South China/West Philippine Sea

[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.

 

 

 

 

[sonnyt111]

Though this thread deals with the South China/West Philippine Sea, I think it's appropriate to post this article here because of the similarities between the territorial claims of China in North East Asia and its claims here in South East Asia. Japan and the Philippines seem to be taking the fight to the Chinese with the backing of the USA.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-booming-military-spending-belies-caution-032225697.html

 

 

China's booming military spending belies caution

http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-08-26/d19448d6-6aaa-4359-a768-eadacf5fbca9_afp-gif_new.gif By Kelly Olsen April 10, 2014 8:04 PM

Beijing (AFP) - With the world's biggest military, China far outnumbers rival Japan in manpower, ships, aircraft and defence spending, but analysts say underlying weaknesses leave it still wary of a fight.The two Asian powers are embroiled in simmering territorial and historical rows, with the tensions highlighted this week in consecutive visits to each by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

 

Beijing's latest double-digit rise in its defence budget, announced last month, will only increase its numerical superiority, but Japan enjoys technological and training advantages, and the key asset of a US security umbrella.

 

Hagel reiterated Washington's support for Tokyo while criticising Beijing in blunt exchanges with top People's Liberation Army (PLA) generals.

 

China, for its part, told the Vietnam War veteran that sovereignty over islands in the East China Sea at the heart of the dispute with Japan was non-negotiable and that it would "make no compromise".

 

Despite such tough talk, analysts say China's top strategists know an armed conflict, intentional or accidental, is not in their interest and could detract from their long-term goal of expanding their regional and global power.

 

"The Chinese high command has got to be very prudent and cautious in terms of the launch of any kind of military operation," said Arthur Ding, an expert on the PLA at Taiwan's National Chengchi University.

 

Even without the benefit of the US security alliance, Japan currently has better training, facilities and equipment, Ding said, although the long term situation was less clear.

 

"Right now Japan is in better shape," he told AFP.

 

Even Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the military -- which is beset by corruption, with high-ranking officers under investigation -- to improve its abilities to "win battles".

 

- Huge leads -

 

The dispute over the uninhabited islands, administered by Japan as the Senkakus and claimed by China as the Diaoyus, has heated up since Tokyo bought islands in the chain from private Japanese owners in 2012.

 

Ships and aircraft from both countries, mostly dispatched by non-military maritime and coastguard agencies, regularly patrol the area.

 

In a tense incident early last year, however, Japan accused a Chinese frigate of directing its weapon-targeting radar at one of Tokyo's naval vessels, fuelling worries about a clash.

 

China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, went into service 18 months ago and according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance 2014 report, published in February, the country's forces outnumber Japan in virtually all areas.

 

China had approximately 2.3 million active duty troops last year compared with Japan's 247,150, the report said. China also enjoyed huge leads in combat aircraft at 2,525 to 630, main battle tanks at 6,840 to 777 and tactical submarines at 66 to 18.

 

China's defence budget was $112.2 billion last year, while Japan's came to $51 billion, according to the report.

 

"The PLA is engaged in a modernisation programme fuelled by the country’s rapid economic development that has seen it surpass the armed forces of less developed countries in Asia," the report said.

 

It added, however, that China had shortfalls including a lack of combat experience, questions about training and morale, and weaknesses in command and control, anti-submarine warfare and other areas.

 

China's military "remains qualitatively inferior, in some respects, to more technologically advanced armed forces in the region -- such as South Korea and Japan -- and it lags far behind the US", the report said.

 

- Art of War -

 

Tokyo and Washington, once bitter wartime enemies, have had a close defence relationship since Japan's World War II defeat in 1945, with the US obligated to defend its ally if it is attacked.The US military has nearly 50,000 troops stationed in Japan at key strategic bases including on the southern island of Okinawa, a short flight to the disputed islands.

 

Kazuhisa Ogawa, a respected Japanese military affairs analyst, said that Japan's capabilities cannot be looked at as separate from those of the US.

 

"The Japanese military is not designed to stand on its own," Ogawa said, referring to its Self-Defense Forces.

 

"Japan is facing the Chinese military together with the US force, so it is nonsense to compare the capabilities of the Japanese military and the Chinese military without the presence of the US," he told AFP.

 

Though the Chinese Communist Party and state media regularly chastise Japan over the territorial dispute and accuse it of nascent militarism and denial of wartime atrocities in China, pronouncements by top officials can be more prudent.

 

In his exchanges with Hagel, China's defence chief Chang Wanquan suggested the country would not take pre-emptive action in the island dispute.

 

But Ogawa said Beijing had a clear strategy despite its reluctance to start an armed conflict.

 

"China is sending non-military ships to the area," he said, to assert its claim, gauge the reactions of Japan and the US, and show nationalistic elements at home it is flexing its muscles.

 

"China's policy is to win without a battle, taking the path of Sun Tzu's 'Art of War'."

 

• 
  

[sonnyt111]

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/vietnam-protests-chinese-oil-rig-disputed-sea-043104355--finance.html

 

 

Vietnam protests Chinese oil rig in disputed sea

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam demanded China stop oil drilling operations in a disputed patch of the South China Sea, saying on Monday that Beijing's decision to deploy a deep sea rig over the weekend was illegal.

 

China's move was the latest in a series of provocative actions aimed at asserting its sovereignty in potentially oil and gas-rich waters that have raised tensions with Vietnam, the Philippines and other claimants.

 

The United States shares many of the regional concerns about China's actions in the seas. Last week, President Barack Obama signed a new defense pact with the Philippines aimed at reassuring allies in the region of American backing as they wrangle with Beijing's growing economic and military might.

 

The China Maritime Safety Administration posted a navigational warning on its website advising that the CNOOC 981 rig would be drilling in the South China Sea from May 4 to Aug. 15, in an area close to the Paracel Islands, which are controlled by China but Vietnam claims as its own.

 

China's maritime administration also said that ships entering a 3-mile (4.8-kilometers) radius around the area are prohibited.

 

Vietnam's foreign ministry said the area where the rig was stationed lay within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf as defined by the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

 

"All foreign activities in Vietnam's seas without Vietnam's permission are illegal and invalid," the ministry said in a statement. "Vietnam resolutely protests them."

 

Vietnam's state-owned oil company, PetroVietnam, demanded that China National Offshore Oil Corporation "immediately stop all the illegal activities and withdraw the rig from Vietnamese waters."

 

Asked about Vietnam's objections, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the drilling was taking place in Chinese waters.

 

Many analysts believe China is embarking on a strategy of gradually pressing its claims in the water by seeing what it can get away with, believing that its much smaller neighbors will be unable or unwilling to stop them. Vietnam has accused Chinese ships of cutting cables to its exploration vessels and harassing fishermen, as has the Philippines.

 

Chinese assertiveness puts Vietnam's authoritarian government in difficult position domestically because anger at China, an ideological ally, runs deep in the country. This is exploited by dissident movements, who accuse the government of being unwilling to speak out against Beijing.

 

Tran Cong Truc, the former head of a government committee overseeing the country's border issues, said the latest Chinese move was especially provocative.

 

"This act by China is much more dangerous than previous actions such as cutting the exploration cable or fishing bans," he said.

 

 

[camiar]

According to a pro-government Chinese newspaper, China will start fighting wars to acquire the disputed territories starting 2020.

 

follow this link:

 

http://www.ibtimes.com/china-engage-six-inevitable-wars-involving-us-japan-india-more-according-pro-government-chinese

 

----------------

Excerpts:

 

Over the next 50 years, the article expects China to be engaged in war over the following issues:

 

1. Taiwanese unification (2020-2025)

 

While China and Taiwan currently have fairly peaceful relations, the mainland continues to strive for “unification.”

 

2. South China Sea islands (2025-2030)

 

According to a translation of the original article, as published by StratRisk.com, following the inevitable "return" of Taiwan, “South East Asian countries” will “already be shivering.” This momentum will be the driving force behind negotiations to “reconquer” South China Sea islands like the Spratlys, which neighboring governments like Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam all lay claim to.

 

3. “Southern Tibet" (2035-2040)

 

Though China and India share a long border along China’s southwest region, a Himalayan area claimed as "southern Tibet" is the main point of contention between the two huge nations. The article suggests that “the best strategy for China is to incite the disintegration of India” by dividing the nation into several smaller countries so “India will have no power to cope with China."

 

4. East China Sea islands (2040-2045)

 

Unsurprisingly, the newspaper reaffirms that the East China Sea island groups of Diaoyu and Ryukyu, known in Japan as Senkaku and Okinawa, belong to China. While the article says the conflict won’t take place until 2040, other scholars have estimated that a war between China and Japan, and likely the U.S., could happen sooner.

 

5. “Outer” Mongolia (2045-2050)

 

“If Outer Mongolia can return to China peacefully, it is the best result, of course; but if China meets foreign intervention or resistance, China should be prepared to take military action,” the article reads.

 

6. “Recover the territory seized by Russia” (2055-2060)

 

The article recognizes the current good relations between China and Russia but insists that “China never forgets the lands lost to Russia” in past centuries, adding that “when the chance comes, China will take back the lands.” The article is predictably confident that all wars would be won by the Chinese side, and Russia is no different: “After the victories of previous five wars, it is time to make Russians pay the price.”

 

[Bugatti Veyron]

Anyone see the video of that Chinese ship which rammed a Vietnamese ship that tried to get too close to the oil rigs the Chinese have set up in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam? The real reasons for China's aggression in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea are becoming quite evident. It's to drill for natural gas/oil.

 

The Philippines' beef with China is over fishing rights. The challenge of the Vietnamese to stop oil drilling by the Chinese in its exclusive economic zone prompted a much more aggressive response from China.

 

How is the US supposed to maintain peace in the South China/West Philippine Sea without imposing sanctions on China? The blatant use of force by the Chinese against the Vietnamese clearly demonstrates how seriously China intends on imposing its will in this part of the world.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Bugatti Veyron

[airport-noo]

Tanong lang mga bossing: Are the uninhabitable islets near our shores, like Scarborough Shoal, Mischeef Reef, Reed Bank, etc. -- are they all part of the Spratlys? Kasi parang malayo sa mini-archipelago ng Spratlys.

[lomex32]

Chinese Fishing Vessel

 

Slaughtering Poor Pawikans

 

Pawikan shells - in the background PALAWAN mainland

 

Edited May 9, 2014 by lomex32

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

Chinese Fishing Vessel

 

Slaughtering Poor Pawikans

 

Pawikan shells - in the background PALAWAN mainland

 

A clear violation of Philippine laws. Problem is China does not believe Philippine laws applies to these seas because, according to them, they own the South China/West Philippine Sea. So they can indiscriminately k*ll endangered species unless the Philippine Coast Guard stops them. When that happens, China sends its warships to intimidate our Coast Guard.

 

Isn't the killing of endangered species part of international law? If so, we might as well ask the US Navy to enforce this. Bullies like China only respect adversaries more powerful than they are.

 

 

[heatseeker0714]

Tanong lang mga bossing: Are the uninhabitable islets near our shores, like Scarborough Shoal, Mischeef Reef, Reed Bank, etc. -- are they all part of the Spratlys? Kasi parang malayo sa mini-archipelago ng Spratlys.

 

 

Scarborough alam ko is not part of the spratly's... mischief yata is part of spratly's & reed ewan ko...

[airport-noo]

Scarborough alam ko is not part of the spratly's... mischief yata is part of spratly's & reed ewan ko...

Thanks. Sorry for the slight OT.

[airport-noo]

Chinese Fishing Vessel

 

Slaughtering Poor Pawikans

 

Pawikan shells - in the background PALAWAN mainland

 

 

I find it strange that China doesn't even mention the turtles. Same as last year with the pangolins. If they truly believed that they own the entire sea, wouldn't they at least show some concern for THEIR property? They don't seem to see themselves as the victims whose resources are being abused.

[maxiev]

Chinese Fishing Vessel

 

Slaughtering Poor Pawikans

 

Pawikan shells - in the background PALAWAN mainland

 

These photos are really disturbing.

[maxiev]

I find it strange that China doesn't even mention the turtles. Same as last year with the pangolins. If they truly believed that they own the entire sea, wouldn't they at least show some concern for THEIR property? They don't seem to see themselves as the victims whose resources are being abused.

I don't know if the turtles in the photo are the same turtles mentioned in this article:

 

http://news.yahoo.com/philippines-raise-china-dispute-asean-summit-102612671.html

 

Philippines to raise China dispute at ASEAN summit

Associated Press By OLIVER TEVES

 

SE Asia faces renewed unity test as South China Sea tensions

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said Saturday that he would raise his country's territorial dispute with China at a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders and call for support to resolve the conflict through international arbitration.

 

In a statement issued before departing for the 24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Myanmar, Aquino said dialogue between two countries is not enough to settle issues that also affect others in the region.

 

The Philippines presented evidence in March to an international tribunal against China's sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, ignoring Beijing's warning that the case would damage bilateral ties.

 

Manila brought its territorial dispute with China to international arbitration in January 2013 after Chinese government ships took control of a shoal claimed by the Philippines.

 

"Let us uphold and follow the rule of law in resolving territorial disputes in order to give due recognition and respect to the rights of all nations," Aquino said in his statement. "We cannot rely just on dialogues between only two nations to settle issues that affect others in the region."

 

In addition to the Philippines and Myanmar, ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

 

In the latest spat between the Philippines and China, Filipino maritime police arrested 11 Chinese fishermen who allegedly illegally collected more than 300 endangered marine turtles in a disputed shoal close to the western province of Palawan. Manila has ignored Beijing's demands to release the fishermen and their boat apprehended early last week by the police at the Half Moon Shoal.

 

Last month, Chinese coast guard vessels tried to stop Philippine marines from resupplying and bringing fresh troops to a grounded ship now being used as the country's outpost and symbol of sovereignty at the disputed shoal.

 

The Philippines could invite even stronger Chinese protests after the Department of Energy announced Friday that it was ready to accept applications to explore for oil and gas in the Reed Bank off Palawan. The area is near where Chinese patrol ships tried to drive away a Philippine exploration vessel in March 2011. A Philippine general deployed two air force planes, but the Chinese ships had left by the time the aircraft reached the contested area.

[Bugatti Veyron]

The Philippine government must remain firm and not give in to the demands of China to release the Chinese fishermen for violating Philippine laws.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/philippines-jails-chinese-fishermen-infringing-wildlife-law-064323972.html

Philippines jails Chinese fishermen for infringing wildlife law

http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/d/0c/d0c3eb8ca18907492a4b337b5cec5193.jpeg 15 hours ago

View p

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has jailed 11 Chinese fishermen caught with endangered sea turtles off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, officials said on Saturday, rejecting demands from China to free the men.

 

The Philippine National Police on Tuesday intercepted a Chinese fishing boat carrying about 350 marine turtles off Half Moon Shoal in the Spratlys, arrested its crew and took them to the southwestern province of Palawan to face charges of violating wildlife protection laws.China has claims on the South China Sea, an area rich in energy deposits and an important passageway traversed each year by $5 trillion worth of ship-borne goods. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the area.

 

If found guilty, the fishermen, who were transferred to a provincial jail late on Friday, face prison terms ranging from 12 to 20 years. But each can post bail of 150,000 pesos ($3,400) to secure temporary liberty while facing trial.

 

"They will remain in detention until the office of the provincial prosecutor has determined whether there is probable cause for the filing of formal charges," said Allen Ross Rodriguez, a government lawyer.

 

China's embassy in Manila on Thursday sent a diplomat to Palawan to interview the fishermen and work for their early release. But authorities said they must go through the judicial process.

 

A panel of Philippine officials has to decide separately on charges of illegal entry after the fishermen were caught about 60 miles off Palawan, but within the country's exclusive economic zone.

 

China has demanded the release of the vessel and its crew, saying it has undisputed sovereignty over the area and adjacent waters in the South China Sea.

 

Tension is also rising in the Paracel islands after China parked its biggest mobile oil rig 120 miles off the coast of Vietnam, with each country accusing the other of ramming its ships in the area, in the worst setback for Sino-Vietnamese ties in years.

 

The incidents in the Paracel and Spratlys islands are likely to be taken up by Southeast Asian leaders who are due to hold an annual summit in Myanmar's capital on Sunday.

 

(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

 

 

Edited May 10, 2014 by Bugatti Veyron

[camiar]

Tanong lang mga bossing: Are the uninhabitable islets near our shores, like Scarborough Shoal, Mischeef Reef, Reed Bank, etc. -- are they all part of the Spratlys? Kasi parang malayo sa mini-archipelago ng Spratlys.

Maps of the South China Sea / West Philippine sea disputed areas:

 

 

[sendero]

Do you think the Ab- Noy Administration has the balls to confront these arrogant and f#&king Chinese intruders in our territories? Suggest to send some Abu Sayaff, MILF/MNLF Lost Command to attack their detachments in the West Philippine Sea but give them compensation for their for their mercenary services. And then kidnap/ behead these intruders with the presence of foreign media such as CNN, BBC.

[oscartamaguchiblackface]

 

 

Nationalism means anti-China imperialism

May 13, 2014 at 9:53am[/url]

China responded to Pres. Obama's recent Asian tour by deploying an armada of 80 military and civilian ships, along with support aircraft, to Vietnam to install a billion dollar oil rig within Vietnam's 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). When Vietnam responded by dispatching 30 of its ships to defend its sovereign territory,China used high-powered water cannons to disperse them and even rammed its vessels straight into Vietnamese ships causing damage to the Vietnamese ships and injury to those on board.

 

"Vietnam cannot accept and resolutely protests this Chinese action," declared Vietnam Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on May 7, 2014. "Vietnam demands that China withdraw the rig HD981 and escort vessels from this area." While Vietnam wants to solve all territorial disputes with China peacefully, Minh said, Vietnam "will apply all necessary and suitable measures to defend its rights and legitimate interests" in the seas.Vietnam may have the will to fight but clearly lacks the "suitable" might to defend itself against China. Vietnam is mindful about what happened on March 14, 1988 when four ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) landed on Vietnam's Johnson South Reef and faced Vietnamese defenders on the reef who refused to leave. The Chinese ships firedat will at the sailors and pounded the reef with heavy shells. When the dust settled, several Vietnamese ships were destroyed and 64 Vietnamese sailors lay dead.The Johnson South Reef Massacre was recorded by the Chinese Navy and shown all over China as an example of China's might.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy2ZrFphSmcChina's most recent attack against its ideological communist ally, Vietnam, is a preview of what the Philippines may expect when China moves a giant oil rig to the Recto Bank which is only 85nautical miles from Palawan. The US Energy Information Administration (USEIA) estimates that there may be approximately 11 billion barrels (bbl) of oil reserves and 190 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas reserves in the West Philippine Sea. Ayungin is the gateway to the Recto Bank and China intends to occupy Ayungin Shoal before the end of 2014. What stand in the way of China’s goal are an old “derelict” Philippine ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, defended by nine Philippine marines, and the recently signed Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the US and the Philippines. During his Manila visit, Pres. Obama was repeatedly asked by reporters whether the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) will apply in the event that the territorial conflict with China escalates into an armed conflict. Obama did not give a straightforward “yes” answer to which columnist Ellen de Tordesillas commented that the questions “reflected our mendicant mentality and our fantasy about America. But they had to be asked because many Filipinos wanted to hear from the leader of the world's superpower that he will take care of us if we get clobbered by a neighborhood enemy that is the world’s number two superpower.” What Pres. Obama did not explain was the structural limitation of the MDT which the Philippines and the US signedon August30, 1951. The treaty states that “an armed attack on either of the Parties is deemedto include an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either of theParties, or on the island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific oron its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific”. But in 1951, the Ayungin Shoal, the Scarborough Shoal and the Kalayaan Island Group were not part of the “metropolitan territory” of the Philippines and an attack on those outlying areas may not automatically trigger the "ironclad" MDT. Does this mean that China can just tow away the BRP Sierra Madre and the US would just stand by and allow it to happen because the MDT does not apply? China may consider the rusty old ship a “derelict”but the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) does not agree. On March 14, 2014, the DFA stated: “The BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned Philippine naval vessel, was placed in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to serve as a permanent Philippine government installation in response to China’s illegal occupation of Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef) in 1995.”University of the Philippines Prof.Harry Roque pointed out that because the BRP Sierra Madre is a commissioned ship,China should “rethink” any plans to tow away the Sierra Madre, he said. “Derelict, as it may be, it is subject to full sovereign immunity and any attempt to tow it away from Ayungin may finally trigger the applicability of the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty,” Roque said. This is because the MDT is triggered by an attack on any of its “public vessels”. China is well aware that the MDT and the EDCA will be operational by “an armed attack”. But China does not intend to launch an “armed attack” on the Ayungin anytime soon. Instead it will employ the “cabbage strategy”that has proved successful in China’s occupation of Mischief Reef, Sabina Shoal and the Scarborough Shoal. As China’s Major General Zhang Zhaozhong explained it, the strategy involves surrounding the shoal with Chinese vessels “wrapped layer by layer like a cabbage…For those small islands, only a few troopers are able to station on each of them, but there is no food or even drinking waterthere. If we carry out the ‘cabbage’ strategy, you will not be able to send food and drinking water onto the islands,” Zhang said. The Filipino troops stationed there would be forced to leave and China could then occupy the territory without an "armed attack" triggering the MDT. China applied this strategy on March 4,2014 successfully thwarting a bid by the Philippine Navy to replace the marines stationed on the Sierra Madre since November 2013 and to replenish the ship with fresh supplies. But when the Philippine Navy attempted to break the blockade three weeks later, it succeeded. But what happens when the next Philippine ship comes in July to replace the marines stationed there and to provide them with fresh supplies? What happens when the number of Chinese ship sare doubled or tripled and the Philippine resupply vessel cannot reach the Ayungin Shoal? Will the Philippine Navy send more ships and run the risk having them rammed by the Chinese ships? Will ramming a “public vessel” of the Philippines trigger the MDT? While the answer to that question is not known, what is abundantly clear is that China has now replaced the US as the imperialist enemy of the Filipino people.Times change. Tobe a Filipino nationalist during the time of Dr. Jose Rizal in the 19thcentury was to be firmly anti-Spanish colonialist. After the Filipinos overthrew the Spanish colonialists in 1898 and the US thereafter occupied the Philippines and subjugated it into a US colony – slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Filipino patriots in the process - Filipino nationalism meant being anti-US imperialism. But after the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942, Filipino nationalism was transformed to anti-Japan imperialism.After the Japanese imperial army was overthrown by the combined US and Philippine forces,the US granted the Philippines its political independence in 1946. But passage of the Bell Trade Act in the US undermined this independence. As a condition to receiving any of the$620 million in war damage aid from the US, the Filipino people were required to approve in a plebiscite the “Parity Amendment” granting American citizens the same rights toexploit the natural resources of the country. Of course, the Filipino people had no choice but to approve it, a condition the US did not impose on either of its WW II enemies, Germany or Japan. To maintain its hegemony over the Philippines, the United States based its largest naval fleet outside US soil at theSubic Naval Base in Olongapo City and its largest air force base outside the US in Clark Air Force Base in Angeles City. With the presence of US troops on Philippine soil,there were thousands of instances where Filipino women were raped by US servicemen and a few Filipinos shot and killed because they were mistaken for “boars”. The US military perpetrators were invariably flown back to the US before they could be tried in the Philippines. To maintain its military bases in the Philippines to wage its war in Indo-China, the US supported and endorsed the martial law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. When then US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas spoke before the Filipino American community in South San Francisco in February of 2012, he was asked about past US support for the Marcos dictatorship. Thomas acknowledged that the US had committed “shameful”acts in the past but he counseled, “Don’t be trapped by history” citing his own personal example as an African American growing up in a South Carolina that had separate toilet facilities for whites and “coloreds”. What the Filipino people suffered under US rule was nothing compared to what Vietnam endured during the Vietnam War when the US dropped more bombs in that country than were dropped in WW II by all the allied and axis countries combined. And yet, the Vietnamese government is actively exploring the opportunity for the US to set up a US base in Cam Ranh Bay, a former US military base during the Vietnam War. The Chinese Communists suffered greatly from US military support of their Kuomintang adversaries before and after the Communists triumphed in 1949. And yet when the Soviet Union threatened to invade Chinese border territories in 1968, Mao Zedong did not hesitate to welcome US Pres. Richard Nixon to Beijing and to usher in a new era in US-China relations in 1971. It was a clever move that stopped the Soviet Union from engaging in any further border excursions in the north. If playing the US card was good enough for China and is good enough for Vietnam, why would it not be good enough for the Philippines? Is it because Filipino nationalists are more principled? At the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Stephen Colbert described Pres.George W. Bush as a "principled man -the kind of man who believes on Wednesday what he believed on Monday regardless of what happened on Tuesday.” Many Filipino nationalists are in danger of being as “principled” as Pres. Bush. They believe that US imperialism is the main enemy of Filipino nationalism today just as they believed it the other day regardless of what happened yesterday. When Pres. Obama visited the Philippines early this month, many of the leftist activists unfurled banners that may as well have been used during the First Quarter Storm of 1970 protesting US imperialist domination of the Philippine economy and the presence of US troops in the Philippines ("US troops out now!"). That was "the other day". What happened “yesterday” – specifically during the administration of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – was that 26Chinese corporations registered in the Philippines to mine for gold, iron ore,nickel, copper, manganese, lead, zinc, chromate and cobalt. They operate in 16provinces in the Philippines: Cagayan, Benguet, Zambales, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Palawan, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Misamis Oriental,Davao Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur. They are all furiously extracting the natural resources of the Philippines while violating Philippine labor and environmental laws. China has now set its sights on theRecto Bank and will seize it by force if necessary. Playing “the US card” is the best chance the Philippines has of defending its territorial rights within its 200 mile EEZ. But there are pro-China activists in the far left who will do everything they can to oppose the EDCA and prevent US troops and ships from being stationed in the Philippines simply because of what the US did in the past. When the US Pinoys for Good Governance organized a rally in front of the China Consulate in San Francisco in May of 2012, Raquel Redondiez, the national chair of Gabriela USA and former Secretary-General of Bayan USA, told Balitang America reporter Henni Espinosa on May 9, 2012 that her group opposed Filipino global protest actions against China because, she said, it was a conflict between siblings and “it will only worsen the conflict between China and the Philippines.” “China is not the true bully in this standoff,” Redondiez asserted. “The China threat is being used by the US to actually further trample on our national sovereignty.” Many of these activists like Redondiez mayfind a kindred soul in Gen. Artemio Ricarte, the Filipino revolutionary leader who refused to take an oath of allegiance to the US after he was captured by the Americans in 1900 and who was exiled to Guam along with Apolinario Mabini. When they were brought back to the Philippines in 1903, Mabini pledged allegiance to the US but Ricarte refused to do so. He exiled himself to Yokohama,Japan where he flew the Philippine flag every day yearning for the time when he could return back to a Philippines liberated from US imperialism. The opportunity he had been waiting forfinally came in 1942 when he returned to the Philippines with the JapaneseImperial Army. To assist the Japanese “liberators”, Ricarte formed the Makapili, a pro-Japanese organization during World War II which was used to root out guerrillas. Be careful what you wish for.Will our anti-US imperialist activists, our modern day Ricartistas, support China’s imperialist invasion of Ayungin Shoal and Recto Bank? (Rodel Rodis is the president of US Pinoys for Good Governance and works in his law office at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127. He can be reached by email at or by phone at ).

 

[Aey.Sean]

I really hope that our government can come up with a peaceful solution for our territorial disputes with China, I honestly believe that our armies do not stand a chance against theirs.

[hit05]

The setup of a production oil rig in the disputed territory is the best thing for all concerned.

 

Finally, it would end all speculation of oil in the area. Once the Chinese realize they have been lured and tricked into believing that vast oil supply can be exploited there, then that is the start of Justice where the Chinese Government start going against its enemies from its own ranks and contacts in the country too. Purging these inutile contacts is mutually beneficial for both China and the Philippines so we ought to welcome the Chinese initiative.

[red60]

The setup of a production oil rig in the disputed territory is the best thing for all concerned.

 

Finally, it would end all speculation of oil in the area. Once the Chinese realize they have been lured and tricked into believing that vast oil supply can be exploited there, then that is the start of Justice where the Chinese Government start going against its enemies from its own ranks and contacts in the country too. Purging these inutile contacts is mutually beneficial for both China and the Philippines so we ought to welcome the Chinese initiative.

 

You're assuming there is no oil in the area so what happens if they do find oil? Will the Chinese agree to split the oil with us? There was a similar proposal before but it was turned down.

[Bugatti Veyron]

You're assuming there is no oil in the area so what happens if they do find oil? Will the Chinese agree to split the oil with us? There was a similar proposal before but it was turned down.

Given a choice between splitting with the Chinese or splitting with the Americans, I'd rather split with the Americans. The Philippines can also start putting up similar oil rigs (courtesy of the USA) in areas believed to hold oil and secured by the US Navy.

 

If there is indeed oil underneath the South China/West Philippine Sea, US interests will definitely kick in. Tapping into a vast supply of oil will benefit the US economy and at the same time, denying China access to this oil will both fall under US interests. We will benefit indirectly.

 

Of course the US won't want to appear to be the ones drilling for oil. It will need a proxy...Filipinos, to do the actual drilling with the assistance of US geologists, engineers, military personnel. Thing is China won't be able to do anything unless it's willing to engage the US in a military duel.