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The Kalayaan, Panatag & other disputed islands; Future conflict zones?
Topic Started: Feb 2 2005, 08:00 PM (155,985 Views)
Maubanin70
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matrix
Apr 4 2012, 02:41 PM
Reports: US, Philippines building new naval base in Spratlys

By Carlo Munoz - 04/03/12 01:29 PM ET


However local residents say the construction is the first step in creating a mini-naval base for U.S. and Philippine troops. 

"It is near the Spratlys and U.S. can always check China’s aggressive campaign claim over Spratlys and maintain its military interest in the Asian region ... these advantages are non-negotiable," Salvador France, head of Pamalakaya, a local advocacy group in the region, told The Philippine Star on Monday. 
The installation could also be used as a jumping-off point for counterterrorism operations in the Palawan region of the southern Philippines. The area is home to the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic terror groups with ties to al Qaeda. 

A U.S. special operations task force has been stationed in the region since 2001, supporting Philippine forces in their ongoing campaign against Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim extremist groups in the region. 


France also asserts the new facility on Pagasa Island will be the new home for thousands of U.S. Marines scheduled to leave Okinawa within the next two years. 



http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/army/...se-in-spratlys-

Coming from CPP-NPA front (Pamalakaya) why are we surprise about this. Mas gusto pa nila na makuha ng Chinese yung island natin kesa makita nila na tumutulong ang US.
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fernandez705
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for allowing US forces in our country, america should donate us some assets or give us money to procure assets.
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Santi Kampilan
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Such a brilliant reasoning that the US will make a 37 hectare inaccessible island as a jumping point to combat counterterrorism against the Abu Sayyaf and make it a home for thousands of American Marines. Who in their right mind will believe Pamalakaya for this lame assertion? And to say "this is non-negotiable", is tantamount to putting a gun in our head and will do otherwise. The media should ignore these brilliant communists. We need to cleanse our constituency of these knuckleheads who does nothing but destroy the hopes and future of our freedom loving population.
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Tsukiyomi
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If the canos were allowed back in with open arms I am fairly certain that we will be given enough military hardware we will be choking on it. The question is will we take the time and monies to properly maintain it and train ourselves in its most effective use?

To give us money outright would just make it easier for our professional thieves in the government bodies to steal from the people easier.

They will have a much harder time explaining missing equipment, especially if the US offers a rewards along with a anonymous reporting line to the junior military members that tell the usa whenever our superiors misuse those given assets.

I would rather the usa give us assets, extensive professional military education and improve our nations infrastructure than give us money.

As for the communist/socialist and other traitorous scum residing in our nation, we should root them out and try them in court.
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Ayoshi
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ANALYSIS: ASEAN paralyzed by division over South China Sea

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is paralysed by differences over how to deal with regional superpower China's claims to strategic islands in the South China Sea, analysts said.

Lack of consensus between members of the 10-nation block over how to proceed in the negotiations with China over a proposed Code of Conduct in the sea was the biggest sore point at a two-day summit in Cambodia this week.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said there was a "big disagreement" on Tuesday over the issue, while Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen angrily played down media reports of a rift.

In the end, the leaders issued a statement Wednesday showing a veneer of unity and promising to "intensify efforts" toward the full implementation of an agreement, signed 10 years earlier, to "promote peace".

The language was strikingly similar to that used at the end of an ASEAN summit in Indonesia last year, demonstrating the bloc's failure to resolve its differences on an issue of considerable international concern, analysts said.

"This is a weak statement but it's understandable in the sense that ASEAN has been unable to find a common position regarding the South China Sea," said former Thai diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an expert at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

China and several ASEAN countries have rival claims to uninhabited islands in the sea, which is believed to be rich in hydrocarbons and straddles strategic shipping lanes vital to global trade.

The United States claims a "national interest" in keeping the waterway open for business, and has recently stepped up military ties with the Philippines, one of the claimants, as part of its foreign policy "pivot" to Asia.

US commanders have called on China to be more transparent about its intentions in the sea, where there have been clashes between Chinese, Philippine and Vietnamese vessels in recent years.

Bridget Welsh, an associate professor in political science at Singapore Management University, said the "noncommittal nature" of the ASEAN response "serves to emphasise the persistence of differences".

"This shows that the issue is still serious and the members recognise it as such, but they clearly have not reached a consensus on how to move ahead with China," she said.

US Seventh Fleet commander Vice Admiral Scott Swift said in November that while ASEAN had made "significant progress" to ease tensions, he remained concerned about "any tactical trigger with strategic implications".

China's claim to the Spratly archipelago -- based on the so-called Nine Lines dotted on an 18th-century map -- competes with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

China and Vietnam also have a long-standing dispute over the Paracel island group. A Vietnamese diplomat said late last year the region was "rife with smouldering tensions that threaten to escalate into full-scale conflicts".

Analysts said a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Cambodia on the eve of the regional talks was a thinly disguised attempt to pressure Phnom Penh, which holds the ASEAN chair in 2012, to keep the sea off the agenda.

Cambodia's main concern when it comes to relations with China is boosting trade and investment. Hu pledged last week to double bilateral trade between the two countries to $5 billion by 2017, according to Hun Sen.

ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan, who is keen to overcome the bloc's image as a talking shop, said the recent rise in tensions had given a "sense or urgency" to talks over the Code of Conduct.

"It has given the global community a sense of concern that this could lead to open conflict which will not be in the interest of any party," he told AFP.

"So we have the support of the international community to resolve this problem peacefully, effectively as soon as possible, and we are working on it."

But he admitted there were "shades of difference" between ASEAN members -- drawn between those with claims in the sea and those with no claims -- over when to include China in negotiations over the Code of Conduct.

SOURCE
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Ayoshi
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China eyes tourism in Paracel Islands

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BEIJING - China plans to let tourists visit the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, according to official comments reported on Thursday that could add another irritant to Beijing's maritime tensions with Vietnam and other neighbours.

China and Vietnam maintain rival claims across swathes of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands. Called the Xisha islands in Chinese, they are a cluster of close to 40 islets, outcrops and reefs that are controlled by Beijing.

That dispute and a mosaic of other conflicting claims have set China against Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

The proposed opening of the Paracel Islands to tourism could add to the long-standing friction, which has drawn the United States into pressing Beijing over the issue.

"The broad plan is being worked on, and a specific one is also being worked on, and we hope that within the year we'll be able to open maritime tourism to the Paracel Islands," said Deng Xiaogang, a deputy head of tourism for Hainan, the southern Chinese island-province that is near the disputed islands.

Deng's comments were first reported by Chinese state radio on Wednesday and later widely reported by Chinese media, including the China News Service.

Wang Zhifa, a deputy head of China's national tourism authority, said in March that "developing tourism in the Paracel islands will help us to protect our frontiers and demonstrate the existence of our sovereignty", said the news report.

Last month, China and Vietnam quarreled after Beijing said it had detained 21 Vietnamese for illegal fishing around the disputed islands but Vietnam said the fishermen had been detained in its waters and demanded their immediate release.

Tension rose in the region in the past two years over concern that China is becoming more assertive in its claim to the seas, believed to be rich in oil and gas and straddling shipping lanes between East Asia and Europe and the Middle East.

The stakes have risen over the past year as the United States has refocused military attention on Asia and strengthened its ties with the Philippines and Australia.

The Philippines claimed progress on Wednesday in persuading Southeast Asian leaders to present a united front to China over disputes in the South China Sea after a leaders' summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

China has insisted on handling the disputes on a one-on-one basis rather than multilaterally, a strategy some critics have described as "divide and conquer". China says its sovereignty is indisputable and historically based.

SOURCE
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spearhead
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DoctorNO, Your Neutral Observer.
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^^Gaya gaya puto maya ka china! :brrt:
"Men of War must learn the art of numbers or he will not know how to array his troops." - Plato

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Tsukiyomi
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I would not focus on getting a consensus with ASEAN yet. The focus should be on those of us with claims aside from China to draw up how we will manage this area. After we have a united front and a clear set of rules and agreements, then bash ASEAN and China over the head with what we have agreed upon. After that they can "suck it"
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spearhead
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DoctorNO, Your Neutral Observer.
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[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njScU1af0pQ[/YOUTUBE]

Pagasa Island sa Spratlys, balak gawing tourist spot
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/11559...ng-tourist-spot


:patrioticpinoy:
"Men of War must learn the art of numbers or he will not know how to array his troops." - Plato

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AZKALS
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It looks like Russia has finally joined Vietnam for oil hunt and possible drilling in the disputed areas , I wonder what would be China'a reaction now ... :armycool:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-05/g...-blocks-1-.html


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