South China/West Philippine Sea

[maxiev]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-commander-emphasises-philippine-alliance-amid-china-row-135300841.html

 

US commander emphasises Philippine alliance, amid China row

 

Manila (AFP) - The US Pacific commander Tuesday emphasised the Philippines' importance as a military ally, as Filipino forces were involved in an increasingly tense standoff with Chinese ships in the South China Sea.

 

"Our 62-year alliance with the Philippines remains key to our efforts to ensure the stability and prosperity of the Western Pacific," Rear Admiral Robert Thomas told reporters in Manila.

 

He sailed to the Philippine capital on Tuesday aboard his command ship, the USS Blue Ridge, days after the latest of a series of hostile encounters between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.

 

China said its coastguard on March 9 blocked two Philippine-flagged vessels approaching Second Thomas Shoal, which is guarded by a small group of Filipino marines but is also claimed by China.

 

The Philippine military evaded the blockade by airdropping supplies to the troops.

 

The shoal is part of the Spratlys, a chain of islets and reefs that sit near key shipping lanes, are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are also believed to lie atop huge oil and gas reserves.

 

They are around 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,100 kilometres from the nearest major Chinese land mass.

 

China claims most of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbours.

 

The Philippines grounded an old navy ship at Second Thomas Shoal in 1999, four years after China built structures on a nearby Filipino-claimed reef. Filipino troops have kept a presence on the ship ever since.

 

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei warned that China "will never allow any form of occupation" of the Second Thomas Shoal.

 

He repeated an allegation, denied by Manila, that the Philippine vessels were bringing construction materials there on March 9.

 

"China watches closely and is highly vigilant on further possible provocations in the South China Sea by the Philippines and it must bear all the consequences arising therefrom," Hong said.

 

Asked what the US 7th Fleet would do to help the Filipino marines, Thomas said he did not wish to address "hypothetical" scenarios, but then highlighted his country's 1951 mutual defence pact with Manila.

 

"And so without going into the hypotheticals, what I would offer is that the 7th Fleet is going to support this alliance. Period," he said.

 

The pact binds each country to come to the other's aid if its armed forces or ships are attacked in the Pacific.

[sonnyt111]

"And so without going into the hypotheticals, what I would offer is that the 7th Fleet is going to support this alliance. Period," he said.

 

Less talk = Less mistakes. Filipino politicians, police and other persons who are interviewed on television should follow this example.

 

 

 

 

 

[hellyeah1]

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http://adroth.ph/afpmodern/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/golez2.png

[Bugatti Veyron]

http://adroth.ph/afpmodern/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/casino.png

 

 

http://adroth.ph/afpmodern/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/golez.png

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Casino is in a Catch 22 situation. If he says he's in favor of strengthening the Philippine military in response to Chinese aggression in the South China/West Philippine Sea, his comrades in the leftist groups will say he's a traitor to their cause.

 

If he says he is not in favor of strengthening the Philippine military in response to Chinese aggression, he'll be perceived as pro-China and will be labeled as a traitor to his country.

 

His best bet is to just keep quiet and not engage Roilo Golez in a discussion which he (Casino) cannot possibly win.

 

 

 

[tk421]

I sorta agree with Golez. Casino (and his group) doesn't even need to show support for AFP modernization, but at least show the same passion in protesting China's actions as he does with the US's perceived threat...

[maxiev]

I sorta agree with Golez. Casino (and his group) doesn't even need to show support for AFP modernization, but at least show the same passion in protesting China's actions as he does with the US's perceived threat...

China was their main benefactor when it still had a communist economic system. Which is probably why it refuses to protest China's actions with the same passion as it does the presence of US troops on Philippine soil.

 

"We communists must stick together" is probably what's foremost on his mind.

[hellyeah1]

Casino and his ilk's are nothing but hindrance and traffic causing traitors! His ass was handed to him BIG time by Mr. Golez!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Casino is in a Catch 22 situation. If he says he's in favor of strengthening the Philippine military in response to Chinese aggression in the South China/West Philippine Sea, his comrades in the leftist groups will say he's a traitor to their cause.

 

If he says he is not in favor of strengthening the Philippine military in response to Chinese aggression, he'll be perceived as pro-China and will be labeled as a traitor to his country.

 

His best bet is to just keep quiet and not engage Roilo Golez in a discussion which he (Casino) cannot possibly win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

http://news.yahoo.com/manila-raises-stakes-beijing-seeks-arbitration-over-south-202727743.html

 

 

Manila raises stakes with Beijing, seeks arbitration over South China Sea

http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/d/0c/d0c3eb8ca18907492a4b337b5cec5193.jpeg By Greg Torode and Manuel Mogato 11 hours ago

HONG KONG/MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines will file a case against China over the disputed South China Sea at an arbitration tribunal in The Hague next week, subjecting Beijing to international legal scrutiny over the increasingly tense waters for the first time.

 

Manila is seeking a ruling to confirm its right to exploit the waters in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as allowed under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), its team of U.S. and British lawyers said.

 

A ruling against China by the five-member panel of the Permanent Court of Arbitration could prompt other claimants to challenge Beijing, experts said. But while legally binding, any ruling would effectively be unenforceable as there is no body under UNCLOS to police such decisions, legal experts said.

 

China, which has refused to participate in the case, claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

 

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the potentially energy-rich waters.

 

The U.N. convention gives a country 12 nautical miles of territorial control with claim to sovereign rights to explore, exploit and manage natural resources within 200 miles. China claims several reefs and shoals in Manila's EEZ.

 

The head of the Philippines' legal team, Paul Reichler, a lawyer at U.S. law firm Foley Hoag, told Reuters a submission would be sent electronically on Sunday, meeting a March 30 deadline set by the tribunal. Manila filed an initial complaint in January 2013.

 

Legal experts said it could take months for the panel to weigh the case.

 

Diplomats and experts who follow the tensions in the South China Sea said Manila was going ahead despite pressure from China to delay or drop its submission.

 

"They've crossed a significant line here ... the pressure to withdraw before actually mounting an argument has been intense but they've stayed the course," said Carl Thayer, from the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.

 

Arbitration would clarify Manila's rights to fishing and other resources in its EEZ as well as rights to enforce its laws in those areas, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

 

"We see arbitration as an open, friendly and durable solution to the dispute," del Rosario told a business forum recently.

 

China reiterated this week that it would not take part.

 

"We demand the Philippines ends it mistaken actions and stop going further down this wrong path to prevent bilateral relations from being further harmed," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing on Wednesday.

 

"China's determination and resolve to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering."

 

TENSIONS GROWING

 

Diplomats said the case was the focus of growing interest across East Asia and beyond given China's assertiveness in both the South and East China Seas.

 

Washington has stiffened its rhetorical support for Manila's action, even as it insists it does not take sides in regional territorial disputes.

 

The State Department warned this month of the "ambiguity" of some claims to the South China Sea and called for disputes to be solved legally and peacefully, through means such as arbitration.

 

Tensions have been on full display in recent weeks.

 

Earlier this month, Manila protested action by Chinese coastguard ships to block two Philippine civilian vessels resupplying marines on the disputed Second Thomas Reef.

 

The Philippines instead air-dropped supplies to the marines, who live on an old military transport ship rammed onto the reef in 1999 to mark Manila's territory. While Chinese vessels regularly surround the reef, it was the first time China had blocked a routine re-supply mission, a move Thayer said could have been related to the arbitration case.

 

Further north, the two sides have traded angry words over the Scarborough Shoal, where in January Philippine officials said a Chinese coastguard ship fired water cannon at Filipino fishermen.

 

Manila says both reefs lie within its EEZ. China says they are part of its territory.

 

Much further to the south, Chinese naval ships staged exercises in January at the James Shoal, a submerged reef within Malaysia's EEZ.

 

Less visibly, China has applied pressure behind the scenes, attempting to isolate the Philippines within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), one regional diplomat said.

 

"China has let us all know that they are very angry ... The message is clear - you must not support this in any way," said the envoy, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

 

Diplomatic sources in Vietnam have told Reuters that China put pressure on Hanoi over joining the case at the tribunal. A Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman last month said Hanoi reserved the right to apply "all necessary and appropriate peaceful means" to protect its sovereignty.

 

Malaysian officials have given no indication they are planning to join the action or launch their own case.

 

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Stuart Grudgings in Kuala Lumpur. Editing by Dean Yates)

 

 

 

[Bugatti Veyron]

I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before China opens fire on one of the Filipino re-supply ships which could result in a shooting match between the two nations. China has the upper hand but such an exchange of fire may finally draw the US into the conflict. The US is known to engage in military adventures not to support its allies. It does so only if it stands to gain by doing so. Self-interest is what motivates the US and the reported huge deposits of natural gas lying underneath the South China/West Philippine Sea may be the motivating factor for its military to enter into the fray.

 

http://news.yahoo.co...-090235347.html

 

Philippine supply ship evades Chinese blockade

http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/04/21/image001-png_162613.png By JIM GOMEZ March 29, 2014 11:57 AM

 

 

 

 

• SECOND THOMAS SHOAL, South China Sea (AP) — A Philippine government ship slipped past a Chinese coast guard blockade Saturday and brought food and fresh troops to a marooned navy ship used as a base by Filipino troops to bolster the country's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.
   
  The incident was witnessed by journalists who were invited by the Philippines military to accompany the resupply mission.
   
  It was a rare close-up look at the tensions in the waters and the determination of both sides to press their claims. China's growing assertiveness is alarming smaller nations that have competing territorial claims and worrying the United States, which is neutral in the disputes but jockeying for influence with Beijing in the region.
   
  Around one hour away from Second Thomas Shoal, where the detachment is based, a Chinese coast guard ship marked "1141" twice crossed the bow of the smaller Philippine vessel in an attempt to stop it from proceeding. Another tailed the Filipino boat.
   
  The Chinese radioed the Filipinos, telling them to stop. "You will take full responsibility for the consequences of your action," the voice said in English.
   
  "This is the Republic of the Philippines," Philippine navy Lt. Ferdinand Gato, who was in charge of the supply mission, replied. "We are here to provision the troops."
   
  The marines on board the supply boat waved the "V'' for peace sign toward the Chinese vessel.
   
  The Filipino captain maneuvered his vessel to shallow waters where the Chinese ships couldn't sail to reach the marooned vessel, BRP Sierra Madre, which has become an awkward symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the remote offshore territory.
   
  On March 9, Chinese vessels blocked a resupply mission to the shoal, called Ayungin by the Philippines
   
  Philippine air force planes have airdropped live-saving food and water at least twice since then.
   
  The cat-and-mouse-like confrontation was witnessed by Associated Press journalists and more than a dozen other media members who were allowed by the Philippine military to board the government vessel to show what the Manila government has said was "China's bullying" in the disputed waters.
   
  As they approached the shoal, one of the marines raised the Philippine flag on the supply ship. Once inside the shoal, the marines and the crew applauded and exchanged high-fives. Journalists said a plane with U.S. Navy markings also flew above the marooned ship.
   
  "Our policy is maximum tolerance," Gato said. "I will not let them stop us because our marines will starve."
   
  The supply ship carried about 10 tons of food, including rice and canned goods, and water, Gato said. The provisions were placed in sacks and transferred to the marooned ship using ropes pulled with pulleys. The two vessels were surrounded by the calm turquoise waters of the shoal under the blazing sun.
   
  China claims almost the entire South China Sea. The two countries were in a two-month standoff at the Scarborough Shoal to the north, which the Chinese eventually occupied after Philippine ships left the area because of a storm in 2012.
   
  The Philippines has questioned China's claims before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.
   
  Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims over the territory, which is believe to be rich in oil and gas and is also a major shipping lane.
  

[Bugatti Veyron]

The Chinese have been angered by the Philippines' move to bring the issue of the South China Sea/Philippine Sea to an international tribunal for arbitration. Even if the international tribunal doesn't have the resources to enforce its decision, a judgment favoring the Philippines will alienate China. China will be perceived by the rest of the world as a nation that doesn't respect international courts of law. Which is why it is so incensed about the Philippines bringing the case to arbitration.

 

Then of course, there's the matter of saving face. Here's China with its huge and powerful military unable to prevent a poor third world country from re-supplying its troops in an old rusting derelict of a ship that serves as an observation outpost of the Philippines in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea.

 

It takes just one angry Chinese captain to open fire on either the re-supply ship or the observation post which could bring the tensions in this area to a much higher level. If the Philippine military retaliates, who knows what could happen then?

 

 

 

[maxiev]

You have to hand it to the Philippine government. According to this article, it's the most outspoken SEA nation that dared face down China. China's threats haven't fazed Malacanang which went ahead and raised the issue of sovereignty with a United Nations tribunal in Hamburg, Germany.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/philippines-stare-down-china-south-china-sea-dispute-130400410.html

Philippines stare down China in South China Sea dispute

 

The Philippines filed a legal case with the UN Sunday over contested islets, despite China's threats of retaliation for the campaign.

 

 

Christian Science Monitor

By Peter Ford

March 31, 2014 9:04 AM

 

 

The Philippine government is refusing to yield in a territorial standoff with China. Braving threats of retaliation, Manila lodged its legal case with a United Nations tribunal on Sunday, challenging Beijing’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea and raising the stakes in a longstanding dispute.

 

Beijing immediately dismissed the move, saying it would refuse to take part in any arbitration by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.

 

Manila’s decision to lodge nearly 4,000 pages of legal testimony with the tribunal in Hamburg “is about defending what is legitimately ours,” Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters in Manila on Sunday.

 

The Philippines has been the most outspoken of the Southeast Asian nations that have competing claims with China in the South China Sea. Beijing lays claim to more than 80 percent of the sea, thought to be rich in oil and gas, within nine dotted lines shown on a Chinese map drawn up in the 1940s.

 

Within that tongue-shaped area lie reefs and shoals more than 1,000 miles from China’s shoreline.

 

Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed near disputed islets in the South China Sea where both countries claim ownership. On Saturday, a civilian Philippine boat evaded two Chinese coast guard vessels in order to resupply soldiers stationed on Second Thomas Shoal.

 

China has ignored the Philippines’ bid for international arbitration, first opened a year ago. Beijing says that it announced in 2006 that it would not submit to arbitration procedures under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in sovereignty disputes.

 

As soon as the Philippines announced its new legal move on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei condemned Manila’s “illegal occupation of some of China’s islands and reefs” and urged the Philippines to “return to the right track of settling the disputes through bilateral negotiations.”

 

The Southeast Asian nations at odds with China over territories in the South China Sea – Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines – fear that in any bilateral talks, each would be vulnerable to economic and political pressure from its giant neighbor. They prefer a multilateral approach, which China has consistently rejected.

 

Beijing has made no secret of its readiness to punish Manila for its diplomatic and legal campaign. “As a close neighbor and trading partner of Beijing, Manila has a big stake in the smooth development of their bilateral ties, to which a wise return to the negotiation table is crucial,” warned a commentary published Monday by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

 

In 2012, during a dispute over fishing rights, the Chinese government temporarily halted the import of bananas from the Philippines, ostensibly on food safety grounds. Beijing later lifted the ban, but the spat ended with a Chinese coast guard vessel on permanent station near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, just 120 miles west of the Philippine island of Luzon

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

The Chinese have been angered by the Philippines' move to bring the issue of the South China Sea/Philippine Sea to an international tribunal for arbitration. Even if the international tribunal doesn't have the resources to enforce its decision, a judgment favoring the Philippines will alienate China. China will be perceived by the rest of the world as a nation that doesn't respect international courts of law. Which is why it is so incensed about the Philippines bringing the case to arbitration.

 

Then of course, there's the matter of saving face. Here's China with its huge and powerful military unable to prevent a poor third world country from re-supplying its troops in an old rusting derelict of a ship that serves as an observation outpost of the Philippines in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea.

 

It takes just one angry Chinese captain to open fire on either the re-supply ship or the observation post which could bring the tensions in this area to a much higher level. If the Philippine military retaliates, who knows what could happen then?

 

 

IMO China may not care if it's alienated by the rest of the world. They may not care about world opinion. This may become the mindset of Chinese leaders as they see Vladimir Putin taking on the West and the rest of the world, not worried in the least what the world thinks of the Russians. China may be emboldened to follow the Russian example.

 

Of course China has a lot more to lose than Russia since it is more economically connected to world economics than Russia is. The current economic prosperity China is enjoying doesn't apply to Russia and Chinese leaders will be treading on dangerous waters if the prosperity now enjoyed by the Chinese people (who have gotten used to the good life) all of a sudden evaporates because of economic sanctions over what the Chinese will perceive as just a bunch of tiny atolls and reefs in the South China Sea.

 

The Chinese people couldn't give a damn about these atolls and reefs. They are more concerned with making money and pursuing the relatively good life they are enjoying now.

 

Chinese leaders know this and the last thing they need is an angry citizenry.

 

 

 

 

 

[Imyurfrend]

Greedy ang china, pedyo may pakiilam na to sa sasabihin ng iba kasi pag na branded sila na agressive mag kakasanction sila and babagsak economy nila

[kisshmet]

Visa restriction sanction from the west is lame.

 

Chinese are more patriotic than pinoy thats why they can afford to stonewall even mighty USA.

 

They have veto power in the diplomatic front as well as nukes for the military front in an event of direct confrontation with the US

Edited April 7, 2014 by kisshmet

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

Visa restriction sanction from the west is lame.

 

Chinese are more patriotic than pinoy thats why they can afford to stonewall even mighty USA.

 

They have veto power in the diplomatic front as well as nukes for the military front in an event of direct confrontation with the US

Thing is, American owes China trillions of dollars. Whenever the US economy takes a beating, for whatever reason, China gets extremely nervous. How's that for an ace up the sleeve of the USA?

 

China better behave or they may find it increasingly difficult to get back the money the US borrowed from them.