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| The Kalayaan, Panatag & other disputed islands; Future conflict zones? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 2 2005, 08:00 PM (155,938 Views) | |
| THE_NEWS_MAN | May 18 2012, 03:10 AM Post #1861 |
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MVP: Philex to drill for oil at Reed Bank MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine oil firm said Thursday it would start drilling next year at a potentially massive natural gas field at a reef in the South China Sea also claimed by China. The drilling of "two appraisal wells" at Reed Bank will be carried out by August, 2013, said Philex Petroleum chairman Manuel Pangilinan. "We need to do a lot before we know the amount of resources beneath those waters," he told stockholders. His comments come amid high tension with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, with Manila and Beijing locked in a standoff over the Scarborough Shoal. Philex Petroleum said last month the field at Reed Bank could hold 4.66 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, nearly twice as much as the Philippines' largest known deposits. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including the Reed Bank, which is about 148 kilometers (92 miles) off the Philippine island of Palawan and which the Philippines claims as its territory. Last year the Philippines accused Chinese vessels of harassing an exploration vessel off Reed Bank, and Manila has repeatedly accused China of aggressive actions in disputed waters. Pangilinan also said he met with officials of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in Beijing recently to discuss their offer to jointly develop the Reed Bank field. But he said that other big companies had also approached Philex, adding that his firm would need the help of a major oil company as a partner to develop the Reed Bank. "A gas field will need major expenditures and the help of international oil firms that have the technical capability and financial resource," he said. Asked if having CNOOC as a partner might assuage the Chinese, he said: "I'm assuming the political aspects would recede in the background." However, he would not speculate on what would happen if Philex chose another partner. "If gunboats appear on the horizon, there is nothing we can do," he added. For over a month, Philippine and Chinese ships have been engaged in a standoff to press their conflicting claims to the Scarborough Shoal, which is more than 400 kilometers to the north of Reed Bank. Source |
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| matrix | May 18 2012, 05:14 AM Post #1862 |
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China`s arrogance toward `small countries` MAY 17, 2012 22:48 Dai Bingguo, a State Councilor and top diplomat of China, called the Philippines a "small country." In a speech to the Chinese People`s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, he began his controversial comments by saying that while China must remain humble and not arrogant toward other countries, being humble and vigilant are not the same as being weak. Dai then added, "Smaller countries should not bully larger countries, for instance, the Philippines." To the Philippine people, this comment might have sounded like a warning that a small country like theirs should not stand up against China. Dai is China`s top diplomat. After serving as ambassador to Hungary, assistant deputy foreign minister, deputy foreign minister and director of the international liaison department of the Communist Party of China, he was elected in 2008 by the National People`s Congress as state councilor in charge of foreign affairs, a deputy premier-level position. Since he is accustomed to indirect and ambiguous diplomatic rhetoric, his bluntness on disparaging smaller countries carry unusual gravity. He might have made unreserved comments at a gathering of only Chinese people. Chinese media, however, are also chiming in with his reference to small countries. The Global Times, an English-language Chinese newspaper under the state-run People`s Daily, the official paper of the Communist Party, ran an article urging China to not confront a small country like the Philippines face-to-face. Beijing has a territorial dispute with Manila over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, which is called Huangyan Island in China, in the South China Sea. When a Philippine naval vessel attempted to capture eight Chinese fishing boats operating illegally near the outcrops, a Chinese patrol ship scurried to the scene and had a stand-off. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Ying summoned the Philippine ambassador in Beijing, warning that China "will not rule out the use of force." China has also stopped Chinese from traveling to the Philippines. The disputed outcrops are 230 kilometers away from the Philippines and 1,000 kilometers from China. The Philippines blames China for coveting Philippine territory. China denies that it is seeking hegemony, but it changes its attitude in the event of a territorial dispute. Four days ago, Chinese President Hu Jintao rejected a proposal from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for a summit, indicating his discontent over Tokyo`s strengthened territorial claim over the Senkaku Islands, which are called Diaoyu in China. China seems disregarded by Japan and looks down on the Philippines as a small country, so Beijing`s actions are not surprising. China seems to be pursuing hegemony based on its economic and military power. http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2012051884188 |
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| spraret | May 18 2012, 07:24 AM Post #1863 |
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PDFF Admin Support
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Foreign Policy: How to Outsmart China http://news.investors.com/article/611819/2...ng-conflict.htm |
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| israeli | May 18 2012, 10:26 AM Post #1864 |
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US think-tank warns China spat to worsen by Rodney Jaleco, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau Posted at 05/18/2012 8:37 AM | Updated as of 05/18/2012 8:44 AM WASHINGTON D.C. - China’s growing belligerence in disputed waters of the South China Sea will only grow and worsen, according to testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “China has a coherent multi-dimensional approach to global competition which also includes the domination of sea-lanes and civil airspace in East Asia. This is one of Beijing’s top strategic goals, not just for economic and military advantage, but also for domestic political legitimacy and regional diplomatic propaganda,” said John Tkacik Jr., Director of the Future Asia Project. The Future Asia Project is part of the Washington DC-think tank International Strategy and Assessment Center that specializes on American security issues. “China’s increasingly adamantine territorial sea claims in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea is certain to be resolved only one of two ways: either China gets what it wants or it will use armed conflict to enforce its so-called ‘core interests’,” Tkacik told the congressional panel last March. “China’s military has systematically garrisoned several chains of submerged coral shoals in the Spratlys west of the southern Philippine island of Palawan, secretly emplacing huge caissons of concrete in their shallow water and constructing massive platforms and anchorages. The Chinese forcefully ejected Philippines troops from Mischief Reef in 1995, and the Philippines has been complaining about it ever since,” he testified. Tkacik said China was tightening its strategic presence in the South China Sea. He quoted China’s East Fleet deputy commander Admiral Zhang Huachen’s explanation: “With the expansion of the country's economic interests, the navy wants to better protect the country's transportation routes and the safety of our major sea lanes.” He listed recent incidents involving China and other countries. April 2001 – Chinese fighter jet collides with an American “Orion” patrol plane off Hainan Island. June 11, 2009 – Chinese submarine cuts the sonar array cable being towed by the USS John McCain about 140 miles northwest of Subic Bay. August 2011 – Chinese ships challenged an Indian Navy ship transiting two Vietnamese ports. February 2012 – Chinese vessels prevented Vietnamese fishing boats from seeking storm refuge in the Paracel Islands A month after Tkacik’s testimony, Chinese ships stopped the Philippines from arresting Chinese fishermen caught harvesting endangered and protected marine life in Scarborough Shoal, about a hundred miles off the main Philippine island of Luzon. <snipped> In March 2010, Tkacik said, Chinese assistant foreign minister Cui Tianki told US officials that its claim to the South China Sea was at par with its claims to Tibet and Taiwan. “Thereafter, Chinese diplomats proclaimed a ‘core interest’ in the South China Sea to progressively more senior Americans – and Southeast Asians as well. In tandem, Chinese security scholars declared in the official media that “by adding the South China Sea to its core interests, China has shown its determination to secure its maritime resources and strategic waters,” he explained. State Secretary Hillary Clinton responded shortly after by declaring “The United States has a national interest in freedom of navigation, open access to Asia's maritime commons and respect for international law in the South China Sea.” <snipped> Tkacik observed China resorts to “economic punishment” of Southeast Asian neighbors that “have the temerity to challenge new Chinese assertions of territorial sovereignty in South China Sea waters.” A September 2010 flare-up in the Japanese Senkaku islands that China also claims as hers led to the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain who rammed a Japanese coast guard cutter, Tkacik recounted. “This was followed by three weeks of steadily escalating diplomatic demarches, protests and threats culminating in a de facto Chinese embargo on exports of Chinese rare-earths oxides (essential in the manufacture of advanced electronic 23 devices) to Japan,” he said. “Is China’s expanding security footprint in the South China Sea a problem for the US as well as Southeast Asia?,” Tkacik asked, “As former Asia policy aide to President George W. Bush, Michael Green, put it: ‘The Chinese are elbowing, seeing how far they can go before the referee blows the whistle on them and they get a yellow card . . . This is also a [Chinese] signal to Vietnam, the Philippines, and the smaller countries in the region, that ‘look, if we can do this to the Americans, what chance do you think you have?’” |
| "To secure peace is to prepare for war." - Carl Von Clausewitz | |
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| Ayoshi | May 18 2012, 11:45 AM Post #1865 |
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Update... China: 'Foreign' violators of fishing ban face 'punishments' China on Thursday night reminded the Philippines and other "foreign" fishermen of "punishments" if they violate an ongoing fishing ban in parts of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). A news article posted on the Chinese government's web portal pointed out the fishing ban "is also applicable to foreign ships." "Violators will face punishments such as fines, license revocations, confiscations and possible criminal charges, according to a statement issued by the fishery bureau under the (Ministry of Agriculture), " it said. It also quoted the provincial fishing authority as saying fishing vessels with fishing permits for the Nansha Islands are required to install and activate positioning equipment "so they will not accidentally enter banned areas." The Chinese government also quoted a spokesman from the fishery bureau under the MOA as saying earlier this week that fishing activity conducted by foreign ships in banned areas will be seen as a "blatant encroachment on China's fishery resources." Read More: www.gmanetwork.com |
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| Parastriker | May 19 2012, 03:00 PM Post #1866 |
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Chinese authorities have failed to identify specific historical evidence backing Beijing’s claims that it owns disputed islands in the East Sea, according to a confidential US embassy cable published by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Philippine news website ABS-CBN quoted the cable in a report published April 20. Cable 08BEIJING3499, sent to Washington by the US embassy in Beijing on September 9, 2008, said a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) official and a local scholar could not identify specific historical records to justify China’s claims of sovereignty over the entire Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago and areas within other countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs). MFA Department of Treaty and Law Oceans and Law of the Sea Division Deputy Director Yin Wenqiang, Deputy Director of the Law of the Sea Division at China’s Department of Treaty and Oceanic Law under the MFA, told a US embassy political officer on August 30, 2008 that “China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the East Sea (called the South China Sea by China) and the adjacent waters.” However, the US official said “Yin admitted he is not aware of the historical basis for the ‘Nine Dashes’” and only mentioned unspecified “Chinese historical documents” that indicate the basis for China’s claims on territory west of the Philippines, according to the cable. The US official also talked to Beijing University Asia scholar Yang Baoyun about China’s claims. Yang said China’s claims “date back to ancient times, prior to the development of the modern nation-state.” “Neither MFA’s Yin nor Beijing University’s Yang could specify a historical document that indicated the basis for the demarcation of the ‘Nine Dashes’,” the cable added. Yang referred to a 2000 MFA “white paper” on the Spratlys. “However, the white paper devotes little attention to the history of the “Nine Dashes,” providing, for example, only vague references to areas frequented by Chinese fisherman from Hainan,” the memo said. The “nine-dashes” refers to a map China submitted to the UN in which over 80 percent of the East Sea is designated as part of China and is demarcated as such via a dotted line with nine dashes. Link |
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Success through information, victory through disinformation. "Good leaders make efficient followers. Great leaders make good followers. But true leaders make leaders out of mere followers." "Measuring the intelligence of a common internet user is as easy as looking at his/her grammar." | |
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| THE_NEWS_MAN | May 20 2012, 12:31 AM Post #1867 |
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China deploys 5 warships near Phl after US sub visit MANILA, Philippines - The arrival of a nuclear-powered United States submarine in Subic Bay apparently prompted China to deploy five of its warships close to the maritime domain of the Philippines. This was reported yesterday by Duowie News, a news outlet operated by overseas Chinese in Taiwan, saying the five ships include two Type-052B destroyers, two Type-054A frigates and one Type-071 amphibious transport vessel. The ships are currently on a training mission in a yet unspecified location near the Philippines but could be sent to support the Chinese fishery administration ships around Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal if the standoff over the disputed atoll escalates. The standoff at Panatag Shoal began on April 10 when two Chinese fishery ships were deployed in Panatag shoal to prevent the Philippine Navy from arresting and detaining Chinese fishermen who had been apprehended in the area. “With a displacement of just 3,200 tons, the Hamilton-class cutter of the Philippine Navy is no match for the four Chinese destroyers and frigates which together would carry about 48 C-802/803 anti-ship missiles. The Philippines has none,” Duowie said. The warships are now approaching the waters of the Philippines, the report added. USS North Carolina silently surfaced in the former US Naval Base in Subic on Sunday last week for reprovisioning. One of the most modern submarines in the US Navy, Carolina was scheduled to leave Subic yesterday for deployment for freedom of navigation operations in the West Philippine Sea. The unannounced visit of Carolina in Subic came amid the aggressive behavior of China in laying its territorial claim over Panatag Shoal, a rich fishing ground located just 124 nautical miles off Masinloc in Zambales. View previous articles from this author | Subscribe to this author via RSS Source |
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| matrix | May 22 2012, 12:20 AM Post #1868 |
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Pentagon warns China on Spratlys, Scarborough backlash By Jojo Malig, ABS-CBNnews.com Posted at 05/21/2012 11:47 PM | Updated as of 05/21/2012 11:47 PM MANILA, Philippines - The US Department of Defense has warned China that it courts backlash from other countries if it insists on its aggressive stand on territorial disputes. The Pentagon, in its 2012 report to the US Congress on the military and security developments involving China, said Beijing must balance its interests if it wants to maintain harmony with other countries that it depends on for economic growth and development. "Beijing is finding it increasingly difficult to balance these interests, particularly when the pursuit of one conflicts with the pursuit of another," said report released over the weekend. It mentioned China's territorial disputes with other countries, including the Philippines. "China's leaders view the first two decades of the 21st century as a 'period of strategic opportunity' for China’s growth and development. They assess that this period will include a generally favorable external environment, characterized by interdependence, cooperation, and a low threat of major power war. "They believe this provides China a unique opportunity to focus on internal development while avoiding direct confrontation with the United States and other great powers. China’s leaders do not expect this period to be free of tension or competition (as evidenced by periodic flare-ups with neighbors over territorial disputes in the South China Sea) or to last indefinitely," the report said. It said Chinese military theorists see the Spratlys and Scarborough shoal as belonging to the "first island chain" of China's maritime perimeter. The Philippines itself is in the "second island chain" of China's maritime perimeter that extends from Japan to Guam. China's aggressive behavior A September 2011 paper published by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in the United States said China's aggressive behavior over disputed territory seems to have started in 1999 with an annual unilateral fishing ban. It said maritime security patrols in West Philippine Sea by ships from China's Fisheries Administration first began around 2000, while its People's Liberation Army Navy started conducting regular patrols in the disputed waters since 2005. "In the first half of 2011, China's maritime patrols have apparently begun targeting hydrocarbon seismic exploration vessels, while previously they had focused primarily on fishing boats. These increased patrols have resulted in clashes with Philippine and Vietnamese ships that some observers identify as evidence of a significantly more assertive posture," it said. It added that China has built an advanced oil rig for use in the South China Sea. It mentioned observations that growing Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea are "a prime example of Beijing’s greater assertiveness in recent years and months." "In many cases, the implication is that China has in some fundamental sense altered its strategy and approach to managing its maritime claims in that region, from an emphasis on negotiation to an increasing reliance on coercion and a use of force," the study warned. The paper, however, believes that China's growing assertiveness is only the result of Beijing's reaction to the activities of other countries in disputed territories. "In the past few years, China has not altered it basic, longstanding two-sided strategy of a) avoiding conflict while deferring the resolution of difficult disputes (such as those in the East China Sea and South China Sea) in favor of negotiation and cautious management (sometimes involving notable concessions), while b) maintaining a resolute defense against perceived attempts by others to undermine China’s diplomatic, legal, political, economic, and military position," it said. "When possible, Beijing has attempted to maintain an emphasis on bilateral negotiation and avoid conflict," the paper said. 'Not China's bathtub' Other analysts, meanwhile, believe that China must learn to stop acting aggressively regarding its territorial claims. "The message to China is simple: The South China Sea is not China's bathtub to do as it pleases. China must decide whether it wishes to maintain an antagonistic approach to territorial claims outside its legal and territorial reach," said Country Risk Solutions executive official Daniel Wagner and international comparative law experts Edsel Tupaz and Ira Paulo Pozon in a Huffington Post essay published Sunday. "A sensible approach would be to declare victory, and leave while it is ahead," they said. "The South China Sea/West Philippine Sea will ultimately be a litmus test for whether China will cease to act as an unwieldy 800-pound gorilla that does as it pleases and will instead act as a responsible member of the international community, willing to engage other contestants in a rules-based regime in accordance with established norms of diplomacy and consistent with a nation of its importance and stature," the essay added. Wagner, Tupaz and Pozon believe that China's behavior will force the Philippines and other claimant countries in the region to strengthen ties with the United States -- further alienating Beijing. "With China maintaining an adversarial approach to its well overstretched claim to the South China Sea, the Philippines and other countries in the region have little choice but to strengthen alliances with the United States," they said. "Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore have all done the same. The Philippines will in the end benefit from an enhanced military relationship with the U.S., as will other countries in the region." http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/05/21/12...orough-backlash |
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| AVBsupersonic | May 24 2012, 06:12 AM Post #1869 |
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So what do you guys think will happen next? told you so, mga OGAG kausap ang mga Chicoms! To the 5 that disliked my post.. My theories are slowly unfolding right? The worse thing that can happen is for the Aquino administration in a desperate need to save Panatag Shoal from being stolen by the Chicoms, decides to engage them in a shooting war to save face and not to lose everything in the process?? Ever since from the start of the standoff I was right to say that they just made the problems much bigger or worse by not putting the fire out before it gets fully blown. Yes, the Philippines may look good in the eyes of the World by standing up against China in a way, but we all know what happens next if China decides to call their bluff or replies back... But, after all the happennings I can still sense that China (Big Bear) is also afraid of the Philippines in a way, the Govt. should take advantage of these by really concentrate on acquiring not just modest Military Capability, but moderately LETHAL as well combined with a cleverly calculated Huramentado attitude just enough to secure, protect our territories and interests. There are few things can/ will or already happened, either; - everything is compromised? - they are too dumb and scared of the outcome? - or they are brilliant enough to engage the last minute in order to save their faces wih poorly calculated decisions..? Tingin ko mas marami naman matalino sa baba, wala nga lang magawa kung hindi sumunod sa utos ng nasa itaas, so nasaan ang diprensiya??? Mas ok kung pinayagan nalang nila na ma exercise ang rights natin sa Panatag Shoal nang grupo ni Faeldon, basta lamang naka bantay ang PCG at mangisda din sila doon tapos sabay ng Foreign at Local Media as witness, nakakapagtaka nga eh kung bakit walang maka pasok na Media? "Hindi ba dapat nga na kapag malaki o mabigat ang kalaban mo eh dapat expose mo at daanin sa media para makit ng lahat ang katotohanan!" |
| "Some are just lucky that they're not under oath and are not classified!"- Blue badge | |
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| Tsukiyomi | May 24 2012, 12:51 PM Post #1870 |
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We need to assert our sovereignty, board the chicom vessels, arrest the chinese fisherman. The chinese will attack and we will get it all on film and then the canos will act. Allowing the chinese scum to dictate the way this plays out will result in us losing our land. We need to set the terms, we need to shape the environment, we need to take the offensive even if it means we get in a shooting war. Diplomacy does not work with these a$$holeS. |
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8:30 AM Jul 11