by Admin | Jun 9, 2014 | News
(BGF) – In a move to defend its territory against China, the Philippines administration had an agreement that will allow more US troops to rotate through Philippine military bases, the Philippine’s Manila Standard Today News reported on August 14. As the Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said, this action is to “defend what is ours, to secure our nation and to keep our people safe”.
Will this be a smart move?
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Dangerous waters
August 14, 2013
(MST News) – WHAT is the administration’s game plan as it heads into talks with the Americans to hammer out a new agreement that will allow more US troops to rotate through Philippine military bases?
(Photo Credit: The Manila Standard Today News)
The immediate goal, Foreign Affairs officials say, is to bring about an increase in the American presence here amid China’s growing aggressiveness in staking its claim to portions of the South China Sea that rightly belong to us.
“Our region needs to know that we are steadfastly for peace, but that we stand ready to tap every resource, to call on every alliance, to do what is necessary, to defend what is ours, to secure our nation and to keep our people safe,” said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
The larger American presence in the Philippines, Del Rosario added, would serve as an added deterrent against foreign intrusions into the country’s territorial waters while the ill-equipped Armed Forces tries to modernize.
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by Admin | Jun 9, 2014 | News
(BGF) – China had clarified its controversial laws over Hainan and the South China Sea recently in order to calm regional tensions . However, the analysts still said China has acted on its own in drawing up its new rules and this is one of actors to push ahead with China’s claims over South China Sea, the Iran’s Press TV reported on Dec 31.
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China explains new controversial laws over South China Sea
December 31, 2012 | by Steven Ribet in Beijing
( Press TV) – In Beijing, the Chinese government has moved to calm regional tensions by clarifying a series of controversial rules that had stoked fears over possible clashes in the South China Sea. The rules had been announced without detail by the government of the southern island province of Hainan at the end of November. Some analysts took them to mean that from January 1, Chinese police would have the right to board and seize foreign vessels anywhere in the South China Sea. But China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says enforcement would be limited to 12 nautical miles off Hainan’s coast.
Hua also repeated her government’s stance that negotiation is the best way of resolving territorial disputes between China and its neighbors.
The South China Sea is rich in fish and oil and gas resources and straddles some of the world’s most important shipping lanes. China’s moves to enforce its claim to nearly the entire body of water have recently brought about confrontations with Vietnam and the Philippines, which also lay claim to islands in the sea.
In China’s government structure, Hainan has jurisdiction over the South China Sea and some analysts say it acted on its own initiative in drawing up its new rules. The province is just one of many state actors pushing ahead with China’s claims over South China Sea. Other actor include the coastguard and even state energy companies. The Foreign Ministry, which is much less powerful in China than in other countries, doesn’t have the authority to co-ordinate them.
Last week China allocated funds for building infrastructure on the Paracel islands. Last July, Beijing also it established its administrative capital for the South China Sea, Sansha, and a military garrison there. And two days later it announced it is deploying a new class of patrol vessel; the first to be equipped with a helicopter pad.
by Admin | Jun 9, 2014 | News
(BGF) – Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario spoke in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ foreign ministers meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, that “the Philippines shall always adhere to the peaceful settlements of disputes through lawful, non-coercive and transparent means that promote the healthy functioning of an equitable and rules-based international system”, as Jerry reported to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The Department of Foreign Affairs head also emphasized the desire to have a legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea between ASEAN and China.
Click here to read the full story or visit the Daily Inquirer website.
PH to stick with arbitration under UNCLOS to pursue Spratly claims
April 12, 2013| By Jerry E. Esplanada
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines reiterated, on Thursday, its commitment to the peaceful settlement of its claims in the West Philippine Sea or the South China Sea area through arbitration proceedings under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.
Speaking before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ foreign ministers meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario emphasized on Thursday, that “the Philippines’ recourse to arbitration is firmly rooted in the tradition of good global citizenship.”
“The Philippines shall always adhere to the peaceful settlements of disputes through lawful, non-coercive and transparent means that promote the healthy functioning of an equitable and rules-based international system,” said the Department of Foreign Affairs head.
Del Rosario asserted that Manila’s arbitration initiative, “when objectively considered, will benefit all parties.”
“For the Philippines, it will clearly define what is legitimately ours, specifically maritime entitlements under the UNCLOS with regards to our fishing rights to resources and our right to enforce our laws within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),” he said.
For China, “an arbitration award will finally clarify its lawful maritime entitlements in the South China Sea,” he pointed out.
“This will enable China to provide responsible leadership towards fostering stability in the region,” according to Del Rosario.
At the same time, he reiterated that “the Philippines’ desire to have a legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea has not changed.”
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by Admin | Jun 9, 2014 | News
(BGF) – Li Jieyu, a research fellow in international relations at at Hainan Provincial Party School pointed out in the Global Times that the Philippines’ file against China’s territorial claims over the South China Sea is an violation of the stipulations of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and China isn’t fearful of the suit.
Click here to read full story or visit the Global times website.
No legal basis for Philippine maritime suit
March 25, 2013 | By Li Jieyu
he Philippines recently filed a complaint against China over the South China Sea disputes in the UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
China isn’t fearful of the suit. The action of the Philippines violated the stipulations of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In line with UNCLOS, before the maritime boundary delimitation dispute is resolved, the disputants should lay out transitional agreement, and avoid taking unilateral actions that prejudice the settlement.
China and the ASEAN claimants in the South China Sea disputes once agreed to shelve the disputes and develop the resources jointly.
In March, 2011, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III expressed a desire to exploit the resources in Reed Tablemount, known as Liyue Tan in China, together with other claimants. However, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario rejected the statement in February 2012 and excluded the possibility of joint exploitation of Reed Tablemount, which is an integral part of the Nansha Islands.
Regarding the Huangyan Island incident in April 2012, the Philippines sent a warship to arrest Chinese fishermen anchored in the lagoon of the island. The island is China’s territory in accordance with UNCLOS. The adjacent 12 nautical mile-wide waters, therefore, is its territorial sea, where China has the legal right to implement domestic laws and regulations.
The Philippines without any doubt violated the convention in terms of innocent passage and should be driven out immediately due to the law on the territorial sea of China.
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by Admin | Jun 8, 2014 | News
(BGF) – Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and even Taipei reacted with unusual fury over the new design of the Chinese passport, The Diplomat reported. The new Chinese passport eatures watermarks that include 90 percent of the South China Sea, Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin, as well as famous tourist attractions in Taiwan.
Click here to read the full article or visit The Diplomat website.
China’s New Passport Sparks Controversy
Nov 27, 2012 | by J. Michael Cole
(The Diplomat) – China’s refashioned passport feature watermarks to some hotly disputed territories.
(Photo credit: Wikicommons)
Several Asian countries last week reacted with unusual fury over the new design of the Chinese passport, which features watermarks that include 90 percent of the South China Sea, Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin, as well as famous tourist attractions in Taiwan. Although Beijing’s move was mostly symbolic, it constitutes yet another escalatory step in China’s many territorial disputes and could, depending on how other countries respond, make already complex issues even more difficult to resolve.
So far, the reactions to the new passport have been uniformly negative, with Hanoi and Manila issuing official protests over the inclusion of the so-called nine-dash lines in the South China Sea and island groups such as the Paracels and Spratlys. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry went as far as to request that Beijing remove the “wrong” content from the passport, and Hanoi is now reportedly refusing to stamp the passport, and will instead stamp a separate piece of paper.
Even Taipei, the current government of which has engaged in a multifaceted effort to improve relations with China, called the passport “unacceptable” and warned it could negatively impact upon the ongoing rapprochement (under the Republic of China constitution, Taiwan’s sovereignty claims within the region are almost exactly like China’s). Aside from including areas claimed by the ROC, the new passport shows Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan’s Nantou, and Chingshui Cliffs in Hualien, both top tourist spots and symbols of Taiwan’s natural beauty.
India, whose Ministry of External Affairs called the inclusion of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China-controlled Tibet, and Aksai Chin in Kashmir, “unacceptable,” quickly responded by issuing visas to Chinese citizens with a map clearly showing the two disputed areas as part of India’s territory.
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