A conference of executives from aviation regulatory agencies, airports and airlines in the Asia-Pacific region is scheduled to open in Manila on Monday with discussions on collaboration in medical emergency situations such as the avian flu on top of its agenda.
The US defense secretary has reaffirmed Washington’s cooperation with the Philippines on defense, noting the country’s role in maintaining stability in the Asia Pacific, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.
Nearly two thirds of people in the Asia-Pacific region have no clean, piped water at home despite the region’s strong economic growth, according to a major report released on Wednesday.
Stiff budget cuts that take effect Friday because of a political standoff over America’s burgeoning debt could crimp US military activity in the Asia-Pacific, just as Washington seeks to reassure friends and allies of its staying power in the region.
“See you at the United Nations,” Malacañang told China Wednesday after the Chinese Embassy in Manila made a belated appeal to settle their territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) through bilateral negotiations.
UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called for an “amicable” settlement to a mounting West Philippine Sea territorial dispute between China and other Asian nations.
The Philippines has taken China to a United Nations arbitration tribunal to challenge Beijing’s claim to most of the South China Sea (which the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea) and compel it to respect the Philippines’ right to its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and stop Chinese incursions into areas in the disputed waters claimed by the Philippines.
President Aquino is open to the idea of a Chinese company joining an oil and gas exploration in Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) but says it has to comply with Philippine laws.
The Philippines is taking with caution Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing’s declaration of Beijing’s openness to a joint exploration for oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), a position more recently reiterated by China’s foreign ministry to show its commitment to a peaceful resolution of the maritime dispute embroiling both countries.
The Philippines and China may forge ahead with the joint exploration of oil and gas reserves in the West Philippine Sea, which the latter calls the South China Sea, even as their leaders continue to squabble over boundaries.
The Philippines’ top diplomat on Wednesday welcomed the assumption to office of the new secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)—a change in leadership that comes as the bloc treads a challenging path toward unity on several key regional issues.
Allaying international concerns over China’s new maritime policing policy in the disputed West Philippine Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has clarified that the possible boarding of ships by Chinese authorities would be limited to “a narrow coast zone.”
