Purportedly Chinese dredging vessels are building up land around Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea last year.
U.S. Navy via Reuters
The Philippines is cheering a ruling that China’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis. But the ruling will also ratchet up military tensions with the U.S.
Despite joking about gang rape, insulting the Pope and admitting to personally killing criminals, the Philippines’ new president was handed a healthy mandate.
Just when you might have thought the Philippines was on the mend, morbid symptoms of untreated problems re-emerge. It really shouldn’t be this way. It may seem hard to believe in retrospect, but in the…
Surely it isn’t too far-fetched to claim that if migrants are to promote democracy back home, it is beneficial for them to experience democratic values and principles in the countries hosting them.
Piton de la Fournaise or “Peak of the Furnace” on Reunion Island is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, shown erupting in August 2015.
AAP/NewZulu/Vincent Dunogué
What happens beneath the surface before a volcano erupts? Can we predict when one will blow? And how can typhoons and melting glaciers contribute to big eruptions?
These Rohingya women and children, rescued by fishermen in Aceh, are among thousands in need of resettlement.
EPA
A summit in Bangkok is discussing the fate of thousands of people who were stranded at sea. Australia is represented but refuses to resettle any refugees, casting doubt on its commitment to a regional solution.
Taking no chances: a joint US-Philippines military exercise.
EPA/Noel Celis
China is building artificial islands to exert military influence in the South China Sea. Could this bring military conflict back to a long-peaceful region?
The city of Tacloban after Typhoon Haiyan, November 2013.
EPA/Dennis M. Sabangan
On November 8 2013, Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines. One of the largest tropical storms ever to make landfall, it killed more than 10,000 people and left millions homeless. The vast recovery effort…
Thailand’s military coup in May is a sign of political malaise without an obvious cure in the absence of a new social contract.
EPA/Pongmanat Tasiri
Rather than a new dawn for democracy, political and social reform in the region has led to less representation and more contestation. This has potentially far-reaching consequences. What does the May coup…
Provocative words chucked out by Hagel.
EPA/Robert Ghement
When US defence secretary Chuck Hagel recently accused China of destabilising the Asia region to an audience in Singapore, he knew he was preaching to the converted. China’s modern-day development is complex…
The peace agreement between the MILF insurgency and the Philippines government is a significant achievement, but challenges do lie ahead for all parties.
EPA/Ritchie B. Tongo
Late last month, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) insurgency and the Philippines government signed a landmark peace settlement, signalling the end of a decades-old conflict. After 17 years of on-and-off…
India and the Philippines want to be known for more than their global call centres.
Shutterstock.com
When Qantas wished to outsource some of its engineering operations in the 1990s it came to a compromise with the unions - the 767s would be done in-house, and the 747s outsourced. Decades on, clashes between…
Poverty and population growth have driven child exploitation in the Philippines for decades.
Pat Roque/AP
Long before the advent of the internet, the Philippines was a prime destination for Western child sex tourists. The US military presence in the country during and following the Vietnam War fuelled a demand…
Following typhoon Haiyan, the Philippines’ Department for Environment and Natural Resources has earmarked around US$8m to fund efforts to replant much of the affected coastal zone with mangrove forests…
Typhoon Haiyan is an unnatural disaster.
EPA/Dennis M. Sabangan
Now that Typhoon Haiyan has passed through the Philippines we can turn to the question of why the storm wreaked such havoc. In a country that sees 20 tropical storms every year, it would be natural to…
Too little, too late: the Philippines President hands out water to survivors in Tacloban City.
EPA/RYAN LIM/ MALACANANG PHOTO BUREAU HANDOUT
Filipinos are no strangers to big storms. Their country sits next to the world’s most intense typhoon generator, a huge expanse of deep, warm ocean in the North West Pacific. More than 20 tropical storms…
Path of destruction: Haiyan makes landfall.
AP Photo/Nelson Salting
Adam Kucharski, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The rain is ricocheting off the roads here in Manila. Early on Friday, our car’s tyres dragged in the deep puddles. Basketball courts - remnants of bygone American rule, and a staple of every district…