"The #Philippines is exploring aerial supply missions to Filipino troops at #AyunginShoal in the West Philippine Sea, a top security official said on Tuesday. National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said there will be adjustments to the government's resupply efforts to troops stationed at BRP Sierra Madre, the grounded warship that serves as the country's outpost in the West Philippine Sea"
"Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez has accused China of trying to interfere with #Philippines politics when it criticized a House of Representatives lawmaker for seeking a probe into the influx of Chinese students in Cagayan. Gutierrez in a privilege speech asked why #China thinks it has the authority to question the motives of lawmakers, after Cagayan Rep. Jojo Lara filed a resolution asking the House to check why Chinese students are visiting Cagayan"
"China’s coast guard has become more aggressive towards #Philippines vessels in the #SouthChinaSea and its water cannon attacks could threaten the lives of crew, a government spokesman in #Manila warned Wednesday. A series of high-seas incidents involving the two countries have injured a number of Philippine troops in recent months as the neighbors asserted rival claims over waters, reefs, and rocks in the strategic waterway"
"The Armed Forces of the #Philippines is waiting on India’s delivery of BrahMos medium-range supersonic cruise missiles, expected to arrive this week at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga City. #Manila Bulletin quoted an undisclosed source as saying the missile system, which costs 19 billion Philippine pesos ($375 million), will be used to counter ongoing Chinese aggression in the region"
Philippine and #UnitedStates forces will simulate retaking enemy-occupied islands during joint military drills starting next week in areas facing #Taiwan and the #SouthChinaSea as #Manila shifts its focus to external defence... It will be the first time the maritime exercises are carried out beyond #Philippines territorial waters, said Michael Logico, a Philippine army colonel overseeing the exercises"
New issue of the Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs out! It focuses on the #Philippines’ evolving strategies in the #SouthChinaSea, #Vietnam’s strategic positioning in the context of #USChinaRelations, and more.
"AT least 55 different Chinese ships were spotted surrounding nine Philippine features in the West Philippine Sea, a ranking Navy official said Tuesday. At a press briefing, Navy spokesman for the WPS Commo. Roy Vincent Trinidad said two China Coast Guard vessels and 24 militia vessels were sighted in Bajo de Masinloc (#ScarboroughShoal), while one vessel and five fishing ships were seen in #Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal"
"Two American senators have filed a measure seeking to boost the alliance of the #Philippines and the #US through a significant increase in military financing as concerns grow over China’s aggressive acts in the #SouthChinaSea. The proposed Philippines Enhanced Resilience Act of 2024 filed by Senators Bill Hagerty and Tim Kaine... is equivalent to $2.5 billion in US security assistance to the Philippines over five fiscal years"
"Representatives of 14 nations will arrive in the country as observers in the coming Balikatan exercises... For this year, a multilateral maritime activity or joint sail in the West Philippine Sea will traverse the edge of the country’s exclusive economic zone and launch attacks on an 'enemy' vessel in Philippine waters, according to Lt. Col. John Paul Salgado, chief of the Combined Joint Information Bureau"
"Deliberately grounded on a tiny reef in the #SouthChinaSea, part of an island chain claimed by the two Asian countries, the #BRPSierraMadre is now the unlikely base for a detachment of Filipino marines who stand guard over the atoll, scanning the turquoise waters for Chinese ships." #AyunginShoal#SecondThomasShoal#Philippines
"#China’s frequent tactic is to try to isolate the target of its pressure campaigns, but the April 11 trilateral signals clearly that the #Philippines is not alone,” said Daniel Russel, who served as the top US diplomat for #EastAsia under former President #BarackObama. #WestPHSea#TrilateralSummit
The annual #Balikatan (“shoulder-to-shoulder”) drills will involve 16,700 soldiers simulating retaking enemy-occupied islands in areas facing #Taiwan and the #SouthChinaSea.
The military exercises will be the first to be held outside #Philippines’ territorial waters, and come amid a rise in tensions in the South China Sea. #France
The #Philippines is taking delivery of the anti-ship missile systems at a time when tensions between them and #China have escalated owing to frequent clashes in the #SouthChinaSea. The three batteries of the #BrahMos missile system would be deployed by the Philippines in their coastal areas to guard against any threat in the region. #WestPHSea
At a naval conference in #Qingdao on Monday, #ZhangYouxia, vice-chairman of the #CentralMilitaryCommission, said the sea should not be an arena in which countries can flex their “gunboat muscles”.
Beijing repeatedly says it pursues dialogue to resolve maritime disputes in the #SouthChinaSea, but makes clear this is largely on its own terms. #China#Balikatan2024
There has been relative calm in the #TaiwanStrait since the #Biden-#Xi summit, after a period of high tension in which Chinese warships and planes would regularly approach #Taiwan. At the same time however, there has been increasing friction in the #SouthChinaSea between #China and neighbouring countries, particularly the #Philippines, a #US ally. #WestPHSea
The defense chief’s remarks come as three Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine vessels near #ScarboroughShoal on Tuesday in yet another example of #China’s game plan to counter the #Philippines’ growing assertiveness in the disputed waters. #BajoDeMasinloc#WestPHSea#SouthChinaSea