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2022-05-11 | BY Lucio Blanco Pitlo III
The second Marcos administration is expected to inject much policy continuity in dealing with the South China Sea. Bongbong can leverage his father’s role in laying the cornerstone of the 47-year-old official ties and Duterte’s friendly policy in the last six years to set ties on a good footing. Such goodwill can serve as a robust ballast to allow the two countries to insulate broader ties from the turbulence brought by the longstanding row.
2022-05-05 | BY Mark J. Valencia
The U.S. is setting a dangerous example by unilaterally asserting and implementing its interpretations of terms in a treaty it has not ratified. If many coastal states enact unilateral national legislation prohibiting certain military and intelligence gathering activities by drones in and above their jurisdictional zones, then the prohibition against conducting such missions could become part of customary international law through state practice, despite the opposition of a few countries like the U.S. and its allies.
2022-03-21 | BY Hu Bo
In recent years, amid the backdrop of intensified China-US military competition, both sides agree on strengthening maritime crisis management. Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of managing competition in the video call for multiple times. Before the new progress, it is necessary to summarize current mechanisms for China-US maritime crisis management.
2022-02-22 | BY Mark J. Valencia
The Biden Administration’s long awaited Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) has finally been released. It is being widely panned by both liberal and conservative critics. One says “any Indo-Pacific Strategy that does not directly identify the China threat and offers a comprehensive strategy for addressing it is no Indo-Pacific Strategy at all”. While this seems extreme, it is indicative of how far the administration would need to go to satisfy some of its critics.
2022-02-08 | BY Lei Xiaolu
It has been recently reported that the 400-ton armed fishing vessel TK 1482 ordered by the Vietnamese militia is about to be launched. It is not unusual that militia could be equipped with military weapons to support or replace regular military forces in warfare. While in peacetime, this practice is very rare. The use of weapons on the well-equipped militia vessels would entail the risk of causing significant harm to regional security and stability.

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