A non-government, nonprofit, and nonpartisan volunteer-based organization that seeks to advance principled approaches to resolving disputes in the West PH Sea.
Joined April 2025
- Tweets 988
- Following 82
- Followers 320
- Likes 243
284 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
12 Nov 2025
The second iteration of The Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea took place last Nov. 5-7. Convening over 270 maritime experts and practitioners, government officials, academics and other thought leaders from at least 25 countries, the dialogue has become one of the largest South China Sea conferences in the world.
At the dialogue, participants debated issues, pitched ideas, and offered recommendations to ensure that the rule of law, not coercion and the use of force, prevails in the South China Sea. Check out the agenda and video recording, here: scsdialogue.org/
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Jun 15
Look: WPS Senior Fellow & Advisory Board Member, @DonMcLainGill95 speaking at the @LowyInstitute’s Coordinating Crisis in the Indo-Pacific workshop in Sydney last week. He joined Dr. @JeffreyOrdaniel, WPS President & CEO, and other experts from the Philippines, India, Japan, Australia, the US, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore for two days of intense discussions on future-proofing the region’s crisis response mechanisms.
Honored to speak & participate in the @LowyInstitute 's 2-day forum on Coordinating Crisis in the Indo-Pacific. Privileged to share my views with distinguished colleagues across the region.I whole-heartedly thank Dr. Rahman Yaacob & Dr. @hmarston4 for the significant opportunity
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WPS Foundation retweeted
Jun 5

🇵🇭A Decade of the Philippines’ Arbitral Victory ⚖️
The WPS Foundation and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Philippines will convene a policy forum to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award.
A Decade of the Philippines’ Arbitral Victory
Enduring Lessons, Evolving Relevance, and Ongoing Challenges

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

15:00–19:00

By invitation only
The forum will examine the continuing significance of the 2016 Award for Philippine maritime policy, regional diplomacy, global governance, and efforts to uphold UNCLOS in the South China Sea.
The discussion will feature:
Justice Antonio Carpio (Ret.)
Chair, WPS Advisory Board
Amb. Laura del Rosario (Ret.)
Former Undersecretary, Department of Foreign Affairs
RAdm. @jaytaryela
Commander, WPS Transparency Group, Philippine Coast Guard
Dr. @JeffreyOrdaniel
President & CEO, WPS Foundation; Associate Professor, Tokyo International University
@braun_daniela
Country Director, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Philippines
Hosted by Sophiya Navarro
Program Manager for Security and Foreign Affairs, KAS Philippines
The event will serve as a platform for policy exchange ahead of the National WPS Summit in July, commemorating the 10th year of the 2016 Arbitral Award.
For more information, email katrina@wps-ph.org.
#WestPhilippineSea #SouthChinaSea #UNCLOS #ArbitralAward #MaritimeSecurity #RulesBasedOrder #WPSFoundation #KASPhilippines @CommanderShopie @wpstransparency @DFAPHL
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WPS Foundation retweeted
Jun 12
Fantastic two days at @LowyInstitute’s Coordinating in Crisis: Indo-Pacific Security Workshop. Many thanks to @hmarston4 and Abdul Rahman Yacob for organizing such a timely and insightful program. Great discussions and great company with both old and new friends.
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WPS Foundation retweeted
May 31
China calls the Japan–Philippines maritime boundary talks “illegal, null and void.” UNCLOS says otherwise.
Articles 74(1) and 83(1) of UNCLOS provide that EEZ and continental shelf boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts “shall be effected by agreement” based on international law, to achieve an equitable solution. Negotiation is, therefore, not some unlawful maneuver. It is the very process UNCLOS expects coastal States to pursue. What UNCLOS does not permit is the use of coercion to impose excessive or unlawful maritime claims.
The maritime space at issue is generated by Japanese and Philippine land territories: the Nansei/Sakishima island chain on Japan’s side, and Batanes and Luzon on the Philippine side. Under UNCLOS, maritime entitlements flow from land coasts, not from arbitrarily drawn dashed lines or domestic legislation.
China’s objection ultimately depends on its claim over Taiwan — which, IN REALITY, IS NOT UNDER PRC's effective control. But even taking Beijing’s position at its highest, China would be, at most, a potential third party whose claimed interests may be reserved. It would not become a gatekeeper over Japan–Philippines delimitation talks.
China may state its position and reserve whatever rights it believes it has. What it cannot do is manufacture a veto. The talks are lawful. Beijing’s “null and void” claim has no serious basis.
(Google Map and @AsiaMTI screenshots for illustrative purposes only)
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May 29
📘 New Report Out!
The WPS Foundation is pleased to release “Defending the Frontline: Countering PRC’s Maritime Coercion and Cognitive Warfare,” a new report by Frances Mangosing (@Frances_Mng), WPS Fellow for National Security.
The report presents key insights from the 3rd WPS–INDSR Track 1.5 Workshop on Countering PRC’s Illegal/Coercive Maritime Operations and Cognitive Warfare, co-organized by the WPS Foundation and Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Cebu on March 10–11, 2026.
🌊 Drawing from discussions among experts and stakeholders from the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, the United States, and other partner countries, the report examines how the People’s Republic of China employs maritime coercion, lawfare, and cognitive warfare to reshape the regional security environment below the threshold of armed conflict.
🛡️ It also highlights practical pathways for strengthening regional resilience, including data-driven analysis, information sharing, strategic communications, joint research, cyber cooperation, and carefully calibrated Track 1.5 and Track 2 engagement.
🔗 Read the full report here:
wps-ph.org/wps-indsr-report-…
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WPS Foundation retweeted
Thank you @bworldph for inviting me to speak at the annual BusinessWorld Economic Forum. It was a pleasure to discuss the Philippines' significance in the Indo-Pacific, the challenges we face in the region, and the need to prioritize and support all efforts to secure our waters.
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WPS Foundation retweeted
Call for Papers! 📢
The South China Sea Studies Symposium, the academic component of the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea 2026, seeks to bring together scholars from around the world working on South China Sea-related issues.
Submit here: bit.ly/scs-studies2026.
May 12
📢 Call for Papers
The South China Sea Studies Symposium, the academic component of The Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea 2026, is now accepting abstract submissions.
The Symposium seeks to bring together scholars from around the world working on South China Sea-related issues and to promote rigorous academic exchange on one of the world’s most consequential maritime regions.
It also aims to help bridge the gap between theory and practice, and between academia and policymaking. Selected paper presenters will join the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea as full delegates, providing opportunities for direct engagement with government officials, diplomats, military practitioners, coast guard leaders, and leading policy experts.
✈️Selected paper presenters will receive full funding support, including:
• Economy-class round-trip airfare to Manila
• Hotel accommodation
• Per diem
• Registration for the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea
We welcome abstract submissions on themes including, but not limited to:
• Law of the Sea and dispute settlement
• Security and geopolitics
• Lawfare
• Disinformation and cognitive warfare
• Economic security
• Environmental and human security
• History of the South China Sea
• ASEAN, regionalism, and regional security
📌 Important dates
Abstract submission deadline: 22 July 2026
Acceptance notification: 18 August 2026
Draft full papers due: 20 October 2026
South China Sea Studies Symposium: 10–11 November 2026
Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea: 11–13 November 2026
@kasphilippines @braun_daniela @JeffreyOrdaniel @germanyinphl @alessionaval @bill_hayton @le2huong @CMSchultheiss @jaytaryela
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May 12
📢 Call for Papers
The South China Sea Studies Symposium, the academic component of The Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea 2026, is now accepting abstract submissions.
The Symposium seeks to bring together scholars from around the world working on South China Sea-related issues and to promote rigorous academic exchange on one of the world’s most consequential maritime regions.
It also aims to help bridge the gap between theory and practice, and between academia and policymaking. Selected paper presenters will join the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea as full delegates, providing opportunities for direct engagement with government officials, diplomats, military practitioners, coast guard leaders, and leading policy experts.
✈️Selected paper presenters will receive full funding support, including:
• Economy-class round-trip airfare to Manila
• Hotel accommodation
• Per diem
• Registration for the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea
We welcome abstract submissions on themes including, but not limited to:
• Law of the Sea and dispute settlement
• Security and geopolitics
• Lawfare
• Disinformation and cognitive warfare
• Economic security
• Environmental and human security
• History of the South China Sea
• ASEAN, regionalism, and regional security
📌 Important dates
Abstract submission deadline: 22 July 2026
Acceptance notification: 18 August 2026
Draft full papers due: 20 October 2026
South China Sea Studies Symposium: 10–11 November 2026
Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea: 11–13 November 2026
@kasphilippines @braun_daniela @JeffreyOrdaniel @germanyinphl @alessionaval @bill_hayton @le2huong @CMSchultheiss @jaytaryela
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May 12
Submit here: bit.ly/scs-studies2026
We look forward to receiving proposals from both established and emerging scholars working on South China Sea-related issues.
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Apr 23
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"With a clear ruling against a major power, the arbitral award has faced persistent attacks—not just on the Philippines, but on the tribunal that issued it and on UNCLOS itself.”
Atty. Fretti Ganchoon
Department of Justice
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/5raJFltpVmI…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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Apr 23
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"The award represents, de facto, a minimum demand in negotiations between China and the Philippines. So far, I see no willingness from the Philippines or any Southeast Asian country to accept any agreement with China that would be inconsistent with the South China Sea arbitration.”
Dr. Christian Schultheiss
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/5raJFltpVmI…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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WPS Foundation retweeted
Apr 22
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"With the DFA-negotiated RORE Deal, the lesson for China is clear. Coercion begets concession—and every concession risks becoming implicit recognition of the nine-dash line. If features like Escoda Shoal, Pag-asa, and Sandy Cay are subjected to further “provisional arrangements,” we may one day wake up to find that the nine-dash line has, in effect, become a reality.”
Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel
Associate Professor, Tokyo International University
President & CEO, WPS Foundation
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/kToooXDs7O8…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#SouthChinaSea @SCS_Disputes
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Apr 22
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"Because of President Duterte's position in 2016, he almost obliterated everything that we could have used to expand our control over what is happening in the South China Sea…We could have demonstrated how diplomacy can be used to obtain international support for our legal win.”
Former Ambassador Laura del Rosario
WPS Foundation
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/kToooXDs7O8…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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Apr 22
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"The award is final and binding. Although China did not participate in the arbitration, it is binding on it under Article 296 and Article 11, Annex VII of UNCLOS, in relation to Article 9 of the same Annex.”
Atty. Fretti Ganchoon
Department of Justice
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/5raJFltpVmI…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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Apr 22
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"Even now, why aren’t we united? Why don’t we have a united front? Those in the disunited front—what do they have to gain?”
Former Ambassador Laura del Rosario
WPS Foundation
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/kToooXDs7O8…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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Apr 21
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"Over 30 years of engaging China on the South China Sea should have already taught us lessons. Some of our pronouncements seem to indicate institutional amnesia — and that to me is dangerous."
Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel
Associate Professor
Tokyo International University
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/kToooXDs7O8…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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WPS Foundation retweeted
Apr 21
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"Every time China manufactures tension in the West Philippine Sea, China dangles bilateral talks and offers confidence building measures. The goal is not to manage tension peacefully, but to solidify gains and evade accountability.”
Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel
Associate Professor
Tokyo International University
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/kToooXDs7O8…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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Apr 21
National Symposium on the Law of the Sea and West Philippine Sea | Insights:
"There is not a single country that supports China’s claim that it owns the South China Sea. That has been the impact of the arbitral award.”
Justice Antonio Carpio
Chair, WPS Advisory Board
WPS Foundation
Mar. 31, 2026
Find out more on: youtube.com/live/5raJFltpVmI…
#WPS
#UNCLOS
#NationalSymposiumontheLawoftheSeaandWPS
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