regional-security | ABS-CBN News

Guam serves as Pacific 'springboard' for U.S. forces: commander

Kyodo News
Updated as of Dec 18 08:22 AM

A 16-year-old plan to transfer a significant number of U.S. Marines from the Japanese island prefecture of Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam continues to make sense strategically and politically, a U.S. military commander said. Read more »

Vietnam shuns ‘any kind of attack’ destabilizing regional stability

Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Oct 15 03:55 PM

Despite having expansive trade relations with China, Vietnam is among several countries who have been questioning Chinese expansion in the South China Sea. Read more »

Burma Past and Present: Same and Different

Zwe Mahn*, Reporting ASEAN
Posted at Oct 01 10:57 PM

After a decade (2011-2020) of relative freedom and some prosperity, Burma is back in the darkness. Read more »

Q&A with MSF's Paul McPhun on Myanmar's Rohingya

Johanna Son, Reporting ASEAN
Posted at Sep 24 12:10 PM

With no solution in sight and funding going down as the world looks elsewhere, such as in Ukraine, the conditions at the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh deteriorate. Read more »

China could send drones over Taiwan after Pelosi trip

Amber Wang, South China Morning Post
Posted at Aug 03 11:08 PM

The PLA could send drones over Taiwan and conduct regular drills within what the island sees as its territorial waters in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit, according to military experts. Read more »

Beijing: South China Sea not ‘fighting arena’ for great power games

Liu Zhen, South China Morning Post
Updated as of Jul 26 06:34 AM

Beijing has said the South China Sea is not a “fighting arena” for great power games and called on Southeast Asian countries to jointly resist the involvement of external powers in disputes. Read more »

PH, Japan vow to maintain rules-based maritime order

Kyodo News
Posted at Jun 30 10:59 PM

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and new Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed Thursday the two nations will closely cooperate to maintain and reinforce the rules-based maritime order amid China's rise in the Indo-Pacific. Read more »

US blasts China's 'destabilizing' military activity near Taiwan

Agence France-Presse
Posted at Jun 11 10:52 AM

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's Chinese counterpart had warned him that Beijing would 'not hesitate to start a war' if the island declares independence. Read more »

[OPINION] The Sino-Solomonic sell-out

Dean Dela Paz
Posted at Jun 09 05:03 AM

As in the West Philippine Sea, an invasion is not necessary where a host acquiesces. Read more »

PH Navy joins world's largest maritime drill

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Jun 08 10:26 PM

A guided missile frigate of the Philippine Navy left for Hawaii on Tuesday to join the RIMPAC Exercise, the world's largest maritime drill. Read more »

Made in China

Dean Dela Paz
Posted at May 26 02:06 AM

For decades, it was undeniable that our relationship with Communist China had not only been deeply entangled and as insoluble as a Gordian knot, but it has also been so speckled that judging it net positive or negative becomes a deeply debatable philosophical question. Read more »

Japanese warship, jets shadow Chinese Navy strike group

Liu Zhen, South China Morning Post
Updated as of May 06 06:23 AM

The Chinese navy aircraft carrier Liaoning has been carrying out fighter jet combat drills in the western Pacific, with Japanese light carrier Izumo on the watch nearby. Read more »

'External forces’ meddling in South China Sea disputes: Chinese official

Teddy Ng, South China Morning Post
Posted at Apr 23 01:47 AM

Interference by external powers is compounding challenges in the South China Sea, a senior Chinese foreign ministry official said. Read more »

China reiterates position on Coast Guard Law

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Sep 07 10:47 PM

The Philippines in January filed a diplomatic protest against China’s new coast guard law. Read more »

No-Safety Zone: 5 things to know about journalism in post-coup Myanmar

Ko Thet Paing with Johanna Son, Reporting ASEAN
Posted at Apr 01 06:50 AM

Two months after the military takeover, being a journalist in Myanmar has, by itself, become a risk in a country has a long tradition of reading, be it news or journals or poetry. Read more »

US National Security Advisor O’Brien visits PH

Eloisa Lopez, Reuters
Posted at Nov 23 11:40 AM

U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and Philippines' Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. are pictured with precision-guided munitions among other defense articles during a turnover ceremony, at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City on Monday. Read more »

Lorenzana raises arbitral ruling in meeting with Chinese counterpart

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Sep 11 07:14 PM

MANILA - Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Friday restated the Philippines’ adherence to the arbitral ruling on its claim in the West Philippine Sea during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart.  Read more »

ANALYSIS: Reading between the lines of Duterte’s VFA half a turnaround

Romel Regalado Bagares, VERA Files*
Posted at Jun 04 09:55 PM

The big conditional points to a pending purchase by the Philippines of six advanced combat helicopters, which had already been cleared by the US State Department but is being opposed by Philippine and American human rights groups.  Read more »

ANALYSIS: Indonesia’s new diplomatic bombshell vs Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea

Romel Regalado Bagares, VERA Files
Posted at May 30 10:25 PM

In its running territorial tiff with China over the Natuna islands, Indonesia had just lobbed a diplomatic bombshell.    Read more »