Watch a Risky China-Philippines Confrontation in the South China Sea

China’s maritime militia surrounded a Philippine convoy on a resupply mission in the disputed South China Sea. It would become one of the most significant confrontations between the two countries in recent years.

China and the Philippines: Asia's next hot war? |

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. warns there's rising potential for outright conflict with China, just after another naval incident in the South China Sea. As the high-seas faceoff unfolded, two Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against a smaller supply boat

China seas: A new Cold War brewing? •

Long dominated by the United States, the Asia-Pacific region is grappling with an increasingly assertive China. Tensions are mounting around Taiwan and in the South China Sea, both in the air and on the water, with numerous incidents of late involving Chinese fighter planes, collisions between ships and reefs being turned into military outposts

Can independent media in the Philippines survive?

Press freedom continues to be under attack in the Philippines, human rights and media advocacy groups say. In June, Philippine authorities issued a shutdown order for Rappler, the award-winning news site run by Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa.

Known for its investigative reporting on corruption and former president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs”, Rappler has been accused of violating rules against foreign ownership of mass media. Ressa has vowed to keep the newsroom running.

The Marcos's Make A Comeback In The Philippines

 After the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in the mid 80's after several decades of dictatorial rule and the lotting of the Philippine treasury by the family you might conclude that political redemption wouldn't be possible.   Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is on the verge of becoming the next president of the Philippines with the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte  as his vice president. The presidency of Rodrigo Duterte has been nothing short of a human rights and free speech disaster.   It's been estimated that Duterte's war on drugs has cost the lives of 30,000 Filipinos along with the destruction of a free press.   ABS-CBN the most widely watched news channel was forced to close after the government refused to issue a new broadcast license over its criticism of the Duterte  government.  Marcos Jr. has fully embraced the attacks on the media and the war on drugs. 

Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of the late dictator, is set to become the Philippines’ next president after taking an unassailable lead in the election, signalling an extraordinary rehabilitation of one of the country’s most notorious political families.

With more than 70% of the votes tabulated, Marcos Jr had more than 23.5m, far ahead of his closest rival, the current vice-president, Leni Robredo, a former human rights lawyer, who had 11.1m. The size of his lead means a comeback by his opponents is not possible.

Supporters dressed in red shirts, his campaign colour, gathered outside his camp’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Monday night, waving the flag of the Philippines as passing cars sounded their horns.

Authoritarian rule makes a comeback in the Philippines.  

Is Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs a stain on his legacy?

 Marc Lamont Hill challenges the former spokesperson for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

As the Philippines kicks off its presidential campaign to replace outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte, many human rights groups say the president’s so-called war on drugs is a stain on his legacy. Thousands have been killed in the violent crackdown on alleged drug dealers and users that was one of Duterte’s main policies since taking office in 2016.

Street children in the Philippines | DW Documentary

 

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte is waging a brutal war on drugs. Thousands of people have already died at the hands of the police, including children.

The Philippines’ Queen of Extortion

 

We investigate how a lucrative online sex scam empire in the Philippines blackmails men around the world.

From a ramshackle village north of Manila, a seedy criminal enterprise is taking place.

Using social media and fake personas, a ruthless young gang is luring unsuspecting men from around the world into explicit online chats.

Why the US has so many Filipino nurses

The US colonized a country and built a labor supply. Filipino nurses have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in the US. That’s because they make up an outsized portion of the nursing workforce. About one-third of all foreign-born nurses in the US are Filipino. Since 1960, 150,000 Filipino nurses have come to work in the US. And that’s because over the past century the US built a pipeline that draws nurses from the Philippines every time it faces a shortage. This system began in the early 20th century when the US invaded and colonized the Philippines and lives on through today.

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa found guilty of 'cyber libel'

A Philippines court has found the veteran journalist and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte Maria Ressa guilty of cyber libel. Maria Ressa now faces up to six years in prison. Dubbed a "dangerous precedent," the verdict is seen as a blow to press freedom in the country. Ressa, veteran journalist, was named one of Time Magazine's Persons of the Year in 2018.

Rodrigo Duterte Like His Mentor Hates A Free Press

Action against ABS-CBN denounced as worst attack yet on press by Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte shares a common bond with Donald Trump they despise the free press.  Their efforts to control the media have resulted in banning's, threats of violence and revocation of broadcast licenses.  Why?  Stating the obvious, they're both immature, embrace authoritarian rule and have fragile egos incapable of dealing with criticism.

Recently Donald Trump banned CNN from its annual anchors lunch help prior to the State of the Union Speech.  Duterte has accused The Rappler  a Philippine online news site of being foreign owned which violates the constitution.  Its editor a Philippine citizen Maria Ressa has faced long list of legal charges.  The Rappler had its licence revoked in 2018 thanks to its critical reporting of Duterte's administration.

A petition filed with the country’s top court alleges that ABS-CBN violated a restriction imposed by the constitution on foreign ownership of mass media by allowing overseas investors to join the company.

“We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices by ABS-CBN,” the solicitor general, Jose Calida, said in a statement. “A franchise is a special privilege granted by the state, and should be restricted only to entities which faithfully adhere to our constitution and laws.”

Other media outlets closed ranks and rallied in support of ABS-CBN on Monday. “We stand with our colleagues at ABS-CBN and share the hope that they will weather this and come out even stronger,” the news website Rappler said in a statement. “The Duterte administration, through Calida, is resorting to legal gymnastics to push their own agenda of silencing critical media.”

Donald Trump Attacks China On Twitter

Donald Trump has throughout the presidential primaries, general campaign and even since the election that he's incapable of  dealing with criticism on his policy positions.  (He has shown an inability to deal with the vagaries of life.)  As in earlier instances his complete lack of knowledge of the subject has given rise to political and diplomatic headaches for all parties involved.  This last burst of outrage follows his telephone conversation with the President of Taiwan Tsai ing wen on Friday.

The last part of his tweet is the most disconcerting given the fraught nature of current diplomatic situation in the South China sea.  In November of 2014 the Chinese issued what it called the Nine-Dashed Line map which claimed 90% of the South China fell under Chinese control.  China isn't the only player in this dispute which involves 6 other countries.  For example: Accepting China's claim as it stands would allow Beijing to claimed waters with the known and recognized exclusive economic and territorial zone of The Philippines.  The Philippines is, but of the nations involved in this dispute.  China to further enforce its claims as a fait aclopmli has constructed several artificial islands in the sea and started constructing military bases on them.  

Donald Trump is angry and lashing out  due to his diplomatic faux pas involving the President of Taiwan and their telephone conversation.   Since 1979 when the U.S. and other nations recognized the one China policy direct diplomatic relations with the government of Taiwan were severed.  This diplomatic fiction has allowed for stability in the region.  Conducting foreign policy through angry twitter rants will only lead to political and diplomatic isolation of the incoming Trump administration as no country will want to deal with a world leader unable to control his emotional outbursts.

 

China Places Missiles On DIsputed South China Sea Island

In Novmber of 2014 China issued its Dash 9 map which claimed 90% of the South China Sea.

Since then the Chinese government has created several artificial islands in an effort to further bolster its claims over the disputed waters.  In April of 2015 China moved an oil drilling rig into an area near the Paracel  Islands causing violent widespread anti Chinese demonstartions in Vietnam.  Now its been revealed that the Chinese military has placed surface to air missiles on of the artificial islands causing governments in the region to seek further military corporation with the U.S.

From the Guardian:

Tensions in the South China Sea, a vital shipping route, could rise after two batteries of eight missile launchers and a radar system were deployed to Woody Island in the past week according to images taken by the private company ImageSat International.

The images were first published by Fox News. Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, did not deny that missile launchers had been installed but said the reports were an attempt by “certain western media to create news stories”.

“As for the limited and necessary self defence facilities China has built on islands and reefs stationed by Chinese personnel, that is consistent with the self defence and self preservation China is entitled to under international law,” he said.

China is also in a territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku Islands in the East China sea which have been a part of Japan since 1898.

The goverment in Beijing keeps insisting that its intentions are peaceful yet its actions would say otherwise considering the now placed missiles and the constant intrutisions by armed Chinese navel vessiles into Japanese territorial waters.

China to the Philippines We Own The Entirety of the South China; Piss-Off

A year ago China issued a map of the South China sea which it call the 9 Dash.  The u-shaped boundary encompasses 90% of the sea and includes territories claimed by 4 other nations.  China has demanded direct negotiations between the two nations the Philippines for its part filed a claim under the International Law of the Sea treaty with the United Nations.

   China on Sunday again rejected an attempt by the Philippines to challenge its vast territorial claims over the South China Sea through international arbitration, a week before a deadline for Beijing to respond to the case.

China prefers to settle its disputes in discussions with the countries directly involved. But the Philippines has filed a case with a tribunal operating under the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, which provides a regulatory framework for the use of the world's seas and oceans.

Xu Hong, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Treaty and Law, said the Philippines was "obstinately pushing forward arbitration procedures" and urged it to negotiate with Beijing instead. He told reporters that China was committed to rejecting and not participating in the arbitration proceedings.

The nine-dotted line, U-shape line, or nine-dash map (Chinese: 南海九段线; pinyin: nánhǎi jiǔduàn xiàn; literally: "Nine-segment line of the South China Sea"; Vietnamese: Đường lưỡi bò; literally: "cow's tongue line") refers to the demarcation line used by the governments of both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) for their island claims of part of the South China Sea. The contested area includes the Paracel Islands, occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam; and the Spratly Islands, disputed by the Philippines, China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, who each claim either part or all the islands, which are believed to sit on vast mineral resources, including oil.^[1] The first widely recognized map to show a U-shaped eleven-dotted line was published in the then Republic of China on 1 December 1947.^[2] Two of the dots in the Gulf of Tonkin were later removed at the behest of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, reducing the total to nine.^[3]
The nine-dotted line claim marked Indonesia's entry into the South China Sea dispute. Prior to the claim, Indonesia acted as a mediator between China and the members of ASEAN. The claim for the first time included Indonesia's exclusive economic zone to the north of Natuna Island as PRC territory. This claim was followed by PRC Navy patrols and a Chinese fisherman fleet presence in the area. In a March 26, 2013 incident, an Indonesian naval patrol was forced by PRC Navy ships to release Chinese fisherman who had been detained violating the Indonesian EEZ.^[4] The incident resulted in the development of an Indonesian military base on Natuna island, which hosts a squadron of Apache AH-64D attack helicopters purchased from the US

China: If We Built It. It Must Be Ours

China has in the last several years become quite aggressive if not arrogant in making territorial claims in both the South and East China seas.  In November of last year China unilaterally declared a no fly zone over two thirds of the  East China sea to include territory which clearly belongs to South Korea and Japan.  Following that the Chinese government issued a map which claimed China controlled almost the entirety of the South China sea.     In April China moved an oil drilling rig into disputed waters with Vietnam which set off anti Chinese riots resulting in several deaths, destruction of property and they evacuation of its citizens from Vietnam.   China seems to believe these unilateral actions will be a fait accompli except China never its actions might lead to mutual defense agreements between Japan and the countries of Southeast Asia   currently in facing China's territorial land grabs.  After all China beats  the Japan "is coming for your country" like a cheap drum.  That seems to have backfired.

Now China is constructing artificial islands to further boost its claims.


 Pity the poor mapmaker assigned to the South China Sea. The hotly disputed waters in the Pacific are torn between competing claims from all the countries that surround it. China, especially, has been aggressive and sly. It's now dumping sand onto small reefs and shoals, building whole new islands to bolster its territorial claims.

The long list of countries with a claim to the South China Sea also includes Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Thailand, and many are not happy about China's island building. Why do they care so much about this tiny patch of the Pacific? A third of the world's shipping passes through the South China Sea, and huge oil and gas reserves are believed to lie beneath it.

There's no shortage of islands in the sea already; China has just decided to circumvent natural geography. Hundreds of tiny, mostly uninhabited islands dot the South China Sea, and it's ownership of these islands that determines who can lay claim to the surrounding waters. Since January, China has built three or four new islands in the Spratly archipelago near the Philippines.