Japan vows to help Philippines amid China sea row

Japan pledged on Thursday to help the Philippines defend its "remote islands", as both governments expressed concern over China's robust moves to stake its claims to disputed Asian waters.

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said China's contentious claim to nearly all of the South China Sea and its territorial dispute with Japan in the East China Sea were discussed during top-level talks in Manila.

"We agreed that we will further co-operate in terms of the defence of remote islands... the defence of territorial seas as well as protection of maritime interests," Onodera told a joint news conference.
"We face a very similar situation in the East China Sea of Japan. The Japan side is very concerned that this kind of situation in the South China Sea could affect the situation in the East China Sea," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin welcomed Japan's offer of support for its poorly resourced military.

"We have agreed to continue our exchanges of information, exchanges of technology to help each other to make our defence relations stronger," Gazmin said.

Neither side offered specifics but Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in February his country was expecting to get 10 new Japanese patrol boats within 18 months.

The Japanese military brutally occupied the Philippines during World War II, but the two countries have since grown closer due to trade and investment, and more recently, through China's assertiveness.

Del Rosario told the Financial Times newspaper in December that a rearmed Japan would help the region counter-balance China.

Onodera and Gazmin also on Thursday welcomed an increased military presence in Asia by their mutual ally, the United States.

However Onodera said Japan was intent on avoiding conflict with China.

"I would also like to emphasise here that the current situation should not be changed with the use of force but should be done through the rule of law," Onodera said.

China claims most of the South China Seam including waters close to its neighbours' coasts. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have competing claims.

The Philippines has complained of increased Chinese "bullying" in the contested waters in recent years, and infuriated China by appealing to allies Japan and the United States for help.

The Philippines says China last year occupied an atoll well within the Filipino exclusive economic zone.

Tensions between China and Japan have also escalated over competing claims to the Japanese-held Senkaku islands, which Beijing calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea.

source:  AFP thru Yahoo!

Beneficial relations exist despite the One China Policy

In response to Mr. Francisco S. Tatad’s June 24 analysis entitled “War clouds on the horizon,” the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines would like to make some clarifications.

The First Preparatory Meeting on Fisheries Cooperation between TECO and its counterpart—the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO)—was held last June 14, 2013 in Manila. The meeting has proven to be fruitful with both sides pledging to avoid the use of force or violence to prevent incidents similar to the May 9 Guang Da Xing No.28 shooting from recurring. Both parties have also agreed to meet for the second round of talks in the future.

Although the Republic of China (Taiwan) has ceased its diplomatic ties with the Philippines since 1975, our two countries have still maintained cordial and mutually beneficial relations, and have concluded a total of 27 memorandums of understanding or agreements under the TECO-MECO framework, ranging from the fields of agriculture, education, labor, tourism and health cooperation…etc. Among these bilateral agreements is the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance (AMLA) in Criminal Matters inked on April 19, 2013, which provides the legal mechanism for both countries to conduct parallel but cooperative investigation on the Guang Da Xing No. 28 shooting incident.

We would also like to point out that the Taiwan-Philippine fisheries talk is aimed at preserving and advancing the interests of our two peoples and has no connection with the One China Policy. As a matter of fact, Japan, one of the countries that adheres to the One China Policy and thus has no diplomatic ties with the ROC, has still concluded a fishery pact with Taiwan last April. As the Taiwan-Japan fishery pact has significantly eased the tensions in the East China Sea, Taiwan and the Philippines may also observe the aforementioned successful practice adopted by Taiwan and Japan to jointly transform our two countries’ overlapping waters into an “Ocean of Peace and Prosperity”.

It is also worth noting that the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) by two countries or entities is not a prerequisite for these two sides to conclude a bilateral fishery agreement with each other. For instance, the United States has not been a party to the UNCLOS, but it has still reached fishery agreements with its neighboring countries by referring to the UNCLOS regulations. Therefore, although the Republic of China (Taiwan) has not signed the UNCLOS, it can still enter into the fishery agreement with another party based on mutual consent. The Taiwan-Japan fishery pact, again, serves as a good example to the aforementioned practice.

On the other hand, the One China Policy should not decrease the sovereignty rights of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as it has never curbed Taiwan’s enthusiasm for fulfilling its international responsibility. For example, Taiwan is not a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization yet, but its Flight Information Region, one of the most frequently-used (serves 1.2 million flights annually) and safest FIR in the Asia-Pacific region, has been under effective and reliable governance of ROC government based on the international laws and regulations since the establishment of the ICAO in 1947. Similarly, although Taiwan has not been accepted as a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its contributions to the development of green energy and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions have been lauded by major countries, such as the United States, the European Union and Japan. As a result, Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UNFCCC mechanisms has won increasing supports from the international community.

Given the aforementioned, Taiwan would like to once again urge the Philippines to jointly fulfill our duties as responsible stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region by actively cooperating in the expeditious resolution of the Guang Da Xing No. 28 incident. Through our two countries’ efforts, we are earnestly hoping that our bilateral relationship will be restored and that our respective national interests would be better protected.

CHANG PONG
Press Director

source:  Manila Standard

Vietnam PM seeks regional unity as China pushes maritime claims

By John O'Callaghan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Vietnam's prime minister called for unity among Southeast Asian countries as China asserts its claims to the energy-rich South China Sea, warning that any conflict could disrupt international trade and the global economy.

Tensions in the decades-old territorial dispute between six Asian claimants have risen in recent weeks after Chinese vessels converged near a ship the Philippines ran aground on a reef in 1999 to mark its territory.

"Somewhere in the region, there have emerged preferences for unilateral might, groundless claims and actions that run counter to international law and stem from imposition and power politics," Nguyen Tan Dung said in a speech on Friday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual regional security forum in Singapore.

"A single irresponsible action or instigation of conflict could well lead to the interruption of huge trade flows, causing unforeseeable consequences not only to regional economies but also to the entire world," he said in remarks translated from Vietnamese.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territory, setting it directly against the Philippines and Vietnam as it displays the growing "blue water" reach of its navy and the United States turns more of its attention to Asia.

Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also claim parts of the South China Sea, whose waters are vital to the international flow of goods and energy and whose seabed is believed to contain rich deposits of oil and natural gas.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is attending the three-day forum convened by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), with the U.S. "pivot" toward Asia, the region's military build-up and the South China Sea high on the agenda.

Stressing the need for "strategic trust", Dung said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must stay united and strong, without any of its 10 members "forced to take sides with one country or the other for the benefit of their own relationships with big powers."

ASEAN has been talking to China about a binding code of conduct to ease tensions but Beijing has said it will negotiate "when the time is ripe". ASEAN foreign ministers are due to meet in Thailand in August to forge a position on the code of conduct before meeting Chinese officials in Beijing.

Vietnam will not be a military ally to anyone or allow any country to set up military bases on its soil, Dung said, adding the modernisation of its forces was "only for self-defence and to safeguard our legitimate interests".

"OPPORTUNISTIC ASSERTIVENESS"
China's response to the actions of its rival claimants may be part of a very long-term negotiating strategy, said Christian Le Miere, a senior fellow at the IISS.

"I would call it a form of opportunistic assertiveness whereby China is often aware that these actions are going to happen and then uses them as a justification for its overzealous reactions," Le Miere told a news conference.

"What we will continue to see is China trying to change the facts on the water and trying to build a stronger legal case and adapt the legal environment to its own benefit wherever possible and continue with its maximalist claims because they will, in the future, provide China with a stronger negotiation position."

A Chinese military think-tank, the Centre for National Defence Policy, said this week the U.S. pivot to Asia had "shattered" the relative calm of the South China Sea.

"While the conditions do not yet exist for a large-scale armed clash, the dispute is becoming normalised and long-term ... and ineffective management may lead to a serious crisis," the report said, according to the China News Service.

Washington says it is focusing more security, economic and diplomatic attention on Asia to engage the fast-growing region, which has fuelled Chinese suspicions that the United States is trying to contain its economic and military might.

(Additional reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)