Philippines

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China launched another series of live-fire drills near Taiwan on Tuesday, warning ships to stay away from the Pingtan Islands region off the southern coast of China.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday rebuffed efforts by China to bully Malaysia away from oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea. Anwar’s government is investigating a leaked Chinese diplomatic note that accused Malaysia of violating Chinese sovereignty by working near the oil-rich Luconia Shoals.

The governments of the Philippines and Vietnam announced on Friday that they would sign a defense agreement that would expand their cooperation out of trade and into military and security projects, including “maritime” defense operations.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, had nothing to say about China during the first press interview of their 2024 campaign. 

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the Chinese air force for conducting “unjustified, illegal, and reckless” maneuvers.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted the founder and president of voting machine company Smartmatic, Roger Piñate, on Thursday for his alleged role in a bribery and money laundering scheme related to the 2016 Philippine elections.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who ambushed a stunned U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during an early encounter in 2021 with allegations that America has a worse human rights record than China, gave Blinken one more political lecture on Saturday.

China and the Philippines announced on Sunday they have reached a “provisional arrangement” to allow resupply missions to reach the BRP Sierra Madre, the beached ship that functions as a Filipino outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

China sent troops to Belarus for training for the first time, conducting an exercise called “Eagle Assault” near the Polish border.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry detected 66 Chinese warplanes and seven Chinese naval vessels circling the island in a single day.

The State Department announced on Tuesday that a landmark nuclear cooperation agreement has gone into effect, allowing the U.S. to export peaceful nuclear technology to the Philippines.

A group of 17 Philippine business organizations issued a rare statement denouncing China’s attack on Filipino naval personnel.

The Chinese Communist regime admits it used force to board Filipino ships and force them out of the Philippines’ territorial waters.

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Tuesday that the Greek-owned coal carrier MV Tutor, struck by Houthi missiles and an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) on July 12, has sunk in the Red Sea. 

The Philippine military said on Monday that one of its sailors suffered a “serious injury” when a Chinese Coast Guard vessel conducted an “intentional high-speed ramming” attack against a Philippine supply ship in the South China Sea.

A team from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group rescued the crew of a Greek-owned ship that Houthis attacked.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Thursday that a Palau-flagged, Ukrainian-owned, Polish-operated bulk carrier called MV Verbena was sailing through the Gulf of Aden when it was hit by two anti-ship missiles launched by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is scheduled to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Singapore this weekend, holding the first face-to-face bilateral defense meeting in 18 months.

China took an increasingly aggressive stance towards the Philippines this week, threatening to use force to repel civilian activists who are bringing supplies to Filipino fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal.

The Chinese Communist regime drafted a law that would require military training for children all the way down to the elementary school level.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was hit by exceptionally heavy rainfall this week, bringing flash floods that caused at least four fatalities and virtually shut down the city of Dubai.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gave an interview to China’s state-run Global Times on Friday in which the erratic leader trashed the United States as “antagonistic and hostile” and advised his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., to adopt a more conciliatory posture toward China.

President Joe Biden held a summit with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.

Protesters in Manila marched against Chinese “aggression” in the South China Sea on Tuesday, gathering outside the Chinese consulate to wave banners and march across a giant replica of Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s face.

The Philippines joined the U.S., Japan, and Australia on Sunday for a large-scale joint air and naval exercise in the South China Sea.

Taiwan was hit by its strongest earthquake in 25 years during rush hour on Wednesday, with nine dead, 50 missing, and over 800 injuries reported.

A crowd of an estimated 20,000 people convened in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines on Friday to observe the tradition of live crucifixions to mark the occasion of Good Friday, when Christians around the world observe the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in anticipation of his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The Lowy Institute of Australia published a report on Wednesday that found China’s funding for its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Southeast Asia is about $50 billion short of its commitments, apparently due to a variety of causes, from political instability in BRI countries to reduced demand for fossil fuel projects.

Philippine Coast Guard vessels clashed with Chinese naval forces on Monday on the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, which China illegally claims as its own, leaving four Filipino crewmen injured.

Taiwan authorities reportedly chased away a Chinese “fishing” vessel, causing it to capsize and killing half the men on board last week.

The latest demographic data from Canada showed the male population increasing by 3.4 percent, while females grew by only 2.9 percent, the widest disparity between the sexes in almost half a century.

Chinese state media went into overdrive this week to distract from revelations of a massive state-linked Chinese cyberattack on U.S. infrastructure, howling that China is actually the world’s biggest victim of cybercrime, while America is the greatest threat to global information security.

The colorful former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, stepped up an already bitter feud with his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday by accusing him of seeking dictatorial power.

The Chinese Communist government sent a threatening message to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., on Tuesday, warning that he was “playing with fire” by congratulating William Lai Ching-te for winning Taiwan’s presidential election over the weekend.

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the lethal bombing of a Catholic Mass in the Philippines this weekend as worshipers celebrated the first Sunday of Advent.

ROME — Suspected Islamic terrorists bombed a Catholic Mass at Mindanao State University in southern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least four and wounding dozens more.