Latest news with #Philippine-occupied
Newsweek
7 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Chinese Ships Put On Show of Force in Neighbor's Economic Waters
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A Chinese coast guard and paramilitary ship are nearing two weeks of patrols in the energy-rich waters of Malaysia's exclusive economic zone. Chinese government or state-sponsored vessels were observed in the area on 359 days last year, a slight uptick from 2023, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. Why It Matters China claims most of the South China Sea, citing historical rights—despite an international tribunal's 2016 decision rejecting the country's sweeping claims. These claims overlap with competing claims by several neighboring countries. The encroachment has been met with a more muted response from Kuala Lumpur compared with U.S. ally the Philippines. Yet Beijing's challenge could set the stage for increased tensions as Malaysia expands its oil and gas exploration and development. Newsweek reached out to the Chinese embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysian foreign ministry via emailed requests for comment outside of office hours. What To Know Chinese coast guard vessel 5403 and a maritime militia vessel Yue Hui Wan Yu 22888 on Tuesday remained around 100 miles off the coast of Sarawak state in Malaysian Borneo after first being observed on July 10, according to ship-tracking data shared with Newsweek by maritime analyst Ray Powell. This is well within Malaysia's exclusive economic zone, within which Malaysia alone is entitled to natural resources under maritime law. Powell described the patrols as "intrusive" and intended to normalize China's sovereignty claims in its neighbor's maritime zone. A Chinese Coast Guard ship is seen near the Philippine-occupied island of Thitu in the disputed South China Sea on June 3, 2025. A Chinese Coast Guard ship is seen near the Philippine-occupied island of Thitu in the disputed South China Sea on June 3, 2025. Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images One of three gas fields that began production last year, state-owned operator Petronas started producing gas at Kasawari in August 2024, with an initial flow rate of 200 million standard cubic feet per day. The field is estimated to hold about 10 trillion cubic feet of gas. In a diplomatic note from China's foreign ministry to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing—leaked to The Philippine Daily Inquirer—China reiterated its "firm opposition" to Malaysia's exploration and development activities, calling them an infringement on China's sovereignty. The leak prompted a rare public statement on the issue from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who played down the impact of the controversy on bilateral relations while pledging to continue the projects. What People Have Said Ray Powell, the director of the Stanford University-affiliated maritime analysis group SeaLight, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "People's Republic of China maritime militia ships 'act as frontline enforcers of China's maritime claims and work in close coordination with the China Coast Guard'—as with Yue Hui Wan Yu 22888 clearly coordinating with China Coast Guard 5403 on this patrol." Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in September after China's objections over the gas exploration: "We will continue, but we will not close the door on discussions with any country. "We have issues but these issues do not affect diplomatic relations. These issues do not affect trade relations and close friendships with our neighbors." What's Next Production from Kasawari and the other new offshore fields is expected to deliver a significant boost to both Malaysia's domestic energy supply and exports. The Center for Strategic and International Studies has cautioned, however, that Malaysia's increased activity could prompt more assertive behavior from China. "With Malaysia's expanding drilling and a potential reduction in China-Philippine tensions, Beijing could ratchet up the pressure on Malaysian hydrocarbon production," CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative wrote in a report late last year.
GMA Network
01-07-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Lazaro takes over as DFA Chief tells diplomats, staff 'be guided by patriotism, integrity'
Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro assumed her new post Tuesday received the symbolic flag of the Department of Foreign Affairs from outgoing Secretary Enrique Manalo in the temporary headquarters in Pasay City. Photo from Michaella del Callar Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro assumed her new post Tuesday in an austere ceremony but with a firm order for hundreds of Filipino diplomats and staff: "be guided by patriotism and integrity." Lazaro was sworn in by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the 25th Philippine Foreign Secretary at the Malacañang Palace in the morning. She later received the symbolic flag of the Department of Foreign Affairs from outgoing Secretary Enrique Manalo in the temporary DFA headquarters in Pasay City with about 200 senior diplomats and employees in attendance. "We safeguard our statehood as well as the dignity of every Filipino. Throughout all this, we must remain guided by the DFA's core values of patriotism, integrity, professionalism, excellence, and service," Lazaro told an audience of career officers and employees in the department's main function hall. The 66-year-old Lazaro is coming into the job with decades of experience as a career diplomat and deft handling of sensitive foreign policy issues, specifically on Manila's complex relations with China, whose sprawling territorial claims in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea have been challenged by the Philippines. Lazaro will also craft guidelines and issue directives on how to navigate the volatile security situation in the Middle East, where more than two million Filipinos live and work. In her speech, Lazaro said she values the DFA's work and commitment as they face "much work ahead." "But with unity of purpose, our core values in mind, and the whole DFA family standing side by side, I am confident that we can face the road ahead with determination, resilience, and the collective spirit that has always defined the department," she said. A seasoned career diplomat, Lazaro negotiated a landmark agreement with China on a provisional arrangement for the Philippine delivery of supplies to Filipino forces at Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) to prevent a repeat of past confrontations. Signed in July 2024, the agreement that covers Ayungin seeks to avoid altercations and ease tensions after a violent clash between Philippine Navy special forces and Chinese coast guard personnel on June 17, 2024 at the Philippine-occupied area. Since the forging of the agreement, succeeding resupply missions to the shoal have been peaceful with Chinese ships keeping watch at a distance. As DFA's Undersecretary for policy, she also led negotiations for a crucial Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which aims to prevent a major conflict in the disputed waters, called West Philippine Sea by Manila. "For the past 127 years, the Department of Foreign Affairs has stood as one of the most enduring pillars of the Republic, implementing and charting the course of Philippine foreign policy, fostering friendly relations with our international partners, and assisting our Filipinos overseas, and most importantly, asserting the Philippines as an independent, sovereign nation" she said. "May we carry forward the lessons of the past, embrace the responsibilities of the present, and share a future worthy of this institution and the country we serve." — BAP, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
26-06-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Enrique Manalo to leave top DFA post on June 30
After serving as the country's top diplomat under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Secretary Enrique Manalo will leave his post at the Department of Foreign Affairs, an agency confronting multiple international crises, on June 30. Manalo, 72, bid farewell to at least three dozen members of the Philippine and international media at a luncheon Thursday and described his term as three meaningful years of "building peace and cooperation and fostering enduring friendships" with allies "and even China." "Our foreign policy remains the same. We're firmly anchored on the values and principles of peace, democracy, human rights, fairness, and justice. And we will continue to do so, especially in terms of enhancing national security," Manalo said. Manalo said he actively advocated for economic security, as well as the promotion of the rights and well-being of Filipinos abroad. A seasoned career diplomat, Manalo was appointed by Marcos as DFA chief on July 1, 2022, replacing Teodoro Locsin Jr. He became acting Foreign Secretary from March 9 to May 17, 2017, after Perfecto Yasay failed to get the confirmation of the bicameral Commission on Appointments as DFA Secretary. Manalo, who retired from the Foreign Service in 2018, served as Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York under former President Rodrigo Duterte from 2020 to June 30, 2022. It is expected that he will be reappointed to this role following his departure from the top DFA job. Marcos accepted Manalo's courtesy resignation on June 23, as announced by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin in a televised news conference. Marcos announced in June a major Cabinet revamp after his senatorial candidates won fewer seats than the administration hoped for in the May 12 midterm elections. He asked all Cabinet members to submit their letters of resignation and had accepted several, including Manalo's. Bersamin announced that Manalo would be replaced by DFA Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Ma. Theresa Lazaro, whose remarkable career in the foreign service largely focused on crafting Philippine foreign policy. Lawmakers confirmed her appointment as the next DFA chief on June 11. A former ambassador to France and Australia, Lazaro also led negotiations and talks in the Association of Southeast Nations, including a proposed code of conduct agreement in the disputed South China Sea between the 10-member bloc and China. In July, the DFA announced that China and the Philippines had forged a landmark provisional arrangement that ended increasingly violent confrontations in the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, the international name for Ayungin Shoal. Lazaro, 66, led the negotiations with Chinese officials for that temporary agreement, which has allowed at least eight resupply and rotation of troop missions for Filipino forces aboard the BRP Sierra Madre ship without any violent clashes. The international community feared that the worsening incidents could spark a major armed confrontation that could involve the United States, a defense treaty ally of the Philippines. Lazaro also led talks between the Philippines and China about several confrontations in the West Philippine Sea, called the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism, or BCM. In those meetings hosted alternately by the Philippines and China, Lazaro's delegation from different government agencies formally protested China's assertive actions in the resource-rich waters and underscored Marcos' policy of "not giving a single square inch" of Philippine territory and interests. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
Newsweek
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
'Confrontation' in South China Sea as US Ally Challenges Beijing
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A standoff occurred between the Chinese and Philippine coast guards off the Philippine province of Palawan, according to ship-tracking data shared by a maritime analyst on Tuesday. Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Philippine coast guard via email for comment outside of office hours. Why It Matters Tensions are running high between Beijing and Manila over China's expanding activities within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, hundreds of miles from Chinese shores. Beijing claims over 80 percent of the South China Sea as its territory, asserting historical rights. Philippine efforts to challenge Chinese maritime forces, spearheaded by China's large, reinforced-hull coast guard ships, have resulted in clashes at South China Sea flashpoints, raising concerns that a miscalculation could trigger the United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty and draw U.S. forces into conflict with China. A Chinese Coast Guard ship near the Philippine-occupied island of Thitu in the disputed South China Sea on June 3, 2025. A Chinese Coast Guard ship near the Philippine-occupied island of Thitu in the disputed South China Sea on June 3, 2025. Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images What To Know Tuesday's maritime confrontation occurred when three Chinese coast guard ships challenged a group of Philippine vessels about 60 miles off the westernmost Philippine province of Palawan, Ray Powell, director of the Stanford University-affiliated maritime group SeaLight, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). That's well within the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile (230-mile) exclusive economic zone, where Manila alone is entitled to fishing and natural resource management rights under international law. The Philippine contingent—comprised of two coast guard cutters and a civilian patrol vessel from the national fisheries bureau—had escorted what appeared to be a fishing vessel into waters south of Half Moon Shoal, an atoll west of Palawan and on the edge of the contested Spratly Islands archipelago. 🇵🇭🇨🇳MARITIME CONFRONTATION NEAR PALAWAN: Two #Philippines Coast Guard (BRP Cape San Augustin & BRP Cape Engano) & one fisheries vessel (BRP Lapu Lapu) have escorted a ship ID'd as Panama-flagged Kunimatsu 3 from Puerto Princesa to an area south of Half Moon Shoal, 50-55nm from… — Ray Powell (@GordianKnotRay) June 16, 2025 An illustration shared by Powell depicts a web of ship tracks as Chinese and Philippine vessels maneuvered around each other, in an encounter reminiscent of previous standoffs at other Spratly hotspots, such as Sabina Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal. In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague dismissed China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea. Beijing maintains that the decision is invalid. What People Are Saying Chinese analyst Liu Xiaobo, at a recent event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies: "China's maritime rights protection in the South China Sea is mainly carried out by the coast guard. "And there are more and more coast guard in the South China Sea, but it's very rare to see the Chinese navy because, to China, using the navy is very to easy to lead into escalation. In China's view, this is another kind of self-restraint." What Happens Next Both China and the Philippines are unlikely to budge on the long-running dispute. -
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First Post
08-06-2025
- General
- First Post
Chinese ship stranded near Philippine outpost in South China Sea amid storm
Confrontations have spiked between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships in the disputed waters in recent years read more In this image made from video provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Public Affairs Office, a Chinese vessel passes shallow waters off Philippines-occupied Thitu island in the disputed South China Sea. AP A Chinese ship struck aground in severe weather in shallow seas off a Philippine-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea, causing Filipino soldiers to be on high alert, Philippine military authorities said Sunday. When Filipino forces determined that the Chinese fishing vessel had run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island due to bad weather on Saturday, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to assist, but later discovered that the ship had been extricated, regional navy spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado stated. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Collado said no more data were immediately available, such as if crew members were injured or the ship was damaged. Confrontations have spiked between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships in the disputed waters in recent years. 'The alertness of our troops is always there,' Col. Xerxes Trinidad of the Armed Forces of the Philippines told reporters. But when they saw that a probable accident had happened, 'we tried to provide assistance as professionals' in accordance with international law on helping distressed vessels at sea. 'We're always following international law,' Trinidad said. Filipino villagers living in a fishing village on Thitu, which they call Pagasa island, immediately informed the Philippine military and coast guard after seeing the Chinese ship lying in the shallows about 1.5 nautical miles (2.7 kilometers) from their village, said MP Albayda, a local Filipino official, told The Associated Press. 'They got worried because the Chinese were so close but it was really the strong wind and waves that caused the ship to run aground,' said Albayda, adding that other Chinese ships pulled the stricken vessel away. The stricken ship resembled what the Philippine military had repeatedly said were suspected Chinese militia ships, which had backed the Chinese coast guard and navy in blocking and harassing Philippine coast guard and military vessels in the disputed waters, a busy conduit for global trade and commerce. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Thitu Island is home to a Philippine fishing village and Filipino forces and is the largest of nine islands and islets occupied by the Philippines. It lies about 26 kilometers (16 miles) from Subi Reef, which China transformed into an island base along with six other barren reefs to reinforce its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also involved in the long-simmering territorial standoffs, an Asian flashpoint that many fear could pit China and the United States in a major conflict. The U.S. does not lay any claim to the South China Sea but has repeatedly warned that it's obligated to defend the Philippines, it's longtime treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
