U.S.-led drills represents a fresh challenge to Beijing.

Despite Duterte’s fiery anti-US rhetoric, the Philippines and the US retain their strong military alliance. Similarly, on China-Philippines relations, Manila’s bark is worse than its bite — alongside South China Sea disagreements, the two sides have rapidly expanding economic ties. A bilateral (not trilateral) approach, with respect for each side’s red lines, is the key to avoiding escalation and deepening cooperation.

Warming political ties over the past three years are beginning to produce economic and security dividends for both China and the Philippines. However, low public trust in China may not easily dissipate.

Two navy warships sailed near islands claimed by China in South China Sea on Monday.

The Filipino president is facing domestic backlash over his Beijing-friendly policies amid crucial midterm elections, which serve as a referendum on Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency.

In the contested South China Sea, there are increasing concerns about public agendas fueled by private interests. The structures of Albert del Rosario's think-tank and its many bedfellows are a case in point.

USS Wasp spotted near China-occupied feature, ABS-CBN says.

As it wrestles with Brexit, Britain is recommitting itself militarily to the Asia-Pacific, where it once had numerous colonies and today has key trading partners. But the UK’s naval actions, part of an effort to assert itself as “Global Britain,” may serve to rankle China and the broader region.

The US should stop provoking China in the SCS.

Through the use of rhetorical narratives, the American “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” is intended to be an alternative to China’s Belt & Road Initiative, emboldening counterproductive geopolitical competition in the region.