Tag: Philippines

Philippines, US simulate mock invasions in largest ever war games | Military News

Laoag, Philippines – Troops from the United States and the Philippines have launched Javelin missiles and fired howitzers to simulate repelling a maritime invasion along the coast of the South China Sea, in a show of force capping joint war games held in China’s maritime back yard.

The live fire exercises were held throughout the week along the shores of the coastal city of Laoag in northern Ilocos province, the closest mainland Philippine province to China.

They capped the largest ever Balikatan, or “shoulder-to-shoulder,” joint military exercises between US and Philippine troops, cementing a dramatic policy shift that has seen Washington and Manila become close allies since Ferdinand Marcos Jr became president in 2022.

Tensions have risen amid multiple confrontations between Philippine vessels and the China Coast Guard in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire area under its nine-dash line, which was rejected by an international tribunal in 2016.

While the US and Philippine militaries would not name their adversaries, this year’s exercises were concentrated around the northern and western shores of the Philippines — close to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Parts of the drills were also staged in waters outside the Philippines’ 19km (12-mile) territorial limit, and also outside Manila’s exclusive economic zone, which extends for 200 nautical miles (about 370km).

“The Philippines and US have a shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” US Marines Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, commander of the Balikatan joint task force, told reporters on Monday. “It’s grounded in the seeking of peaceful solutions.

“Make no mistake, if there can’t be a peaceful solution, we have an obligation to our countries to train together.”

Philippine army personnel fire their Autonomous Truck Mounted howitzer system (ATMOS) during this week’s Balikatan drills [Ted Aljibe/AFP]

Ilocos province lies southeast of China and just south of Taiwan, near areas of the South China Sea that would probably be at the centre of any regional conflict over the disputed waters.

The US and Philippine militaries fired missiles and used howitzer guns stationed along the shore to sink five platoons standing in for amphibious warships.

In northern Batanes, an island province just south of Taiwan, US and Philippine forces simulated the recapture of Itbayat, the country’s northernmost municipality.

The war games elicited a strong response from China, which managed to disrupt at least one live fire exercise in the South China Sea. The Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond to a request for comment from Al Jazeera.

A Chinese warship and two other vessels were spotted near Itbayat as the exercises were held, the Philippine Coast Guard said on Wednesday. The ships left after the coastguard issued a challenge over the radio.

New weapons, equipment

This year’s exercises also showcased new US weapons that could be stationed in the Philippines during a conflict.

For the first time in the Asia Pacific, the US military deployed a new mid-range missile launcher, called the Typhon.

Soldiers lining up on the dunes looking out to sea. Another land mass can be seen in the distance
This year’s exercises took place in territories in the north of the Philippines [Nick Aspinwall/AL Jazeera]

From the northern Philippines, it is able to reach targets in Taiwan, along with Chinese bases and infrastructure in the South China Sea and mainland China.

It is the first such weapon deployed in the region since the US withdrew in 2019 from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that barred the development of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 2,500km.

While the Typhon system was not fired during Balikatan, its deployment now serves to identify launch sites that can be used during a conflict, said Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“During wartime, all you need to do is just go straight to these launch sites and you can set it up and fire immediately without further preparation,” Koh said.

The US and Philippine militaries also used a hovercraft to land a HIMARS missile system on the western island of Palawan, close to contested areas of the South China Sea.

Last year, the militaries tried and failed to land a HIMARS system at the main port of Batanes. This year, the US military upgraded the port, along with a warehouse and other military infrastructure, as part of an effort to develop functional seaports to offload equipment and troops.

“The longer you stay in the port, the more vulnerable you are,” Koh said. “When you are unloading all your equipment and your troops, that is when you are exposed essentially as a sitting duck.”

Local anxieties

Last year, Washington and Manila announced that four military bases would be added to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, allowing US troops to utilise a total of nine military sites in the Philippines for training, refuelling and other operations.

A C-Star surface-to-surface, antiship missile is fired from the BRP Jose Rizal towards a mock enemy during a maritime strike exercise this week [Armed Forces of the Philippines via AFP]

Three of those bases are in the northern provinces of Cagayan and Isabela, both close to the Luzon Strait running between the Philippines and Taiwan.

The increasing presence of military troops in civilian areas has alarmed some civilians, worried their location puts them in the path of any future war between the US and China.

“We don’t have to choose between the two,” said Manuel Mamba, governor of Cagayan province. “I do not like foreign forces in my province because I feel we could be dragged into a war which is not ours.”

Mamba has vocally opposed the development of bases in his province for US troops and is among a small yet stubborn contingent of regional and local politicians who have resisted Manila’s turn towards Washington. Marcos Jr’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte was far closer to Beijing.

Cagayan has received substantial investment from Chinese companies, including an ongoing effort to dredge and develop an international port in the coastal town of Aparri.

The US military builds schools and distributes humanitarian aid during its yearly Balikatan exercises, but Washington has never competed dollar for dollar with the investment promises Beijing can make to local politicians.

Last month, the US and the Philippines announced a new economic investment corridor in Luzon focused on ports, railways and clean energy.

Manuel Mamba, governor of Cagayan province, worries about the risks posed by the US military presence [Nick Aspinwall/Al Jazeera]

Such US investment would be welcome in Cagayan “if it is not military in nature”, Mamba said. “Maybe [it could be used] only by the Armed Forces of the Philippines if there’s an emergency.”

In Laoag, where live-fire exercises were held, fishermen were ordered not to sail for more than one week. The order cost some fishing boats up to $60 per day in lost income, said Arvin Mangrubang, a priest at the Laoag branch of the Iglesia Filipino Independiente church.

Some communities gave relief stipends of about $9 per day to families that are registered to vote, which Mangrubang said is hardly enough to cover the cost of the exercises to working families.

“We cannot gain anything from that,” he said. “If China reacts to these exercises, the Filipino people will suffer.”

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Philippines summons China envoy over water cannon attack in South China Sea | South China Sea News

The Philippines has protested against China’s ‘dangerous manoeuvres’ 20 times this year as tensions escalate over the disputed shoal.

The Philippines has summoned a Chinese diplomat, accusing Beijing of “harassment” and “dangerous manoeuvres” after its use of water cannon against two Philippine vessels during a patrol in the South China Sea.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in China’s deputy chief of mission Zhou Zhiyong on Thursday, two days after the incident at a disputed shoal that left a Philippine coastguard vessel and another government boat damaged.

It was the 20th protest by the Philippines against the conduct of China’s coastguard and fishing vessels this year, the ministry said. It has made 153 complaints over the past two years.

“The Philippines protested the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous manoeuvres, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of [the] China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia,” the ministry said in a statement.

China blockaded and seized the Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012.

The Philippines said the pressure in Tuesday’s water cannon incident was far more powerful than anything previously used, and that it tore or bent metal sections and equipment on the Philippine vessels.

Tensions have escalated over the Scarborough Shoal recently as the Philippines takes a more assertive approach in disputed areas while strengthening alliances with the United States and Japan.

A prime fishing patch used by several countries and close to major shipping lanes, the shoal falls inside the Philippine exclusive economic zone and is claimed by China, though no country has sovereignty over it.

China’s embassy in Manila said on Wednesday the atoll had always been China’s territory and urged the Philippines to cease infringements and provocations and not “challenge China’s resolve to defend our sovereignty”.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.

Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim the parts of the sea around their coasts.

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Photos: May Day rallies across Asia demand improved labour rights | Workers’ Rights News

Workers and activists have taken to the streets across Asia as the world marks May Day.

Rallies took place in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines, among other countries, on Wednesday. The marchers protested rising prices and demanded greater labour rights.

Workers’ rights are celebrated on May Day across the globe, with events used to air general economic grievances and political demands.

In the South Korean capital Seoul, thousands of protesters sang, waved flags and shouted pro-labour slogans before marching through the centre. Organisers said the rally was primarily meant to step up criticism of what they call anti-labour policies pursued by the conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“In the past two years under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, the lives of our labourers have plunged into despair,” Yang Kyung-soo, leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said in a speech. “We can’t overlook the Yoon Suk Yeol government. We’ll bring them down from power for ourselves.”

Similar rallies were held in several other cities across South Korea. Police mobilised thousands of officers to maintain order, but there were no immediate reports of violence.

In Japan, more than 10,000 people gathered in downtown Tokyo to demand salary increases sufficient to offset price increases. Masako Obata, leader of the National Confederation of Trade Unions, said that dwindling wages have put many workers in Japan under severe living conditions and widened income disparities.

“On this May Day, we unite with our fellow workers around the world standing up for their rights,” she said, shouting “banzai!” or long life, to all workers.

In Taiwan, more than 1,000 representatives from more than 100 workers’ unions took to the streets in downtown Taipei demanding worker rights laws be amended.

Waving banners and shouting slogans, demonstrators marched for hours in the capital calling for the law to be revised to include higher wages, better working conditions and pension packages.

“Prices have been soaring, but wages have not,” Said Chiang Chien-hsing, head of the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions.

In the Philippine capital Manila, hundreds of workers and activists marched in the scorching summer heat to demand wage increases and job security amid soaring food and oil prices.

Riot police stopped the protesting workers from getting close to the presidential palace. Waving red flags and holding up posters that read: “We work to live, not to die” and “Lower prices, increase salaries,” the protesters chanted and listened to speeches about the difficulties faced by Filipino labourers.

Drivers of jeepneys, the city’s main mode of public transport, joined the rally as they ended a three-day strike. The operators of the highly decorated vehicles fear that a government modernisation programme could see their often ramshackle vehicles removed from the capital’s streets.

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Philippines and China in new confrontation at Scarborough Shoal | South China Sea News

Manila says its coastguard ship was damaged after being hit by water cannon; Beijing says it ‘expelled’ Philippine boats.

The Philippines has accused China of “dangerous maneuvers and obstruction” and reinstalling a barrier at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing blockaded and seized from Manila in 2012.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said two Philippine vessels on maritime patrol encountered four China Coast Guard (CCG) ships and six vessels from its maritime militia in the area on Monday morning.

One of the ships was struck by water cannon from one of the CCG ships about 12 nautical miles (22km) from the shoal, while the other – a PCG vessel – was hit by water cannon fired from two of the CCG ships when it was about 1,000 yards (914 metres) away from the shoal, which the Philippines calls Bajo de Masinloc.

Writing on social media platform X, Tarriela said the ship’s railing and canopy were damaged.

A video accompanying the post showed water cannon hitting the port side of the boat as well as the starboard side closer to the bow.

“This damage serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China Coast Guard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, Beijing claimed it had “expelled” Philippine vessels from the area, a traditional fishing ground that also provides shelter in stormy weather.

Tarriela said China had also reinstalled a barrier about 415 yards (380 metres) long across the entrance to the shoal, which lies about 220km (137 miles) off the coast of the Philippines and within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an EEZ extends some 200 nautical miles (about 370km) from a country’s coast.

China first installed the barrier last year, but the Philippines removed it in September saying it breached international maritime law.

The Philippines and China have been involved in multiple incidents in and around the disputed reef in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety under a nine-dash line that an international tribunal ruled in 2016 to be without merit.

Manila took its case to the tribunal after China seized Scarborough Shoal more than a decade ago.

China has ignored the ruling and continued to press its claim.

Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim the parts of the sea around their coasts.



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What happens when activists are branded ‘terrorists’ in the Philippines? | Human Rights News

Baguio, Philippines – Inside an unlit bathroom, Windel Bolinget gently tips a pail of water over his head, careful to minimise the sound of splashing on the tiled floor.

A well-known activist leader in the mountainous Cordillera region in the northern Philippines, the 49-year-old spends most of his days between several undisclosed refuges.

Bolinget tries to stay invisible indoors, not leaving unless absolutely necessary and avoiding making any noise that might draw attention.

“I have normal routines with some extraordinary effort,” he said.

On the rare occasions that he spends with his family in their own home, he follows the same protocol.

At night, whether Bolinget is there or not, his wife and four children wake up whenever any of their six dogs bark. They monitor security cameras and step into the street, worried that armed men might have come for him. Nearby households do the same, knowing that the man they’ve called a friend for decades has been branded a “terrorist” by the Philippine government, which wants him behind bars.

“We need to be able to smell danger, have the emergency contacts at the ready, and be able to tell if we’re being tailed in a public place,” he said.

Bolinget is chairperson of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), an activist coalition of Indigenous people’s groups. He and three other CPA leaders Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa, Steve Tauli, and Sarah Abellon-Alikes were designated “terrorists” by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) on July 10, 2023.

Citing “probable cause” of engagement in “organised violence,” the ATC, led by executive officials, claims the CPA and the four individuals are part of the country’s long-running Communist armed rebellion.

Indigenous activist Windel Bolinget lives his life in the shadows after being designated a ‘terrorist’ by the government [Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]

Under the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) of 2020, the authorities can arrest people identified as “terrorists” without a warrant, restrict travel, freeze assets, conduct surveillance and issue new court decisions to restrict their movements without explaining why. Some individuals who have previously been labelled “terrorists”, communists or enemies of the state have later been found dead. Some 89 extrajudicial killings of activists have taken place since June 2022 when Ferdinand Marcos Jr became president.

According to the human rights group Karapatan, 51 people are currently designated as “terrorists”.

The designation marks a step up from the more common red-tagging, where activists are linked to the armed rebellion in a bid to justify a crackdown. In the past, all four CPA leaders have been slapped with cases relating to their alleged involvement with rebels. All of which, including a “shoot to kill” order on Bolinget, have been dismissed in court.

Critics have described the ATL as the second coming of martial law in the Philippines.

For the last nine months, the CPA leaders have lived in relative seclusion apart from court hearings to contest the ATC decision.

“We want to prove the facts and question the basis of the designation,” said Baguio City Councilor Jose Molintas, lawyer to the four alleged “terrorists”.

Karapatan’s Cristina Palabay said the law “institutionalises the ATC’s mandate to act as judge and jury in implementing its draconian crackdown. It not only threatens and harasses activists, but also puts their lives at risk.”

Life in terror

On social media, the Bolinget and Taggaoa families were branded terrorists as early as 2020.

Pictures of their children, some of whom are under the age of 18, have been paraded as the offspring of “terrorists” by trolls and even law enforcement personnel. Taggaoa’s daughter Kara, a labour rights activist in Manila, was also arrested in 2022 over a robbery that allegedly took place during a demonstration.

Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa spent four months moving between safe houses after she was designated a ‘terrorist’ [Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]

Joel Egco, spokesperson for the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict, issued a warning to dissenters earlier this year: “Before we charge you (with terrorism), surrender now!”

In such an atmosphere, the CPA leaders live in constant fear for their family’s safety. Bolinget says some friends and relatives have cut ties, fearful that associating with them could be considered criminal.

“I’m an enemy of the state, an open target. The state wants to isolate me from the family, it’s easier for them that way,” he said.

Bolinget led one of the 37 Supreme Court petitions against the ATL back in 2020, flagging potential human rights abuses.

“All our fears came true and I have become a living testament that to be deemed a terrorist is to be treated worse than a criminal,” he said.

The designation is also affecting their health. Bolinget and Taggaoa have been experiencing more frequent stomach trouble and must convince their doctors to see them at inconvenient times.

Taggaoa feels “so sickly all the time. The doctors said it’s stress-induced.”

Bolinget blames the lack of sleep for his poor health. “One-half of your brain is always awake and alert. I’m always on edge, like my temper is going to boil any minute,” he said.

Constant alarm

When Taggaoa was arrested in January 2023, she was not worried. She, Bolinget and five others had been charged with rebellion after allegedly joining an armed raid.

“I knew right away it was fake and I could prove this in court,” she told Al Jazeera. The case was dropped that May. But a couple of months later, she discovered she had been designated by the ATC when the decision was published in a national newspaper.

Taggaoa spent the next four months hopping between safehouses and reminding her family back home to lock all doors and stay vigilant.

In January, Marcos Jr said he wanted the Philippines‘ swift exit from the “grey list” of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog for money laundering and terrorist financing.

To do this, Marcos announced accelerated “action plans to combat money laundering and counterterrorist financing, and to file cases against violators”.

Living without access to personal and business funds has been a particular challenge as Taggaoa had to let go of her small general store.

Cristina Palabay, head of local human rights group Karapatan, which says 51 people are currently designated as ‘terrorists’ [File: Maria Tan/AFP]

The accounts of Taggaoa’s husband, a university professor, were also frozen so he was unable to meet the loan payments on his car and had to make special arrangements to receive his salary.

Taggaoa believes the designation is a new tactic, designed to neutralise opponents after other methods have failed.

“They harass you and press you to side with the government. And if you refuse, eventually they’ll be calling you a terrorist,” Taggaoa said.

Throughout 2022, military officers tried to persuade Taggaoa and her relatives to “cooperate” with them.

Coming home from school, her teenage nephew was even accosted by soldiers who, she says, pressured him into stealing Taggaoa’s files and flash drives.

Courtroom confusion

Legal challenges have also proved difficult.

When the four appealed directly to the ATC for the designation to be removed in August 2023, it was immediately denied without a hearing.

“The ATC just relies on unverified intelligence reports. It merely accepts these as true and issues designations immediately, which is a violation of due process,” said Molintas, legal counsel to the four. As he was speaking to Al Jazeera, posters of him were being put up on city streets labelling him a “terrorist”, too.

Department of Justice spokesperson, lawyer Mico Clavano, defended the designation process, saying the ATL allows for it as a purely “executive act” without judicial involvement.

Therein lies the danger, according to Molintas.

“A person is supposed to be presumed innocent, not guilty, before his day in court,” he said. “A terrorism charge is different from ordinary red-tagging because it strips one of the right to due process.”

After the appeal was denied, Molintas shifted his attention by November 2023 to nullifying the ATL and the designation at the Regional Trial Court (RTC). Since then, the lawyer accused the government of trying to derail their efforts at each turn.

At three of the RTC hearings, armed men dressed in civilian clothing were seen inside the court. They were later identified as soldiers on active duty.

The anti-terrorism bill caused concerns that it would be used to suppress free speech and target government critics [File: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), argues that even if the court rules in favour of the four, they would still be considered “terrorists” outside Cordillera because the RTC presides “in only one part of the country”.

Some lawyers disagree.

“The OSG is wrong,” said Ephraim Cortez from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers. He asserts that the challenge at the RTC applies nationwide because it invokes constitutional powers to determine “grave abuse” in government decisions.

The RTC has set a further round of hearings on April 25.

Meanwhile, Taggaoa rarely leaves the house unless absolutely necessary. Her community research as well as her role as a parent have been severely compromised, and she dreads the same fate for her children.

“I think my life will be like this until our case is resolved,” she said, but while the “terrorist tag” has taken a toll on her family, there has been an unexpected benefit.

“We protect each other and it’s brought us closer together,” she said.

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Marcos Jr treads fine line with China as Philippines deepens US, Japan ties | Business and Economy News

Manila, Philippines – Against a backdrop of rising tension in the South China Sea between Beijing and Manila, the leaders of Japan, the Philippines and the United States have forged an unprecedented level of cooperation to counter China.

But while US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have stressed the security aspects of their cooperation, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has highlighted its potential economic rewards, touting the partnership with promised investments of some $100bn as a friendship with benefits.

At the televised opening of the summit on April 11, Biden told the other two leaders: “I want to be clear. The United States’ defence commitments to Japan and the Philippines are ironclad. Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea will invoke our Mutual Defence Treaty.”

Only afterwards did Biden discuss how the US government would help the Philippines develop key economic areas such as its semiconductor supply chain, and telecommunications and critical infrastructure including ports, railways and agriculture.

In Manila, though, the Presidential Communications Office downplayed the security aspect of the concluded summit, which had expressed “serious concerns  about the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea”.

Instead, its news releases dwelt on US and Japan’s expressions of a “strong commitment of support for the economic prosperity of the Philippines”.

Financial analysts told Al Jazeera that while Washington has intertwined its promised economic development with Manila’s security commitments, Manila had chosen to highlight the economic gains to mask a sobering reality – that the country could be dragged into a military conflict with China.

“Marcos needs to sell [this] to Filipinos,” financial analyst Jonathan Ravelas told Al Jazeera on Friday.

“This is bitter medicine but I’m sugarcoating it, so it’s easily digestible,” Ravelas explained of the president’s approach.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr at the trilateral summit in the White House [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]

Besides, if he focused on the security angle, “he might p*** off China,” added the managing director of e-Management for business and marketing services and retired chief market strategist of the Philippines’ largest bank, BDO.

Semiconductor push

Ravelas argues that Marcos Jr, like previous presidents, is keen to turn the country into a manufacturing and logistics hub. “We are geographically located to be part of the supply chain in ASEAN,” being within only three hours by air from regional countries Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, he noted.

The summit announced the formation of the first-ever Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment corridor in the Asia Pacific, called the Luzon Economic Corridor. It will connect Manila to three sprawling areas in the country’s biggest island, Luzon, which can host manufacturers and other large business ventures: the US’s former Subic naval base, the former Clark airbase and Batangas province.

Ravelas noted that US semiconductor manufacturers were looking to diversify their locations and the young workforce made the Philippines a viable alternative.

The US, noted political economist Sonny Africa, has a military agenda and an economic agenda. “In both, the Philippines apparently plays an important part,” Africa, executive director of the socioeconomic think tank, Ibon Foundation, told Al Jazeera.

“Presumably, the alliance will be played up to have both security benefits and economic benefits. While it’s somewhat clear that the country plays a role in security-related moves against China, we feel the alliance is also serious in exploring the Philippines’ role in, for instance, being a location for segments of the semiconductor production, but also as a source of nickel which is essential for so much renewable energy technology. This is the direction of the US to attain domestic energy security,” he said.

On the home front, “the economic  benefits will be played up to sweeten deepening Philippine entanglement in the US’s militarist agenda, especially versus China,” he said.

Still, he recognised that the economic aspects of the agreement were not merely “token sugarcoating” but also part of Washington’s “core agenda”.

“[The] US is genuinely out to build semiconductor production chains that are less China and Taiwan-centric and hence, less vulnerable and more resilient (to) conflict-related or other disruptions,” he said. “Similarly, the Philippines has among (the) world’s biggest reserves of nickel which is a critical element in batteries and other renewable technologies.”

Both countries are betting heavily on the Philippines to protect their business interests, amid rising regional tensions over the disputed South China Sea, a key international shipping route.

“Keeping the freedom of navigation will continue to allow the ease of trade not just in our region but globally,” said Ron Acoba, the chief investment strategist and co-founder of Trading Edge, a third-party research provider for local banks and brokerage firms.

The Philippines sits in a strategic position in the South China Sea which “functions as the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans,” according to the Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs, a private research think tank in Manila.

China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea through which “more than half of the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage passes through these choke points, and a third of all maritime traffic worldwide,” according to the the institute.

It calculates about two-thirds of South Korea’s energy supplies, nearly 60 percent of Japan’s and Taiwan’s energy supplies, and 80 percent of China’s crude oil imports travel through the waters that are also claimed in part by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

China’s claim to the sea, based on the nine-dash line that was rejected by an international court in 2016, extends over large swaths of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including fishing grounds and potentially vast reserves of oil and gas deposits.

China has blocked all attempts by Manila to exploit the reserves. Under international law, an EEZ extends for 200 nautical miles (370km) beyond a country’s territorial sea and affords them jurisdictional rights over all natural resources.

“Politically speaking, it is correct to highlight the economic significance of the trilateral summit among the US, Japan and the Philippines,” Acoba said.

“But if you ask me, the main agenda really is to send a ‘message’’ to China, that the country is keen in upholding our rights.  And that contrary to the prior administration, we are going in the direction of not just upholding but even enforcing our rights.”

Changing dynamic

For Harry Roque, the former spokesman for Marcos Jr’s predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, the pivot back to the US is a big mistake.

He blamed the about-turn for a drop in investments from China.

China’s foreign investments of nearly $20bn rose 37 percent in Asia in 2023 – with half of it going to Southeast Asia – but a report last month in the Japanese media outlet Nikkei said that the Philippines saw no new investment or construction projects at all from China.

The decline came even though Marcos Jr had visited Beijing in January 2023 and the presidential palace claimed he had secured “investment pledges” of $22.8bn.

“Of course, each president to his own,” Roque told Al Jazeera. “If the president wants this kind of policy, this is the kind of relations we have with China. But overall the policy of President Duterte was, let’s move forward on matters that we could on trade and investment and set aside matters that we could not resolve in this lifetime.

“No Chinese (businessman) will invest now because I know for a fact that many Chinese who intend to invest have put it aside already because they fear that their investments might be confiscated given the hostile environment,” he said.

“So no one from China will touch the Philippines as far as capital is concerned,” he said.

The USS Mobile in joint drills with Australia, Japan and the Philippines earlier this month [Leo Baumgartner/Australian Department of Defence via AFP]

After the Washington, DC summit, Marcos Jr said he was confident that the deals with the US and Japan would not undermine Chinese investment.

The three leaders had earlier expressed “serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea”, and Marcos Jr stressed the trilateral relationships would “change the dynamic” in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea.

Still, he sought to reassure Beijing, saying the action was “not against any country”.

After a series of confrontations with the Chinese coastguard, mostly around the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, it seems most Filipinos agree that it is time for the Philippines to assert its maritime rights with the help of the US and Japan.

The shoal, where the Philippines grounded the naval ship Sierra Madre in 1999, lies about 200km (124 miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000km (620 miles) from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island.

Private pollster Pulse Asia revealed that in a December 2023 survey of 1,200 respondents,  79 percent wanted Marcos to work with the US to deter Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

Only 10 percent wanted his government to work with China to resolve the tension.

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Japan, Philippines, US rebuke China over ‘dangerous’ South China Sea moves | Politics News

Meeting in Washington, DC, the leaders of Japan, the Philippines and the US stress importance of abiding by maritime law.

The leaders of Japan, the Philippines and the United States have voiced “serious concern” over China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea.

Beijing has stepped up its activities in the strategic waterway in recent years, and tensions have risen, particularly with the Philippines, one of several Southeast Asian countries that claim the parts of the sea around their coasts.

Last month, Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos said Manila would take countermeasures against China after a confrontation off Second Thomas Shoal injured Filipino soldiers and damaged vessels.

“We express our serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s [PRC] dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea,” the three leaders said in a joint statement at the end of a first-ever summit between the three countries, which took place in Washington, DC.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line, which was rejected by an international court in 2016.

As well as the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea.

The statement noted the “importance of respecting the sovereign rights of states within their exclusive economic zones [EEZ] consistent with international law, as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS]”.

It also reiterated the three state’s opposition to China’s “dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea”.

Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin in the Philippines, has been the site of multiple standoffs between Beijing and Manila in recent months, with China’s coastguard using water cannon against ships trying to resupply a contingent of Filipino sailors living aboard the deliberately grounded Sierra Madre.

The shoal lies about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, placing it within the Philippines’ EEZ, according to UNCLOS.

It lies more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from China’s southern Hainan island.

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Philippines beefs up defences on its northernmost edge amid China tensions | South China Sea News

This is the first in a two-part series from the Philippines’s most northerly province.

Mavulis Island, Philippines – The military detachment on the Philippines’s northernmost island faces northwest, towards the setting sun – and the country’s biggest potential adversary.

The island of Mavulis was uninhabited until 2016, when the Philippine military planted a flagpole at its highest point and started building a fisherman’s shelter.

Now, about 15 soldiers are deployed in rotation on the rocky outpost, amid increasing tension with Beijing over the disputed South China Sea and Beijing’s growing assertiveness towards Taiwan – which lies just 142km (88 miles) away and whose lights flicker in the distance during the night.

In February, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro visited Mavulis and pledged further improvements to military positions in Batanes, the province that includes the island, which he called the “spearhead of the Philippines”.

With the Philippines’s lightly-funded military reliant on only basic equipment and technology to fortify the island, the United States is providing crucial assistance.

Its military will begin constructing a new warehouse, a military outpost and port improvements this month on the islands of Batan and Itbayat, according to several sources.

The two countries will also hold joint military exercises on Batan and, for the first time, on Itbayat, the country’s northernmost municipality, as part of the annual Balikatan drills, which get under way on April 22.

The Philippines has turned towards its longstanding military alliance with the US after multiple confrontations with China in the waters of the South China Sea.

Manila and Washington have a mutual defence treaty and the US is concerned not only about the South China Sea, a major international trading route, but also Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing.

“We need to upgrade our defence posture,” Rodrigo Lutao, public information officer for the army’s Northern Luzon Command, which also covers Batanes, told Al Jazeera.

“We’ve realised the islands of Batanes, especially Mavulis, are strategic areas where we can place our forces and defence materials.”

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Philippines flags ‘harassment’ by Chinese vessels ahead of Japan, US drills | South China Sea News

Recent clashes between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have raised concerns of a maritime escalation.

The Philippines has said that two Chinese coastguard ships “harassed” Filipino fishing vessels within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the disputed South China Sea, ahead of joint military drills with its allies.

The coastguard vessels “went as far as pretending to man their water cannon and threatening the Filipino fishermen” in the Iroquois reef on April 4, Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard posted on X on Saturday.

“This aggressive action stems from China’s greed and unfounded claim that these waters belong to them based on their imaginary dashed line,” Tarriela wrote in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from China, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea.

“It is important to note that Rozul Reef falls within the Philippines’ EEZ since it is located at approximately 128 nautical miles away from Palawan,” Tarriela added, referring to the reef by its Filipino name. The Philippines also refers to the area of the South China Sea within its EEZ as the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines and China have reported several maritime run-ins in recent months, which included the use of water cannon. The two countries have long faced off near the disputed reefs in the vast and resource-rich sea lane.

Since taking power in 2022, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has pursued warmer ties with the United States and other Western nations and adopted a tough line against what he sees as Chinese hostility.

He said last month that the Philippines will take countermeasures against China after the latest confrontation injured Filipino soldiers and damaged vessels.

On Sunday, the Philippines will host joint naval and air drills with the US, Japan and Australia in the disputed area, as it seeks to deepen ties with its allies to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

In a joint statement on Saturday, the participating defence chiefs of the four countries said the drill would demonstrate their “collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

Next week, US President Joe Biden is due to hold the first trilateral summit with Marcos Jr and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington, DC.

The drills will include naval and air force units from all four countries, the statement said, but did not provide further details.

Japan’s embassy in Manila said that “anti-submarine warfare training” would be included in the exercises.

China has blamed the Philippines for raising tensions in the contested waterway.

Top US officials have repeatedly declared the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to defending the Philippines against an armed attack in the South China Sea.

“These activities with our allies Australia, Japan, and the Philippines underscore our shared commitment to ensuring that all countries are free to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.

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Japan, Taiwan, Philippines issue tsunami alerts after major earthquake | Weather News

DEVELOPING STORY,

Japan Meteorological Agency warns of 3 metre waves (9.8 ft)after 7.7-magnitude quake.

Taiwan has been jolted by its biggest earthquake in a quarter-century, triggering tsunami warnings for the self-ruled island, Japan and the Philippines.

The earthquake on Wednesday shook buildings off their foundations and led to a landslide in the eastern part of the island. At least two buildings in the eastern city of Hualien collapsed.

In the capital Taipei, vehicles pulled over on the side of the road and the city’s subway service was briefly suspended, while tiles were thrown from older buildings and furniture was knocked over with the force of the quake.

A series of aftershocks were felt in the capital about 15 minutes later and continued over the next hour.

Authorities did not immediately report casualties.

Taiwanese authorities issued a tsunami alert for coastal areas, calling on residents to be “vigilant”, and said aftershocks could continue for the next three to four days due to the intensity of the earthquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JAM) said the magnitude of the quake was 7.7, up from an earlier estimate of 7.5.

Wu Chien-fu, the director of Taipei’s Seismology Centre, said the quake was the strongest to hit the island since a 1999 quake that killed 2,400 people.

“It’s felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands,” Wu told reporters.

Taiwan’s earthquake alert system, which typically provides warnings minutes in advance, did not activate prior to the quake.

The JMA said residents in areas around Okinawa Island, Miyakojima Island and Yaeyama Island should immediately evacuate, warning of waves of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) high.

“Tsunami waves are approaching the coasts. Evacuate as quickly as possible. Waves can hit repeatedly. Continue to evacuate until all warnings are lifted,” the meteorological agency said.

The agency said that a wave measuring about 30 centimeters high was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake.

Okinawa’s main airport suspended flights following the alert.

The Philippines’s seismology agency said coastal areas were expected to experience “high tsunami waves”.

“The people in the coastal areas of the following provinces are strongly advised to immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland,” the agency said in an advisory.

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