April
Beijing’s flag-planting in South China Sea revives tensions with Manila
The Philippines sent navy, coastguard and maritime police officers to Sandy Cay and two neighbouring sandbanks in the Spratly Islands “uphold sovereignty”.
April 2024
Australia to join stepped-up patrols in South China Sea: US
The move follows historic joint naval exercises last weekend to push back on China’s aggression in the waterway, which sparked anger in Chinese media.
March 2024
Trust Paul Keating to interrupt ASEAN’s polite summit rhetoric
Labor is confident it can sell greater engagement and business investment with South-East Asia, no matter what the former prime minister thinks of its approach to China.
February 2024
Philippines partners Australia on peace, stability and success in Asia
President Marcos’s speech is in keeping with the tightening network of Asian nations who are keen to keep the US engaged and are suspicious of Beijing’s intentions.
November 2023
Row with Manila reflects Beijing’s disregard for small state agency
Beijing is not ready to acknowledge that Manila, or any other South-East Asian claimant, has legitimate grievances that must be addressed to peacefully manage disputes.
Protesters converge ahead of Xi-Biden meeting
Representatives of more than 100 grassroots groups have gathered in San Francisco to demonstrate against a meeting of 21 heads of state.
September 2023
Albanese upgrades ties with Philippines in show of solidarity on China
Anthony Albanese went out of his way to the Philippines and explicitly expressed Australia’s support for the country’s position on the disputed South China Sea.
July 2023
EU leader pays rare visit to Philippines after stormy period
Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Manila on Sunday night for the first such top-level visit in almost six decades of relations with the Asian nation.
November 2022
Kamala Harris visits contested South China Sea island
The US vice president pledged to defend the Philippines if it came under attack in the waterway, reaffirming Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to its former colony.
May 2022
Marcos win confirms return of ‘disciplinary state’ to South-East Asia
Election results in South-East Asia’s big three electoral regimes suggest the benign technocracy of a previous generation of leaders has fallen out of fashion.
Father, son and the hunt for the missing Marcos billions
For more than 30 years, a Philippine government agency has chased the Marcos family and its cronies for stolen cash. Soon that family will be in charge of its operation.
Dictator’s son tipped to become president as Philippines votes
The next Philippine president will succeed the tough-talking populist Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs left thousands dead.
His father died in exile. Now another Marcos may be president
The Philippines is on the verge of electing the son of a dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, and the daughter of strongman Rodrigo Duterte. Here’s what you need to know about today’s election.
Army in pink reminds Filipinos why Marcos is a name to dread
Hundreds of thousands turned out in Manila in a desperate effort to keep the former dictator’s son, ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, out of the presidential palace.
Two united Filipino dynasties tipped to put dictator’s son in power
Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is expected to return his family to power in the Philippines’ presidential elections, 36 years after his dictator father was forced into exile.
February 2022
Mudgee wagyu farm owned by Ferdinand Marcos crony fetches $17m
Eduardo Cojuangco jnr developed and expanded the Gooree Park operations after he was forced into exile in 1986 following the ousting of the Marcos regime.
January 2022
Duterte successor candidates adjust their China policies
The next Philippines president will come under tremendous pressure to adopt calibrated assertiveness on South China Sea disputes, but also a measure of geopolitical pragmatism in relations with China.
The Bongbong bounce: Marcos Jnr has the Philippines in thrall
He’s the son of an infamous kleptocrat but Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr has a big lead in the race to become the country’s next President.
July 2021
Where did Ferdinand Marcos hide his $14b fortune?
Despite many accusations against the former Philippine president and a 35-year hunt to uncover his billions, the Marcoses are more popular now than in decades.
June 2021
Benigno Aquino, son of Philippine democracy icons, dies at 61
A namesake of his father, whose 1983 assassination at Manila’s international airport sparked an uprising that toppled the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship three years later, Aquino was the Philippines’ 15th president.