“Railways are one of our fortes…”
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“US President Barack Obama will focus on domestic issues ahead of the election as he needs to pass down legacies before leaving office”.
Former Philippine interior secretary Rafael Alunan III speaks during a press conference with former Philippine president Fidel Ramos (not pictured) in Hong Kong on August 12, 2016.
The Philippines has sought to strengthen ties with former World War II foe Japan as it faces a tense maritime dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea.
Yasay met his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, in the Philippines to discuss regional security and cooperation on maritime security, with Japan reaffirming its help which includes vessels and aircraft.
Kishida is in the Philippines for a three-day visit.
Mr. Duterte has even declined invitations for engagements in Manila, saying he wants to avoid worsening the congestion.
A distress signal was issued by the cargo ship, with a coast guard dispatching a vessel and plane to the area, according to the Japanese coast guard.
Relations between Japan and China have always been strained over how to develop undersea gas deposits in the area, as well as by their wartime history, a sensitive topic during recent months because of end-of-World War II anniversaries.
The two 90m-long, multi- role response vessels will be on top of the 10 mid-sized coast guard ships, worth 8.8 billion pesos (S$254 million), that Japan is expected to start delivering next week.
“The Philippines’ territorial claim over part of Nansha Qundao is groundless from the perspectives of either history or worldwide law”, a government document said after the verdict.
Japan warned China’s ambassador twice in the past week that relations between the two countries were “deterioratingmarkedly”. Newly inaugurated Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been cracking down on drug dealers and users in his country, which has brought condemnation from human rights activists as well as from the United States.
China claims around 90 percent of the South China Sea – which is believed to be sitting atop huge oil and gas deposits – but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also consider some of the region’s waters, islands and reefs to be their territory.
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China advanced a narrative that it had historic rights to almost all of the South China Sea (SCS) and that it could prevent states like the Philippines and Vietnam from fishing in their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and drilling for oil near their coasts.
