Waste taxpayers dollars! It is far better if Hillary or Obama is onboard the P8. Technically US is free to roam where the P8 went as long as it is outside 12 NM Military Alert Zone around the artificial islands. US is tempting fate if she do it too often as this will accelerate Chinese SCS ADIZ. Now what? Bring in B52 nuke capable jets for another Nuclear Blackmail? China will just brush it off as nothing. Further waste of US tax dollars. I mean how many times can US go around with her P8 or B52 flights before she looks like an Idiot since China Don't Care?

It is really a waste of taxpayers dollars but the US doesn't care also. Every time the US do the flight is like a slap in the face of china.

I believe this a show for the Philippines in order to urge them to sign the TPP, once that is inked into paper; i would like to see what else the USA will offer the Philippines. Perhaps some 1950s military hardware?

TPP or not, I think the Philippines is waking up. It is now updating its armed forces even though at a snail's pace.There will be a leader that will resurrect the Santa Barbara Project of President Marcos and will catapult this country into self-reliance. It's only a matter of time. The Chinese wants to embed in the mind of the Filipinos that they must solely rely on USA for Philippine Army modernization. Its always in the interest of China that we 'sleep'. Well, that time is almost up. This generation is promising.

Has Philippines woken to realise that reclaiming Sabah is a better and more fruitful option ?

Reclaiming Sabah is the next agenda,be patient.

Good. But I wish what you said comes from the mouth of Aquino.

Can you influence him or FM Del Rosario to make that statement ?

The Philippines will join the TPP regardless of the US show. The 1950's US military hardware is betting than the quality of the chinese made copies.

The Philippines will sign the TPP regardless of the US show. 1950's military hardware is much better than china's C#R&A*P.

This will be a merry geopolitical dance between USA and China. The USA sees freedom of navigation and no one having a right to regulate air and sea traffic through the South China Sea as a vital national interest, while China sees its claim to an EEZ in the SCS as a vital national interest. The two countries could just slide pass each other creating friction or butt heads.

Well, that will stop those Chinese from reclaiming any land. Single-handed restoration of status quo.

The US sure has gone a long way to think that putting a navy officer in a surveillance plane equals to a stern response. The first sign of an empire in decline is to see grandstanding replacing action. Just as any author is only as popular as his latest novel, so is any empire only as powerful as its latest show of determination or lack of it.

Except for that fact that Xi and his cohort, the PLA generals, and the PLAN Admirals know fully well that they will be beaten with their pants down in a full-scale war with the US.
The U.S.'s worst fighter is still preferred even from Red China's best fighter.

You mean the Korean War?

No, currently.

Your said situation sounds more like the time before the Korean War. China is much weaker than the rivals then. But finally, you know, the results of a full scale war does not depend on how good the arms you have, rather it depends on how firm a resolution your people have.

In this case of SCS disputes, China treat it as 'core interests', which means it is desired to fight to the last. On the other side, the US does not have terretory claims there. It is obvious who has the resolution to fight and win.

what you say is so true and the Philippines has a trainee fighter.

You got a point there. Except for the looming economic disaster that is called Peking's stock-market crash even before the UN Tribunal declares its 9-Dash onslaught illegal, so the worst is yet to come. Haven't heard of losing face in a global scale, quite a confidence builder don't ya think?
China's elite is leaving and investing abroad in droves, a very bad sign. Based on current market trends Manila's economy is at $456 Billion and at 7.2% growth it doesn't look like you can't keep her down for so long. Yes, of course, trainer fighters will be no match with any Russian-designed fighter jets copied and made in China.

Manila is only growing because all our jobs are getting outsourced over there. Call Centers and Administration. Disaster in Peking, i don't think so.

No, Manila does not have all your jobs, silly! "because all our jobs are getting outsourced over there."
Yes, know of any factories in China who wants to relocate their operations elsewhere, and for sure they can use more BPO's.

This is like playing solitaire, n whatever the outcome, the US declares a win. It may have made the Chinese sit up but there is always the law of unintended consequences.
Remember when the US carrier sailed in the Taiwan Straits in 1996, the US jingoists were wetting themselves. That forced the Chinese to accelerate their area denial weapons. It also forced them to look beyond the 1st island chain. Hence, their pugnacious attitude in the South China Sea.

As an aside: if the US had left well alone the sabre- rattling by China against Taiwan, the CPC leadership would realise it was a self-defeating move as the Taiwanese voted against the pro-unification KMT.

The Chinese have not stopped building their islands - and have still to declare an ADIZ!! One small PR flight by a US coomander, and thus journalist loses his reason!!

Violating the 12 mile limit of another nuclear power is insanely reckless and could get a US warplane shot down which might inspire the US to launch WW III. It doesn't matter whether the US recognizes it or not. Under UNCLOS China had the right to 12 miles of territorial waters and airspace around Fiery Cross Reef, the rock the US buzzed because it is above water at high tide. China has the right to defend its airspace under the UN Charter. So if a similar act by the US leads to war the US will be the aggressor.

The US needs to distinguish between Chinese artificial islands built on rocks as defined by UNCLOS, like Fiery Cross Reef and those built on reefs that are below water at high tide. The former can have territorial waters and the latter can't. Buzzing the wrong type will probably start a war. It is not clear from reporting whether the US navy plane actually violated the 12 mile limit or went right up to it. It is worth keeping in mind that the Chinese navy will defend what their government defines as their country's airspace not what the US says it is.

But they're not their islands.

China says they are and the US could start WW III if they challenge the Chinese military over the issue. The Chinese military will defend the borders defined by the Chinese government. There are better ways to deal with this then starting a war that could get tens of millions of Chinese and Americans killed.

At the conclusion of WW2 US handed back all the SCS island chains to China. This is the fact that you have missed.

Inventing truths? The US did no such thing. Please, when you fabricate facts, try to be more clever.

Yup, learn from the Americans how to lie and get away with it ?

The US does this all the time. e.g., Iraqi's "WMD". LOL!

If what you are saying is correct then why china is AFRAID to confront The Philippines in the UNCLOS?

They don't want to admit that the court has jurisdiction so they are making their arguments outside of the court.

China rightly argues that the dispute is over sovereignty which is not covered by UNCLOS. UNCLOS only applies after sovereignty of the land in question has been settled. The Philippines is trying to use UNCLOS for an issue it does not cover.

The sovereignty of the SCS is not settled hence the UNCLOS is applicable. There are lots of claimants. Likewise, democracies detested china and questions its illegal occupation, environmental destruction, and its fake islands in the area.

Also, why china did not file a protest in the UN, where it is a Security Council member, to question the legality of the UNCLOS' acceptance of the Philippines' case? It is understood that the UNCLOS is composed of international law experts. It could have thrown immediately out of the window the Philippines case if it has no jurisdiction. If china has legal proof of its SCS claims, it can also file a case against the Philippines in any international courts other than UNCLOS.

China is as likely to follow international law as the US did in invading Iraq or Russia did with Crimea. Great powers only follow international law when they consider it in their national interest. If the Chinese are smart they will do a deal with the Philippines to keep the US from getting bases there. China will want to push US military power back from its neighborhood.

It will be easier to do that if they use soft power along with their increasing military power. If they do fair deals with their neighbors on oil and fish and offer them more investment than the US can afford they can keep the Philippines and Vietnam from giving the US military bases which is not in China's interest. There is more chance of China doing deals based on its national interests then on anything an international court says. It would be a strategic blunder for China to bully the Philippines and Vietnam to the point that they give the US bases on their territory.

No one needs to defend themselves every time someone makes a claim. It would be a waste of time and expense, especially if one is in a position of strength.

Non-action is sometimes a good move.

The Philippines would love the USA to start WW3 with China, but i doubt that the US government would be crazy enough to do that, especially for the Philippines who are morally corrupt + poor + begging.

You are inventing story man. The Filipino people is one of the most caring people in the world. Tell me one single Filipino leaders that would want WW3? Who is morally corrupt? The Philippines is the last hold out country barring divorce. The Philippines Sheltered Russians in the early 1900's. It offered sanctuary to the Jews beginning of WW2 when almost no other countries accepts them, We sheltered the Taiwanese/Chinese after it fell to Communism and purging, the Cambodians during Khmer rouge and the Vietnamese. That's the truth and you can read this even in the internet. The latest is that the Philippines is offering asylum to Rohingya when almost all countries nearby refused. Who then is morally corrupt?
Philippines is poor? Nope man. Mismanaged yes! But wait for a generation man.

Ferdinand Marcos, the one who ran away with all of the Filipino treasury? Now that was one corrupt person. The Philippines will become a real nation is when they get rid of its political dynasties.

How about the billions of dollars Emperor Xi Jinping deposited abroad.

The fact is there are more poor mainland chinese of about 700 million compared to Filipinos. Xi Jinping and his cohorts stashed wealth abroad as reported by Bloomberg amounts to billionds of dollars. China use to be a poor,dirt country and still rely on foreign donations.

700 million poor. I'd say they are poor. I read an article where 3 siblings killed themselves coz they had nothing to eat. Geeezzzzz

GDP per capital the Philippines is only half of China's. Thats GDP per capita. You are right, China did rely on foreign donation, but the Philippines still does. The Philippines was an Asian tiger in the 1960's; the 4th largest economy in Asia. what happened?

china's internal debt right now is 38 T dollars, serious environmental problem, and crashing stock market. who is in better shape?

Some readers have no knowledge that at the conclusion of WW2, US handed back the SCS islands, Spartly and Parcel included, to China. These islands were taken from China by Japan before that time.

Completely untrue

That's the historical development there, no matter how you deny or explain it.

you're not the only one that can fabricate own historical claimed! we are not after historical claimed here we have UNCLOS and China signed. in UNCLOS historical basis are no bearing.

So now that we had a UNCLOS in 1982, we just dismiss all history before that year, any country signed on UNCLOS can just extend an EEZ stretching 200 nautical miles from its shoreline, no matter even if it covers other country's territory or island. Is that right? You are not the only one bearing this logic, the state of philliphins also thinks so.

Any evidents of that or just i heard ccp propaganda say so? Controls of those islands before ww2 was under adminstrative of vietnam that was why they both hand back to vietnam with no objection from international delegate at san Francisco peace conference. China attemped to grab those island by claims through the soviet representation at the conference was rejected outright by all international representatives.

The fact taiwan got the taiping island from the group was because it was sent there by the US to take the surrender by japanese troop they didn t send there to take ownership and the US even transport them to the island on US warship because they have no ship to get there left alone claiming anything. The rest of the islands took back under the control of vietnam by the French vietnam colonial force since they responsible for all vietnam defence and external affairs (under protectorage treaty between France and vietnamese emperor)

Don t lost your pant over reading too much ccp propaganda and distorted history. The only thing the chinese own on those islands are fake sovereignty marker stones they buried there ín 1932 by pretended as fisherman seeking shelter from storm at paracels islands while they were there they buried fake historical evidents so can claim later. They did the same again days before they invade paracel islands and steal from republic of vietnam. Days before they invaded they sent armed militia pretend to be fisherman sheltering from storm and then burried old remains of the death they digged up from china mainland and got caught red hand by the republic vietnam navy who were guarding these islands.

When it come to manufacture fake stuffs be it fake iphone, fake watch, fake history, fake maps or fake economic statistic data no body do it better than china!

If the islands were Vietnam's territory, why not send Vietnam's troop to 'take the surrender' from Japan? Considering also China 'have no ships'.

These islands have never been administrated by Vietnam. But it has been shortly administrated by the colonial France, which also colonized Vietnam. While all colonized territories shall be returned to their original owner, that's the common practice of international rules.

Yes there are many faked items in the world now. But one thing can never be faked. That is history. People may dislike it, try to torture it or deny it, while it can never be faked.

Awe quit it already. You have no evidence.