Manila would be able to raise South China Sea-related issues that could 'embarrass' Beijing and nudge it into a compromise, analysts say A seat on the UN Security Council would give the Philippines its highest-profile platform yet to confront Beijing over its expansive claims in the South China Sea.

Manila and Taipei, facing PLA confrontations, may need to depend less on the US and appeal to Trump’s transactional nature, analysts say.

The Philippines said it expressed "serious concern” over the presence of Chinese vessels near its shores during talks with China on their South China Sea dispute.

The Philippines used its latest maritime talks with China to directly condemn the rotating fleet of Chinese Coast Guard vessels patrolling unusually close to Zambales since early January.

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have intensified in recent months concerning the South China Sea, a region spanning 3.5 million square kilometers (1.35 million square miles) through which an estimated $11.3 billion in global trade passes annually, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The latest news from the South China Sea was that the Philippine Navy was holding exercises around Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. This area has become a hotly-contested area between the Philippines and China.

Beijing and Manila have agreed to continue talks on settling their territorial differences despite Philippine protests about the presence of a Chinese "monster ship" near the contested Scarborough Shoal.

The Philippines has threatened international lawsuits against China for the action, which it says is another sign of the country's ongoing aggression in the area.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers hold a closed-doors retreat in Malaysia on Sunday, as the country hosts its first meeting as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN amid an intensifying civil war in Myanmar and confrontations in the South China Sea.

“Over the course of next year, Putin will likely face mounting domestic problems. Russia’s central bank has forecast economic growth of 0.5 to 1.5 per cent in 2025, down from 3.5 to 4 per cent in 2024, suggesting that the wartime boom may have run its course.”

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Saturday that China Coast Guard vessel 5901, often dubbed Beijing’s “monster ship,” continues to unlawfully