... South China Sea
The waters of the South China Sea are troubled. The latest weeks have not been that quiet in that geopolitical area. On the one side, the
Spratly Islands continue to be under the spotlight
, as Chinese vessels have been detected by the Philippines within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). On the other side, Manila’s coast guard has lately been engaged in a
naval drill
in the disputed waters. President Duterte clearly stated that he will not undermine his country’s sovereignty by ...
... be admitted that, right now, Russia has no option but to continue upholding multilateralism in world trade because of all the APEC members only Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea do not participate in any regional integration group in the Asia-Pacific.
Interestingly, the Philippines managed to combine the domestic socioeconomic and the trade liberalization agendas by bringing up the topic of the services sector. It all started in winter 2015 with the discussion of importance of developing the services sector at the national ...
... as suggested in the hypothesis above, very closely linked.
China’s recent announcement of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) spanning disputed territories between China and Japan sparked protests from Japan, South Korea, the U.S. and the Philippines and was immediately tested. South Korea also declared and extended its ADIZ, which also encompasses disputed territories between South Korea and China.
Observers have expressed fears that the ADIZ could be the next flashpoint if genuine efforts ...