South China Sea, the second such warning in a week as tensions rise between the countries over the disputed waterway. China and Vietnam have long traded barbs over the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea, which Beijing claims most of. Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia also have competing claims in the sea. Tensions have flared in recent […]
US planning more regular South China Sea patrols: report
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Pentagon is planning to conduct more regular patrols in the South China Sea — as many as two to three a month — to assert freedom of navigation in disputed waters claimed by China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper said the aim is to create a more consistent posture to counter China’s maritime claims, rather than a more ad hoc approach favored during Barack Obama’s administration. US […]
Vietnam calls for Southeast Asian unity amid South China Sea tension
HANOI, Vietnam (Reuters) – Vietnam’s most powerful leader has called for greater unity among Southeast Asian states at a time the country has appeared increasingly isolated in challenging China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. Making the first visit by a Vietnamese communist party chief to Indonesia, Nguyen Phu Trong said in a speech televised at home on Wednesday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) needed to be unified in resolving territorial […]
China still building South China Sea islands: think-tank
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — China is expanding artificial islands in disputed South China Sea areas despite saying it stopped two years ago, according to a security think tank that released satellite images it said showed the land reclamation. Beijing claims most of the sea and has been turning reefs in the Spratly and Paracel chains into islands, installing military aircraft and missile systems on them — an activity the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) […]
US Navy sails close to artificial island in S. China Sea
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A United States warship on Thursday sailed close to an artificial island China has built up in the South China Sea, as part of a “freedom of navigation” operation, a US official said. The USS John S. McCain destroyer sailed within six nautical miles of Mischief Reef, part of the disputed Spratly Islands south of the Paracel Islands. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told AFP a Chinese frigate […]
PHL successful in hosting ASEAN Foreign ministers’ meeting, ASEAN 50th anniversary celebration
(Eagle News) — The Philippines should be proud of its successful hosting of the week-long 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, as well as of ASEAN’s 50th anniversary celebration in Manila. This was according to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano who expressed his gratitude for the country’s successful hosting of the week-long 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in a press briefing held on August 8 in Manila. “First of all, I think […]
China FM cites gains in South China Sea talks as greatest progress in China-ASEAN meetings
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out the highlights of a series of foreign ministers’ meetings in the Philippines, approving of the consensus achieved in the prolonged South China Sea issue and expressing deep concern over the spiraling tensions on the Korean Peninsula. From Sunday to Monday, Wang attended the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. At […]
ASEAN issues joint communique on South China Sea dispute
Southeast Asian nations on Sunday agreed to Beijing’s terms on talks on the South China Sea dispute, after two days of tense meetings on the dispute in the Philippine capital. The foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued the joint communique shortly after the ministers met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and agreed on a framework for conducting negotiations on the decades-long row that included key clauses advocated by […]
ASEAN foreign ministers want “legally binding” COC on South China Sea, says ASEAN SecGen
(Eagle News) – ASEAN Secretary General Lê Lương Minh said that the regional bloc’s foreign ministers are pushing for a legally binding Code of Conduct on the South China Sea. In an interview with CNN Philippines, Minh said that only a legally binding Code of Conduct will be effective in preventing and managing tensions in the South China Sea where various countries have competing claims. Minh cited that the previous Declaration on the Conduct […]
Vietnam challenges China at ASEAN forum, wants tougher ASEAN stance on South China Sea
by Martin Abbugao / Ayee Macaraig Agence France Presse MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Vietnam urged other Southeast Asian nations to take a stronger stand against Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea on Saturday, as a tense regional security forum began with North Korea also under fire over its nuclear program. Ahead of the launch of the annual gathering of foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam made a […]





