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China coastguard uses water cannons against Philippine ships in South China Sea
MANILA/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China’s coastguard said it had taken measures against Philippine vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday, while the Philippines decried the moves, including the use of water cannons, as “irresponsible and provocative”. China’s actions led to “significant damage” and injury to personnel on a civilian boat hired to resupply.....»»
‘Not war with China; don’t rely only on US’ – Marcos Jr.
In an interview on Bloomberg TV last Wednesday, as reported in another national daily, he made two related comments that could represent important government policy stands. First, regarding China’s increasing aggressive moves against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea; second, about the United States’ repeated assurance of its “iron-clad” defense commitment under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. The post ‘Not war with China; don’t rely only on US’ – Marcos Jr. appeared first on Bulatlat......»»
WPS tension: Chinese vessel blocks PH research ship
A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel again made “dangerous maneuvers” on Thursday and tried to block a Philippine fishery vessel carrying marine scientists conducting research in the West Philippine Sea or WPS. Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the WPS, told a press briefing on Friday that CCG vessel 5204 crossed the.....»»
US Bolstering Philippines Amid Increasing Assertiveness by China
washington - The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila's territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April, a Philippines government spokesman said Thursday.Colonel Michael Logico said elements of the Balikatan 2024 drills would be conducted about 22 kilometers (more than 12 nautical miles) off the west coast of Palawan, an island in the archipelago nation that.....»»
Blinken Arrives in South Korea to Attend Democracy Summit
Seoul, South Korea - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Sunday in South Korea on the first stop of a brief Asia tour also including the Philippines, as Washington moves to reinforce ties with two key regional allies.Blinken landed Sunday afternoon ahead of the third Summit for Democracy on Monday, an initiative of U.S. President Joe Biden, which Seoul is hosting this week.Before arriving in Se.....»»
Biden to Host Japan PM Kishida, Philippines President Marcos
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a White House summit next month amid growing concerns about North Korea's nuclear program, provocative Chinese action in the South China Sea and differences over a Japanese company's plan to buy an iconic American steel company.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a sta.....»»
Biden to host trilateral summit with Japan, Philippines on April 11
Washington, DC [US], March 19 (ANI): US President Joe Biden will host a three-way summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in Washington on April 11, as announced by the White House, as reported by Kyodo News. This historic summit, the first of its kind involving the United States, Japan, and the Philippines, aims to bolster defence cooperation in response to China's asse.....»»
US warns China against armed attack on Philippines
Washington, DC [US], March 19 (ANI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China on Tuesday, stating that any "armed" attack on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea would activate a mutual self-defence agreement between Washington and Manila, underscoring the escalating tensions in the region that could potentially embroil the United States in conflict with Beijing, as reported by The New York Times. Despite th.....»»
China, Not Russia, Still Tops List of Threats to US
WASHINGTON - Russia's war in Ukraine - portrayed by top U.S. officials as posing a danger to the United States itself - still trails China when it comes to long-term threats to America's security, according to a top Pentagon official.The warning from Ely Ratner, the Defense Department's assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, comes in testimony prepared for a hearing Wednesday by the House Armed S.....»»
US Officials Warn of New Axis of Evil With China at the Fore
WASHINGTON - U.S. military and defense officials are increasingly concerned that as China and Russia forge ever stronger ties, they might attempt to challenge Western unity and eventually alter the balance of power on the world stage.The commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that the evolving relationship between Beijing and Moscow is a "big portion" of.....»»
News on China s actions in WPS need to shift focus
MEDIA FOLLOWED recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea as Chinese vessels engaged in maneuvers to block patrol boats of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on February 12. The news on February 17 also reported the disturbing allegation of China's use of cyanide, causing damage to the resources and the waters of Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.Although China's harassment of Philippine vessels a.....»»
China attempts to block Filipinos in another mission to Scarborough
A Chinese Maritime Militia Vessel (CMMV) once again tried to block a Filipino-led resupply mission to Bajo de Masinloc — a resource-rich feature being claimed by Beijing within the West Philippine Sea......»»
US, Philippines Condemn Chinese Coast Guard s High-Seas Assault
manila, philippines - The Philippines and its treaty ally, the United States, separately condemned a high-seas assault Saturday by the Chinese coast guard together with suspected militia ships that repeatedly blasted water cannons to block three Philippine fisheries vessels from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.The noontime assault by Chinese ships off the Scarborough Shoal, one of the most aggressive thi.....»»
US, Philippines Condemn Chinese Coast Guard s High-Seas Assault
manila, philippines - The Philippines and its treaty ally, the United States, separately condemned a high-seas assault Saturday by the Chinese coast guard together with suspected militia ships that repeatedly blasted water cannons to block three Philippine fisheries vessels from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.The noontime assault by Chinese ships off the Scarborough Shoal, one of the most aggressive thi.....»»
Brawner: Phl has right to repair BRP Sierra Madre, China can’t tell us otherwise
The Philippines has the right to repair its commissioned navy warship, BRP Sierra Madre grounded in Ayungin in the West Philippine Sea and China cannot tell no, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said Wednesday. In an interview during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Brawner stressed that the Philippines has the sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the waters around Ayungin shoal and so the repair of BRP Sierra Madre must be fitting. “I really believe that we have the right to repair the ship because that is a Philippine-commissioned Navy ship. Kahit andoon siya sa Ayungin Shoal, karapatan natin na ayusin (Even if it was stuck in Ayungin Shoal, it’s our right to repair that),” he said. Brawner lamented that the Philippines did not even bother China when it had gone as far as installing a missile system and even building artificial islands in the WPS. “So, for me, China has no right to tell us not to repair that while they themselves have created these artificial islands,” he said. Brawner criticized China’s audacity to block the Philippines’ legitimate actions in its territorial waters in WPS. “Hindi naman tayo nakialam. Hindi naman natin sinabi, 'Don't do that.' Hindi naman natin sinabi, 'Don't bring missile systems into these artificial islands.' Sila ngayon kinalampag. Napakalaking imbalance (We did not interfere. We didn’t say ‘don’t do that’. We didn’t tell them ‘don't bring missile systems into these artificial islands’. Now they’re being shaken. A huge imbalance),” he said. The AFP chief believes that China is persistent in harassing and blocking the country’s rotation and resupply mission in the BRP Sierra Madre because it wants to insist their claims over Ayungin Shoal, which was invalidated by the Arbitral Tribunal ruling of the Hague-based Court on 12 July 2016. China has repeatedly ignored the ruling as it constantly insists that Ren’ai Jiao (Ayungin shoal) is part of China’s Nansha Qundao and is under China’s territory. The National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya has also noted that China “has no legal authority or basis” to enforce anything in Ayungin Shoal because it is constituted “well within” the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS. The shoal is located 105.77 nautical miles from the nearest Philippine province of Palawan. The post Brawner: Phl has right to repair BRP Sierra Madre, China can’t tell us otherwise appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Other countries might join Phl maritime activities in WPS after Ayungin collision—DND
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. believed that the recent collision incidents, involving the China Coast Guard and the Philippine resupply boats in Ayungin shoal, would attract more countries that have an interest in freedom of navigation in partnering with the Philippines in conducting maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea. “I believe it will invite more countries who have an interest in freedom of navigation to participate not only in joint sails but in other security engagements with the Philippines,” Teodoro said in an interview with the state-run Radyo Pilipinas on Wednesday. Teodoro said the Philippines’ engagements with other countries may include capability upgrades, intelligence exchanges, and other defense military-to-military and defense-to-defense cooperation agreements. “To include defense industries in the country,” he added. Teodoro noted that the Philippine government is considering and calibrating many options to address China's increasing aggression in the WPS. In a separate interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. confirmed the possibility that the Philippines would conduct maritime activities with other countries. “That's a possibility. Tinitignan natin lahat ng mga (We are looking at all) options,” Brawner said, when asked about the chances that other nations may join the Philippines in its rotation and re-provisioning mission to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin shoal. The military chief added that these chances also include the use of a Navy ship during the Rore mission since the BRP Sierra Madre is also a naval vessel. But they are still studying which country could possibly join the resupply mission. The AFP is currently contracting private boats for its re-provisioning mission to the troops stationed in the grounded Philippine Navy warship in Ayungin Shoal. Last 22 October, a CCG vessel collided with the AFP-chartered resupply ship, Unaiza May 2, after the former attempted to block the latter’s path en route to BRP Sierra Madre at about 10.5 nautical miles from Ayungin Shoal. A separate collision occurred between BRP Cabra and a Chinese Maritime Militia vessel at about 6.4 nautical miles from Ayungin Shoal on the same day. After the incident, the Philippines and China accused each other of increasing tension in the WPS. Both the United States and Canada condemned China for its “dangerous maneuvers” against the Philippine ships in the waters off Ayungin shoal. The post Other countries might join Phl maritime activities in WPS after Ayungin collision—DND appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
NSC bares options vs increasing China’s aggressive actions in WPS
The Philippines has a lot of options to respond to the increasingly aggressive actions of China in the West Philippine Sea, which include the filing of a case in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or ITLOS in response to the latest collisions of Manila and Beijing vessels in the Ayungin Shoal. This was bared in a radio interview by National Security Council spokesperson, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, on Tuesday. Malaya said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard to complete the maritime investigation on the separate collisions concerning China Coast Guard vessels and Armed Forces of the Philippines-contracted boat for the rotation and re-provisioning or RoRe mission in the area. “Kasi may mga patudsada rin ang China sa atin at kailangan sagutin natin ‘yan with proofs and evidences and then magmi-meeting po ‘yung security cluster para mapag-usapan yung resolute response sa maging action ng China sa pinakahuling RoRe mission,” he told the SuperRadyo DzBB. Malaya, also the spokesperson of the National Task Force on the West Philippines Sea, noted that the government and security sector are exploring all options to respond to China’s aggression towards WPS. But, he did not divulge the country’s step-by-step actions. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that now because we cannot telegraph our moves to China. China doesn’t expose their plans either, so we can’t let them know what we intend to do,” he said. Malaya said the results of the maritime investigation will be presented to Marcos and will be followed by discussions of the administration’s concerned cabinet members on the possible response to the matter. “There a lot of options that are [placed] in the table right now, we can file a case in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or ITLOS,” he stressed. Malaya emphasized that the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Coast Guard “made it clear” that China had violated maritime rules and collision regulations during the Ayungin incident. “We have a lot of recourse that we can do because of this unprecedented event that happened, but it would be up to the President and the concerned Cabinet members what will be our next move,” he added. “There’s no decision on that so far. It will be decided by the Cabinet cluster and by the President himself. Let’s just wait for their responses. So we'll have to wait and see what the Cabinet says.” Malaya emphasized the entire government and the security cluster are “taking this issue very seriously,” thus, the President called for a conference meeting to discuss the matter thoroughly. “Clearly, the Chinese side did their actions with clear intent to prevent and block our ship which led to the collision so we are gathering all the evidence to voice our position about what happened on Sunday,” he said. Malaya said the government “must take the long view and be very patient” like how China effectively calculated its long-term responses to its territorial claims. Meanwhile, the NSC official underscored that the results of the maritime investigation will be presented to Marcos and will be followed by discussions of the administration’s concerned cabinet members on the possible response to the matter. “There a lot of options that are [placed] in the table right now, we can file a case in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea or ITLOS,” he stressed. Malaya emphasized that the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Coast Guard “made it clear” that China had violated maritime rules and collision regulations during the Ayungin incident. “We have a lot of recourse that we can do because of this unprecedented event that happened, but it would be up to the President and the concerned Cabinet members what will be our next move,” he added. “There’s no decision on that so far. It will be decided by the Cabinet cluster and by the President himself. Let’s just wait for their responses. So we'll have to wait and see what the Cabinet says.” Malaya emphasized the entire government and the security cluster are “taking this issue very seriously,” thus, the President called for a conference meeting to discuss the matter thoroughly. “Clearly, the Chinese side did their actions with clear intent to prevent and block our ship which led to the collision so we are gathering all the evidence to voice our position about what happened on Sunday,” he said. Malaya said the government “must take the long view and be very patient” like how China effectively calculated its long-term responses to its territorial claims. The post NSC bares options vs increasing China’s aggressive actions in WPS appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Beijing ‘violated’ 3 maritime laws
China violated at least three international maritime rules during the collisions of its ships with Philippine vessels at Ayungin Shoal on 22 October. Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said vessels of the China Coast Guard and Beijing’s maritime militia infringed on provisions of the 1972 Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, or COLREGs. “The first one violated was Rule 2 or the responsibility of the vessel. This rule emphasizes that nothing in the COLREGs can absolve any vessel from the duty to avoid a collision,” he said. Tarriela explained that deliberately blocking a vessel “not only increases the risk of collision” but also disregards the “fundamental principle of taking action to prevent a potential collision.” China also ran afoul of Rule 7, or the risk of collision, which requires every vessel to “use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if a risk of collision exists,” he said. Tarriela said that Rule 7 is considered in conjunction with other relevant rules and factors, such as Rules 5 (look-out), 6 (safe speed), and 8 (action to avoid collision). During the incidents, China ignored Rule 18A or “the responsibilities between vessels” which requires a vessel to keep out of the way of another vessel if the latter has the right of way, Tarriela said. By deliberately blocking a vessel, “you are not allowing the other vessel to proceed in accordance with their right of way,” he explained. Shadowed He noted the active participation of the Chinese militia ships in the harassment and blocking of the supply contingent from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. “For the first time, the Chinese maritime militia vessels are also doing such dangerous maneuvers. They even collided with our PCG vessel. Before, they were just taking orders from the CCG,” he said. During the resupply mission, the Philippines was outnumbered by five CCG vessels, eight militia ships, and two People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels. The Chinese ships shadowed and harassed the Philippine vessels. A CCG vessel collided with the AFP-chartered resupply ship, Unaiza May 2, as it attempted to block the latter’s path to the BRP Sierra Madre at about 10.5 nautical miles from Ayungin Shoal on Sunday. On the same day, a separate collision occurred between the BRP Cabra and a CMMV some 6.4 nautical miles from Ayungin Shoal. The post Beijing ‘violated’ 3 maritime laws appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Narcolepsy, cancer tipped as Medicine Prize opens Nobel week
Narcolepsy, cancer, or mRNA vaccine research could win the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday when a week of announcements kicks off, but experts see no clear frontrunner for the Peace Prize. The awards, first handed out in 1901, were created by Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel in his 1895 will to celebrate those who have "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." The Medicine Prize is first out and will be announced in Stockholm on Monday around 11:30 a.m. (0930 GMT), followed by the awards for physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, and literature on Thursday. The Peace Prize, the most highly-anticipated Nobel and the only one announced in Oslo, will follow on Friday, before the Economics Prize rounds things off on October 9. The Medicine Prize has over the years crowned groundbreaking discoveries like the X-ray, penicillin, insulin, and DNA -- as well as now-disgraced awards for lobotomy and the insecticide DDT. Several Nobel watchers have suggested this year's prize could go to research into narcolepsy and the discovery of orexin, a neuropeptide that helps regulate sleep. It could also go to Hungarian-born Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman of the United States for research that led directly to the first mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19, made by Pfizer and Moderna. Their discovery has already won a slew of major medicine prizes, but the Nobel committee nowadays often waits decades to bestow its laurels to ensure the research stands the test of time. "Maybe the Academy thinks it needs to look into it more, but someday they should win," predicted Annika Ostman, science reporter at Swedish public radio SR. Gene engineering and IceCube telescope But Ostman said her guess for this year was on Kevan Shokat, an American biologist who figured out how to block the KRAS cancer gene behind a third of cancers, including challenging-to-treat lung, colon, and pancreatic tumors. T-cell therapy for cancer treatment and work on the human microbiome could also be contenders, said David Pendlebury, head of the Clarivate Analytics group which identifies Nobel-worthy research. "There are more people deserving of a Nobel Prize than there are Nobels to go around," he told AFP. Lars Brostrom, Ostman's colleague at SR, singled out two American biologists, Stanislas Leibler, and Michael Elowitz, for their work on synthetic gene circuits which established the field of synthetic biology. It enables scientists to redesign organisms by engineering them to have new abilities. But Brostrom noted the field could be seen as controversial, raising "ethical questions about where to draw the line in creating life". For the Physics Prize, twisted graphene or the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica were seen as possible winners, as well as the development of high-density data storage in the field of spintronics. Peace Prize to Iranian women? For Wednesday's Chemistry Prize, Pendlebury suggested next-generation DNA sequencing could get the nod, or research into how to target and deliver drugs to genes. Brostrom said he would love to see it go to US-based chemist Omar Yaghi for his work into porous materials known as MOFs, which can absorb poisonous gases or harvest water from desert air, and is an "important field for the future" with enormous potential for the environment. Criticism over a lack of gender and geographical diversity has plagued the Nobels over the years. US-based men have dominated the science fields, while women account for just six percent of overall laureates -- something the various award committees insist they are addressing. Among the names making the rounds for Thursday's Literature Prize are Russian author and outspoken Putin critic Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Chinese avant-garde writer Can Xue, British author Salman Rushdie, Caribbean-American writer Jamaica Kincaid and Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse. But for the Peace Prize, experts have been scratching their heads over possible winners, as conflicts rage around the globe. Some have pointed to the Iranian women protesting since the death in custody a year ago of Mahsa Amini, arrested for violating Iran's strict dress code imposed on women. Others suggest organizations documenting war crimes in Ukraine, or the International Criminal Court, which could one day be called upon to judge them. "I think that climate change is a really good focus for the Peace Prize this year," Dan Smith, the head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told AFP after a year of extreme weather around the world. For the Economics Prize, research on income and wealth inequality could be honored. Recent winners of the Nobel Medicine Prize Here is a list of the winners of the Nobel Medicine Prize in the past 10 years: 2022: Swedish paleogeneticist Svante Paabo for his discoveries on the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution. 2021: US duo David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for discoveries on human receptors responsible for our ability to sense temperature and touch. 2020: Americans Harvey Alter and Charles Rice, together with Briton Michael Houghton, for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, leading to the development of sensitive blood tests and antiviral drugs. 2019: William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza of the US and Britain's Peter Ratcliffe for establishing the basis of our understanding of how cells react and adapt to different oxygen levels. 2018: Immunologists James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, for figuring out how to release the immune system's brakes to allow it to attack cancer cells more efficiently. 2017: US geneticists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young for their discoveries on the internal biological clock that governs the wake-sleep cycles of most living things. 2016: Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan for his work on autophagy -- a process whereby cells "eat themselves" -- which when disrupted can cause Parkinson's and diabetes. 2015: William Campbell, an Irish-US citizen, Satoshi Omura of Japan, and Tu Youyou of China for unlocking treatments for malaria and roundworm. 2014: American-born Briton John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard I. Moser of Norway for discovering how the brain navigates with an "inner GPS". 2013: Thomas C. Sudhof, a US citizen born in Germany, and James E. Rothman and Randy W. Schekman of the US for work on how the cell organizes its transport system. The post Narcolepsy, cancer tipped as Medicine Prize opens Nobel week appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Sub bolsters Taiwan defense vs China
Taiwan unveiled its first domestically built submarine on Thursday to bolster the island’s defenses against China. President Tsai Ing-wen presided over the launch ceremony for the Hai Kun or “Narwhal” in English at CSBC Corporation's Kaohsiung shipyard, according to Taiwan News. Tsai performed the bottle-breaking ritual and named the submarine, which means “giant fish” in Chinese. National Security Council Secretary General Wellington Koo, American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai and other dignitaries attended the ceremony, CNA reported. Strongly opposed by Beijing for her refusal to accept China’s authority over the island, Tsai launched a submarine program in 2016 with the aim of delivering a fleet of eight vessels. Construction on the first started in 2020 by CSBC Corporation, a company specializing in container ships and military vessels. Carrying a price tag of $1.5 billion, the submarine’s displacement weight is about 2,500 to 3,000 tons, with its combat systems and torpedoes sourced from the United States defense company Lockheed Martin. Ben Lewis, a US-based independent analyst who focuses on the Chinese military’s movements around the island, said the Taiwanese submarine can pose a threat to Chinese amphibious assault and troop transport capabilities. “They have practised extensively the use of civilian vessels to augment their existing troop delivery platforms, and a submarine could wreak havoc on vessels not designed for naval warfare,” Lewis said. The submarine will still need at least three years to become operational, Zivon Wang, a military analyst at Taipei-based think tank the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, said. “The launch... does not mean that Taiwan will become very powerful right away but it is a crucial element of Taiwan’s defense strategy and a part of our efforts to build deterrence capabilities,” Wang said. China’s state-run Global Times on Monday published an op-ed saying Taiwan’s submarine deployment plan to block the Chinese military was “daydreaming.” “The plan is just an illusion of the island attempting to resist reunification by force,” it said. The post Sub bolsters Taiwan defense vs China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»