World News by Wild Rose

Filipinos are almost evenly divided over the Marcos administration’s handling of the maritime dispute with China, even as nearly three in four favour diplomacy over confrontation, according to a new survey. That preference has taken on added significance after recent remarks by China’s ambassador to Manila sparked a diplomatic row ahead of November’s Asean summit. The feud underscored the challenge of managing tensions with Beijing, and increasingly hostile rhetoric could make the diplomatic...

China has allowed the Philippines to resupply a grounded warship on a disputed South China Sea reef, the coastguard said on Wednesday, as tension remains high over the Chinese ambassador’s controversial comment. The Philippines delivered necessities to its warship BRP Sierra Madre grounded at the Second Thomas Shoal on Wednesday, “with permission from the Chinese side”, the China Coast Guard said in a statement. “The China Coast Guard conducted confirmation checks and maintained full supervision...

China on Tuesday accused a US naval vessel of undermining regional stability by entering waters near the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly Islands. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the USS Charleston “illegally intruded” into the waters around the Sabina Shoal “without approval”, said the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command Navy spokesman Yin Gang. The Chinese navy monitored and followed the Charleston, Yin said. China holds “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly...

The Chinese ambassador to the Philippines says Beijing could “easily win” should it use force in the region but instead chooses peace, remarks that have drawn sharp criticism from Manila and calls for diplomatic restraint. The war of words came as tension over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea rises, with Beijing repeatedly driving away Philippine aircraft over the shoal in recent months, most recently about two weeks ago, while accusing Manila of violating Chinese...

A long-awaited code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea risks becoming a toothless agreement, analysts have warned, as Beijing and Southeast Asian nations scramble to hammer out a deal by the end of 2026. More than three decades since it was mooted, the proposed pact has remained gridlocked over how to balance competing territorial claims among China and four rival claimant states – Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines. Maritime experts speaking at a conference in Kuala Lumpur this...

The Philippine military has rejected calls to restore direct communication channels with its Chinese counterpart, despite warnings from Beijing that their absence risks “miscalculation” during confrontations and could further escalate tensions in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would not communicate with its Chinese counterpart in advance of its maritime operations, arguing that such channels were ineffective without mutual respect for international...

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Marcos says Philippines ‘resigned’ to managing South China Sea dispute The Philippines is “resigned” to managing its long-standing dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea and avoiding dangerous escalations, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said. 2. ‘A show of...

China and the Philippines have traded accusations over a medical evacuation near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, as Manila reports a near-doubling of Chinese military and coastguard vessels around contested South China Sea features in September. The latest exchange centred on the evacuation on Thursday of an injured Filipino serviceman from the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine naval vessel grounded on Second Thomas Shoal decades ago. Known as Renai Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the...

The Chinese navy says it had a rare South China Sea encounter involving a foreign warship that lost power, propulsion and radar while following a People’s Liberation Army destroyer, an account that resembles incidents this year involving US Navy destroyers in the region. The incident occurred when a foreign vessel conducted aggressive close shadowing of the PLA Navy Type 055 destroyer Zunyi during routine training by the Chinese vessel, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday. The CCTV...

The Philippines is “resigned” to managing its long-standing dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea and avoiding dangerous escalations, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on Thursday. At the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore, Marcos said: “I don’t know if we can find a resolution to the problem, but we are resigned to just being able to manage the problem, so that we do not have mistakes, we do not have misinterpretations. “My greatest fear is that some seaman, some soldier, just...

The Philippine Coast Guard will receive three longer-range aircraft from the US, two of them modified for improved surveillance, giving Manila greater reach and endurance to monitor Chinese coastguard, naval and research vessels across the South China Sea. Under a US$39.6 million contract awarded by the United States Navy on September 28, the three second-hand, extended-range King Air 350-series aircraft will be fitted with extended-range fuel systems, upgraded Garmin avionics and high-frequency...