Speaking at a Stratbase Forum in Makati City, Gregory Poling, senior fellow and director of the Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the collaboration extends to Japan trilateral and bilateral partnerships.

Poling noted the exemption of military aid for the Philippines, along with Taiwan and Ukraine.

“The Philippines is the only country in Asia that explicitly had its military assistance unlocked as a result of Secretary [Enrique] Manalo’s meeting with Secretary [Marco] Rubio. That’s a pretty good sign.
Read More »

PH: Sputtering WPS gaslighting

February 23, 2025February 23, 2025 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Sputtering WPS gaslighting (archived)

THE West Philippine Sea “cognitive warfare” narrative has been playing since Sept. 2012 when then President Noynoy Aquino signed Administrative Order 29 “Naming the West Philippine Sea of the Republic of the Philippines, and for other purposes.”

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This has already caused massive real economic damage to Filipinos, like the loss of 1.5-million Chinese tourist arrivals and $1.5-billion (P90-billion) tourism revenues for our six million tourism workers.

Even worse, it can give the US the basis for creating a false flag operation blaming China for a human disaster and precipitating a major conflict – which is clearly what the US warmongers intend as evidenced by the US military bases in the country.

Previously:

Chinese Navy Helicopter Intercepts Philippine Cessna Over Scarborough Shoal + Embedded Journalism

RAND and SeaLight Part 3b: Four Ways China Is Growing Its Media Influence in Southeast Asia

January 5, 2025January 5, 2025 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

05-10-2022: Four Ways China Is Growing Its Media Influence in Southeast Asia

China’s most straightforward method of media outreach is directly broadcasting or publishing its state media content in target ASEAN countries. Xinhua, China’s official state media agency, has print bureaus in every Southeast Asian country. TV news channels CCTV-4 and the English-language CGTN likewise operate in nearly every country in the region, while China Radio International airs multilingual content in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar. Xinhua is a ministry-level agency directly under the State Council, while the other media organizations all operate under the Chinese Communist Party Publicity Department.
Read More »

South China Sea: Marcos inks laws on PH Maritime Zones, Archipelagic Sea Lanes + Responses of China and the United States

November 9, 2024November 9, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

YouTube

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday signed laws declaring the maritime zones under Philippine jurisdiction and designating sea lanes in the country for foreign vessels and aircraft.

Marcos inks laws on PH Maritime Zones, Archipelagic Sea Lanes

U.S. State Department On the Philippines Maritime Zones Act

Arnaud Bertrand’s Twitter thread (ThreadReader)

Regarding the South China Sea Arbitration:

The South China Sea Arbitration did not rule on sovereignty, and China does not recognize it because the Arbitral Tribunal lacked jurisdiction. “The Arbitral Tribunal violated the principle of state consent, exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of the law. This is a grave violation of UNCLOS and general international law, Wang said.” The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. The Permanent Court of Arbitration is not an agency of the United Nations. The PCA rents space in the same building as the UN’s International Court of Justice. A Congressional Research Service report, dated August 2023, stated that the U.S. has not declared its position regarding sovereignty over any of the geographical elements that comprise the South China Sea.

[Anonymous] US official accuses Russia and China of blocking Asia leaders’ statement

October 13, 2024October 17, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Full video

US official accuses Russia and China of blocking Asia leaders’ statement

WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Russia and China blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit drafted by Southeast Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday.
Read More »

Philippines sides with Vietnam in South China Sea dispute, hoping it will ‘return the favour’

October 10, 2024October 10, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Analysts believe that while Vietnam appreciates the gesture, it is unlikely to influence Hanoi’s strategy in the disputed waters.

Philippines sides with Vietnam in South China Sea dispute, hoping it will ‘return the favour’

Prashanth is concurrently a fellow at the Wilson Center, a senior columnist at The Diplomat magazine and an instructor for institutions including the U.S. State Department. He is the founder of the twice-weekly ASEAN Wonk newsletter, which offers research insights and analysis on the geopolitics and geoeconomics of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.

Stratbase ADR Institute Non-Resident Fellow: Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran

Dr. Parameswaran has held various roles across think tanks, governments, media and companies, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Associated Press. In those capacities, he worked on various issues including geopolitical and geoeconomic statecraft, Southeast Asia foreign and security policy, regional institutions, major power engagement in the Indo-Pacific as well as alliances and partnerships.

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Dr. Parameswaran holds a Ph.D. and MA focused on international business, international relations, Asian affairs, and U.S. foreign policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He earned a BA from the University of Virginia, where he studied foreign affairs and peace and conflict studies with a focus on Asia. He regularly advises groups and individuals seeking to advance conversations on Indo-Pacific affairs and serves on the board of several institutions.

Global Times: China and Vietnam capable to handle law enforcement conflict in S.China Sea properly; Philippines’ intention to stigmatize China ‘won’t work’

SeaLight document

Observations on the pundits in the PH media

June 25, 2024June 25, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Full video

Source

Retired Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio says the Philippine government should accept Vietnam and Malaysia’s invitation to take China to an arbitral court on their territorial disputes.

Source

US-funded Rappler:

[OPINION] Ayungin and why PH should respond as one team, one nation (archived):

This crisis should be turned into an opportunity.

We have postponed the replacement of the BRP Sierra Madre for years, for fear of escalating tension at Ayungin Shoal. Now is the time to either construct a concrete facility or deploy a self-propelled oil platform inside the shoal as a permanent station for our troops; which should be far superior in terms of habitability, self-defense, and supportability. If completed, some of the Navy’s missile boats can be redeployed to secure the shoal, instead of languishing in Mindanao and conducting anti-smuggling operations.” – Retired Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong.

One thing that I’ve noticed about these pundits being quoted in the PH media, is that all of them have ties to the Stratbase Group, which includes the Stratbase ADR Institute and BowerGroupAsia. Both the Stratbase ADR Institute and BowerGroupAsia have connections to Ray Powell and the U.S. government.

The InfoOp Continues in the Pacific Islands

June 8, 2024July 7, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Full video: Why Should We Care About the Pacific Islands?

John Hennessey-Niland currently works with ASPI on ‘soft power’ in the Pacific Islands.

Maintaining U.S. Credibility in the Pacific Islands (PDF)

Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI):

ASPI funding (Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, Netherlands, New Zealand, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Thales Australia, American Chamber of Commerce, Center for Strategic and International Studies, German Marshall Fund, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)

Australian think tank ASPI found linked to prison labor, human trafficking

Front Organizations

Philippines’ ‘assertive transparency’ strategy is causing them to miss out economically

March 27, 2024March 27, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Philippines is going all in with the United States and bracing itself against lost Chinese largesse. President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr will fly to Washington next month to attend the US-Japan-Philippines trilateral leaders’ summit. It will be his fourth visit to the US since taking office as president less than two years ago.
South China Sea: Philippines must softly manage disputes or miss out economically

Previously:

PH: Compared To China, US Trade, Investment Offers Laughable + More

SCS: The Office of Naval Research funded Stanford’s GKC