ASIA TIMES: Has Duterte’s China pivot backfired?

Nothing new, but Good article that sumarizes all the fuck ups of the Duterte administration.

Malacanang Palace: US could have stopped China in South China Sea

Inquirer reporting:

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang lamented on Wednesday the United States’ inaction on Beijing’s massive reclamation in the disputed South China Sea.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement following reports of China’s continued aggression in the disputed waters, including poaching giant clams in Scarborough Shoal and deploying Chinese maritime militia near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island.

“Well, like America is there, they could have stopped China from the inception, but they did not,” Panelo said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel on Wednesday.

Well, the Obama admin refused to confront China at that time just as they were afraid to confront Russia until after the 2016 elections. ☺

Robredo Hits Back At Imee Marcos For Saying Philippines Started Fight With China

Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, April 14, slammed Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, a senatorial candidate, for her "insensitive" comment on the maritime dispute between the Philippines and China.


"Iyon talagang nakakadismaya.... Talagang napaka-insensitive. Nakakatakot na ganito iyong magiging senador," Robredo said on her weekly radio show.
(That's really disappointing.... Utterly insensitive. It would be scary to have a senator who thinks like that.)

In a television interview, Marcos claimed it was Manila that started the fight with Beijing. China claims ownership of virtually the entire South China Sea, including waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

Former president Benigno Aquino III, Robredo's ally, had brought China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague over the dispute. The arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has said more than 600 Chinese ships have circled Pag-asa Island since January, according to ABS-CBN News.

SOURCE: Rappler

Teddy Locsin Walks Back Duterte Admin's Tough Talk Against China

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said that now is not the “right time” to raise disagreements on disputed territories in the South China Sea, when the Philippines and China are both “hot under the collar.”

“This is actually not the right time to bring up disagreements over the South China Sea / West Philippine Sea with both sides hot under the collar while a pissing contest is in full flower,” he said in a tweet on Monday.

“But ‘swarming in unison’ is definitely not traditional fishing under any definition,” he added referring to the reported presence of Chinese vessels near Pag-asa Island.

Locsin’s tweet came days after Philippine and Chinese officials asserted their stand on the maritime dispute that has long involved the two countries.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang maintained China’s claims over the Spratly Islands, citing legal and historical basis and accounts.

SOURCE: Inquirer.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: West sends Brunei into China’s arms with outrage over its anti-gay sharia laws

As oil reserves run out, Brunei looks to China to back critical development projects as it faces Western censure over sharia laws many say are only for show

Source.

"Locsin’s tough talk can help draw attention away from the President’s lame reaction to the red dragon’s gobbling up bits and pieces of Philippine maritime areas."

Federico Pascual, on the balancing act Duterte has to do for his Chinese benefactors and Angry Filipinos, and how Teddyboy is the shiny object drawing attention from the pathetic Digong.

SCMP: Beijing tried to block Philippine military facilities on disputed island ‘over fears US could use them’

China’s deployment of a large fleet of vessels to the Philippines-held Thitu Island in the South China Sea is aimed at blocking the country’s construction of military facilities on the disputed island in the Spratly chain because it is concerned that the United States will be able to use such facilities, diplomatic observers said.

 Read the whole thing.

Previously: Beijing sends ships to disputed island ‘to stop Philippines building’