Vietnamese and Philippine naval forces planned to play football, volleyball and tug-of-war Sunday in the first such display of camaraderie in the Spratly Islands in the South China sea where territorial rifts with China have flared.

The online ruckus over the planned Philippine Independence Day celebration on Orchard Road in Singapore is the latest ominous sign of rising xenophobia in the prosperous city state.

The U.S. and Philippine militaries have launched a large, 10-day, annual military exercise amid increasing tensions in the disputed South China Sea.

So Philippine and American officials formally inked a basing agreement during President Obama’s visit to the archipelago. Rather than reestablish permanent bases, the deal will allow U.S. military units to rotate through three to five Philippine facilities — the details are still being sorted out — and to stage equipment and munitions there for combat and disaster-relief missions. Huzzah!

From April 22 to April 29, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines in what many observers called an attempt to solidify his administration’s “rebalance to Asia.” The Diplomat spoke with Dr. Jonathan Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, about Obama’s goals for the trip, and the major events at each of his stops.

"Will China invade its neighbors?" This is a question I tend to be bombarded with whenever I present lectures or attend talks on East Asian affairs. From Tehran to Tokyo, one can sense the growing anxiety towards China's international influence.

 The Philippine navy will soon return to a South China Sea island it lost to Vietnam 40 years ago to drink beer and play volleyball with Vietnamese sailors, symbolising how once-suspicious neighbours are cooperating in the face of China's assertiveness in disputed waters.

Donations for communities affected by "Yolanda" continue to pour in, three months after the super typhoon hit the central Philippines. The African Diplomatic Corps in Tokyo handed over to Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel M. Lopez the collective donation of the ADC and the Association of the Wives of African Ambassadors for victims of "Yolanda".