Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has ordered his government to improve its maritime security coordination to confront “a range of serious challenges” to territorial integrity and peace, as its dispute with China escalates.
The order, signed on Monday and made public yesterday, does not mention China, but follows a series of maritime confrontations and accusations between the two over a disputed area of the South China Sea.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce. China’s claims overlap with those of Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. A 2016 arbitration ruling in The Hague found that China’s claims had no legal basis.
“Despite efforts to promote stability and security in our maritime domain, the Philippines continues to confront a range of serious challenges that threaten territorial integrity, but also the peaceful existence of Filipinos,” Marcos said in the order.
The president on Thursday vowed to implement countermeasures against “illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous attacks” by China’s coast guard.
His order expands and reorganizes the government’s maritime council, adding the national security adviser, solicitor general, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency head and the South China Sea task force.
The order appears to expand the role of the military by naming the Armed Forces of the Philippines, not just the navy, among the agencies supporting the council.
The renamed National Maritime Council would be the central body to formulate strategies to ensure a “unified, coordinated and effective” framework for the Philippines’ maritime security and domain awareness.
Marcos increased the number of agencies supporting the council to 13 from nine, including the Philippine Space Agency and the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
EARLY ARRIVALS: The first sets of HIMARS purchased from the US arrived ahead of their scheduled delivery, with troops already training on the platforms, a source said The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it spotted 35 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, flying to the south of Taiwan proper on the way to exercises in the Pacific, a second consecutive day it has reported such activities. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the missions, reported just days before tomorrow’s US presidential election. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Its arms sales to Taipei include a US$2 billion missile system announced last month. The MND said that from 9am yesterday,
A Control Yuan member yesterday said he would initiate an investigation into why the number of foreign nationals injured or killed in traffic incidents has nearly doubled in the past few years, and whether government agencies’ mechanisms were ineffective in ensuring road safety. Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said in a news release that Taiwan has been described as a “living hell for pedestrians” and traffic safety has become an important national security issue. According to a National Audit Office report released last year, more than 780,000 foreign nationals were legally residing in Taiwan in 2019, which grew to more than
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
RSS