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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 (156,086 Views) | |
| Samir_Duran | Apr 16 2011, 11:03 AM Post #381 |
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THE GHOST
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Maybe it will take them just a DAY to do that considering our underpowered Military assets, for sure there will be a lot of casualties on our side, just thinking about what can happen is making me boil in a different feeling with full of sadness and anger! "Knock on wood" but if ever anything like this happens, I will buy the first flight ticket back to Palawan to help our soldiers organize a Civilian Defense Force. I BELIEVE FILIPINO's WON'T TAKE THIS LIGHTLY, IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS..... Regardless if ILL EQUIPPED or NOT! It's a different story if they touch PALAWAN or The Rest of the COUNTRY, that will trigger MDT! @AVBsupersonic: I'm with you if this will happen. The underground Intelligence will leave post and will be training our CITIZENS not civilians in Palawan to soldiery in worse case scenario. |
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| AVBsupersonic | Apr 18 2011, 04:38 AM Post #382 |
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Defending the Philippines’ rights to the Reed Bank By Phieu Le And Huy Duong IN early March this year, the Philippines had to suspend seismic survey activities at the Reed Bank after one of its survey vessels was threatened by two Chinese patrol ships. Although the Philippines is determined to defend its rights in this area, China has further repeated its claim over the Spratlys and warned other nations against surveying activities in what it considers to be maritime zones under its jurisdiction. Given China’s overwhelming hard and soft power, it would be beneficial to the Philippines to have support from other nations for its rights at the Reed Bank. The question is how can the Philippines gain this support? The Spratlys are claimed partly or wholly by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Taiwan. Naturally, the other claimants will not support the Philippines regarding the Spratlys dispute. Third party nations do not support any one claimant. Therefore, as long as the Reed Bank is perceived as maritime space belonging to the Spratlys, other nations are not likely to support the Philippines’ rights in this area. The solution is for the Philippines to assert that the Reed Bank is not part of the Spratlys’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or continental shelf. This assertion means that the Reed Bank is not subjected to the Spratlys dispute and therefore belongs to the Philippines by virtue of the EEZ generated by the nation’s baselines. From the legal point of view, there is strong basis for this assertion. The Reed Bank is a submerged area, so the issue is about maritime delimitation instead of island ownership. This area lies well beyond the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea of the nearest Spratly features that are above high tide and straddles the equidistance line between these features and the Philippines’ undisputed territories. According to Article 121 of the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), it is doubtful that these features are entitled to an EEZ or a continental shelf beyond 12 nautical miles. In addition, even if it is arguable that they might be so entitled, jurisprudence rendered by the International Court of Justice would give these features at most only a small fraction of the weight of neighboring territories such as Palawan Island in delimiting EEZs or continental shelves. Therefore, according to international law, any EEZ or continental shelf that belongs to the Spratlys is most likely to be not much more than 12 nautical miles from each island’s baselines, and certainly will not extend near enough to the equidistance line between the Spratlys and other territories in order to overlap with the Reed Bank. This means that the Reed Bank is not part of the EEZ or continental shelf that belongs to the Spratlys, which, in turn, means that, despite the dispute over the Spratlys, none of the Spratlys claimants can legitimately challenge the Philippines rights there. In particular, China’s maritime claim, which is indicated by the so-called U-shaped line and completely covers the Reed Bank, is absolutely unacceptable because it extends beyond the equidistance line. From a geopolitical point of view, the Philippines has a good chance of winning support for this assertion. Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam have never challenged the Philippines’ rights and activities at the Reed Bank. Furthermore, the principle that the Spratlys are not entitled to an EEZ or a continental shelf, or, at most, are entitled to maritime zones that do not extent significantly beyond 12 nautical miles from each island, is actually beneficial to these nations. For example, it would mean that James Shoal, the Natuna area and the Vanguard Bank are not subjected to the Spratlys dispute but, instead, rightfully belong to Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam respectively. In fact, Vietnam and Malaysia’s submissions to the UN’s Commission for the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2009 are based on this principle. Indonesia has gone further and explicitly stated its view in a note verbale to the UN, that, “those remote or very small features in the South China Sea do not deserve special economic zone or continental shelf of their own. Allowing the use of uninhabited rocks, reefs and atolls isolated from the mainland and in the middle of the high sea as a basepoint, to generate maritime space concerns the fundamental principles of the Convention [of the Law of the Sea] and encroaches the legitimate interest of the global community” and that, therefore, China’s U-shaped line “clearly lacks international legal basis and is tantamount to upset the UNCLOS 1982.” Therefore, it seems that, in response to China’s maritime claims, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are already ahead of the Philippines in invoking the principle that the Spratlys only deserve maritime zones that are limited in extent. The US is always vigilant against excessive maritime claims by other nations and thus will likely also support this principle. In conclusion, the principle that the Spratlys have maritime zones that do not extend much beyond 12 nautical miles, and that the Reed Bank is not part of these zones, would benefit the Philippines vis à vis China’s maritime claims, without prejudice to the question of sovereignty over the islands themselves. For example, according to this principle, it is illegitimate for China to use the Spratlys dispute to challenge the Philippines’ rights at the Reed Bank. Geopolitical considerations and the strong legal basis of this principle mean that it is likely to win support from Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam and the US. It is time that the Philippines invokes the principle that the Spratlys have maritime zones that do not extend much beyond 12 nautical miles in defending its rights in the EEZ generated by the nation’s baselines in general and at the Reed Bank in particular. [Phieu Le is a doctoral candidate in International Law at the University of Montesquieu, France. Huy Duong is a freelance writer. They contribute articles on the South China Sea disputes to the BBC and Vietnam’s online publication VietNamNet.] http://www.manilatimes.net/sunday-times/sp...-the-reed-bank/ WE MUST URGE OUR GOVERNMENT TO STAND BY THIS PRINCIPLE!
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| "Some are just lucky that they're not under oath and are not classified!"- Blue badge | |
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| AZKALS | Apr 18 2011, 07:17 AM Post #383 |
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http://www.manilatimes.net/photo-gallery/h...%80%99s-u-line/ |
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| Samir_Duran | Apr 18 2011, 12:13 PM Post #384 |
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THE GHOST
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@AVB No worries. I have sent a copy of that article to senator Trillanes for reference. Very well explained legal stand point from a Vietnamese. Very well said. |
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| innonni | Apr 18 2011, 12:34 PM Post #385 |
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I really want to shake the authors hand. ![]() TagaLaguna you really did that? hats off to you friend
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If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. -George S. Patton | |
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| Samir_Duran | Apr 18 2011, 01:22 PM Post #386 |
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THE GHOST
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You can do it too. Log on to www.trillanes.com.ph and look for his email address under contacts. Your information, comments, and suggestions are welcome to him to better serve our people. Be constructive if you want to criticize. Be more relevant and informative as possible to pass along very important information to his office. In this way, he and the senate could formulate a bill that will benefit us all and our next generation to come. |
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| AZKALS | Apr 18 2011, 02:00 PM Post #387 |
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Another interesting article from the South East Asian Sea Foundation... http://www.manilatimes.net/news/nation/the...na-sea-dispute/ |
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| fatbat_mca | Apr 18 2011, 03:48 PM Post #388 |
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The other 'China' wants to up the ante in the Spratlys.. http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Det...ID=201104180011 Taipei, April 18 (CNA) A lawmaker proposed Monday that Taiwan send its marine corps back to the South China Sea to strengthen its position in the regional dispute over claims to the area. Taiwan should redeploy its marine corps, which was replaced by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) in 2000, to the South China Sea to increase its bargaining power in the disputed area, said ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang. Six countries -- Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines -- claim all or part of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea area, in which lies the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands, the Pratas Islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the Scarborough Shoal. Taiwan controls Dongsha Island, the largest island in the entire South China Sea, and Taiping Island, the largest island in the Spratlys. It withdrew its marine corp in 2000 in an attempt to reduce tensions in the region. Meanwhile, the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have in recent years "dragged the United States and the European Union (EU) into the dispute to improve their bargaining power, " he noted. The legislator said he had opposed the troop withdrawal in 2000 because he thought the move had hurt Taiwan's position in international negotiations. Taiwan should "send the troops back as soon as possible because it will be necessary sooner or later," he said. Lin proposed that Taiwan also consider deploying anti-ship missiles in the region. In response, Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang reiterated the Republic of China's claim to sovereignty over the entire South China Sea and said he hoped the issue could be resolved through peaceful dialogue. However, Yang said that he would support "any measure that would increase Taiwan's capability to protect its territory." |
oh my sofie!
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| spraret | Apr 18 2011, 04:16 PM Post #389 |
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PDFF Admin Support
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I foresee a build-up of arms in the Spratlys by the contending countries if ever Taiwan deploys ASMs in the area. |
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| AVBsupersonic | Apr 18 2011, 04:57 PM Post #390 |
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The more our Government should procure ASM's like "Sea skuas" or RUSSIAN made ASMs! :thumb: |
| "Some are just lucky that they're not under oath and are not classified!"- Blue badge | |
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8:32 AM Jul 11