Japan PM vows to help Philippines amid China row

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to strengthen the Philippines' maritime defence capabilities on Saturday, while reassuring neighbours about Tokyo's intentions amid growing territorial disputes with regional rival China.

"For Japan, the Philippines is a strategic partner with whom we share fundamental values and many strategic interests," Abe told a joint news conference with Philippine president Benigno Aquino after their meeting in Manila.

Speaking through an interpreter, Abe said his visit was intended "to strengthen the relations with the Philippines in all areas", including politics, security, and the economy.

As part of Japan's commitment, Abe said there would be "continued assistance to the capacity-building of the Philippine coastguard".

As an example of this, he cited 10 patrol boats that Japan is providing to the poorly-equipped Philippine coast guard.

The Filipino coastguard and navy have been at the forefront of tense encounters with navy and maritime surveillance vessels from China, which claims most of the South China Sea including areas close to the Filipino coast.

China seized the Scarborough Shoal, a South China Sea outcrop just 230 kilometres (140 miles) east of the main Philippine island of Luzon, last year after Manila backed down from a lengthy stand-off.

This year the Philippines has complained about the presence of Chinese navy vessels near Filipino-held Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly islands.

Japan earlier this year announced it would make loans to the Philippines to purchase the 10 Japanese patrol vessels for its coastguard.

"The Prime Minister and I agreed to strengthen maritime cooperation which is a pillar of our strategic partnership," Aquino said Saturday.

Abe's visit came as tensions have also steadily risen between China and Japan over Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea.

He reiterated a call for a leaders' summit with China to discuss their territorial dispute, and assured the rest of Asia that his vision for a more robust Japanese armed forces would not threaten the region's peace and security.

Abe said Saturday his party's decisive victory in the upper house of the Japanese parliament would help him pursue his vision of Tokyo's role in the region, many parts of which were under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II.

"Against this backdrop I intend to further proceed with strategic diplomacy which will contribute to regional and global peace and security," he said.

Abe has pledged to loosen limits on the military in Japan's pacifist, post-war constitution and stand up to China over their East China Sea dispute.

He acknowledged at a separate news conference, after he appeared with Aquino, that a more assertive Japanese military was a sensitive issue in the region.

"I intend to explain politely so that the countries in the region will not have any misunderstanding," he said.
Abe said problems with China were "inevitable" being neighbours, but stressed that peaceful coexistence between the two regional powers was crucial for Asian peace and prosperity.

"It is important that we have frank and candid discussions. I have given instructions so that the foreign affairs authorities (can) proceed with dialogue without any conditions attached. Foreign ministers-level and leaders-level meetings should be promptly held."

As Abe and Aquino met at the presidential palace, about 80 protesters including elderly ladies who said they were former comfort women staged a rally nearby, holding signs demanding reparations from Japan.

source:  Yahoo! and AFP

Biden to address maritime disputes ‘head on’ in Asia Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/81029/biden-to-address-maritime-disputes-head-on-in-asia#ixzz2Zfa8skXC Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

WASHINGTON—US Vice President Joe Biden on Monday begins a week-long visit to India and Singapore where officials say he will tackle tensions over the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) “head on.”

The trip allows the White House to reassert its commitment to a strategic pivot to Asia, with Biden to discuss growing economic cooperation with the region as well as geo-political hot topics such as Afghanistan.
Notably it provides President Barack Obama’s number two a chance to confer with regional leaders on how to manage overlapping maritime claims in the West Philippine Sea — a flashpoint for the past decade.
China claims virtually all of the body of water, drawing accusations from rival claimants the Philippines and Vietnam, among others, that it is mounting a creeping takeover of disputed islets.

Biden and the Obama administration are “concerned about certain patterns of activity that have unfolded in these areas, and so I think you can expect that he will address this issue head-on while he is there,” a senior administration official said Friday.

While in Singapore, Biden will talk with leaders about Washington’s “very deep stake in making sure that these disputes are managed in a way that promotes freedom of navigation, promotes stability, promotes conflict resolution, avoids intimidation and coercion and aggression.”

Biden first travels to New Delhi, where he is scheduled to meet top leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pranab Mukherjee.

On Wednesday Biden gives a policy speech at the Bombay Stock Exchange and holds a roundtable with business leaders, where he will press for stronger intellectual property protection and highlight growing trade between the world’s two largest democracies.

Bilateral trade has surged to nearly $100 billion per year, “but there is no reason it can’t be five times that much,” the administration official said.

Immigration reform currently under debate in the US Congress is of interest in India, where skilled graduates could stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of a planned overhaul that would triple the number of visas allotted to highly-skilled workers.

Biden’s trip follows Obama’s nomination of Nisha Desai Biswal as assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, the first time an Indian American would head the bureau which oversees US foreign policy with Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

India is not party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal being negotiated by 12 nations and which Biden says he hopes will be completed this year.

But Singapore is a TPP participant, and Biden travels there Thursday. He is due to meet the city-state’s leadership as well as its founding founder Lee Kuan Yew.

 

source:  Philippine Daily Inquirer

Feeling the heat

The way the Chinese are ranting, they must be all riled up with recent adverse developments.
In their distorted perception, Chinese officials accused the Philippines of being “a troublemaker and unsettling the stability of the region.”

The Philippines incurred China’s ire by posing the most serious challenge to Beijing’s excessive claim over the entire South China Sea when Manila elevated to international arbitration its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea in accordance with the United Nations Law of the Sea. UNCLOS gives nations with coast lines a 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

Beijing must be feeling the heat. It stepped up its propaganda attack after the panel of judges in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea announced it would start hearing Manila’s case without or without China’s participation.

Earlier, China received a rebuke when US President Barack Obama warned an official Chinese delegation against the use of coercion and intimidation in maritime disputes during two days of wide-ranging talks in Washington.

Much earlier, State Department officials and the Commanding Admiral of the US Naval Forces in the Pacific conveyed the same message. But this time, it was the US commander in chief himself talking.

Apart from US interest to keep navigational lanes in the South China Sea open, one can assume the Obama statement and the ITLOS action was driven by world opinion against China’s aggressive moves in the region.
While there is a school of thought who contend there is no such thing as a world opinion, China is mindful of what the international community says about it.

Chito Santaromana, who spent 30 years in China as an exile from the Marcos regime and later as Beijing bureau chief of the American Broadcasting Company TV network , said it is important to the Chinese not to lose face.

Despite their inscrutable countenance, the Chinese are affected by world opinion judging by their strong statements against the Philippines which makes them look like the villain.

China knows world opinion can sway the United Nations to action. Although the UN does not speak in one voice, and often dissonant, it is still able to carry out its mandate through its related agencies in acting against tyranny, aggression and crimes against humanity.

The world is watching how far China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can and will go in its calibrated aggression in maritime disputes with Japan and the Philippines remains to be seen.
China occupied Tibet but has taken its time with “renegade province” Taiwan. Beijing knows Taiwan is armed to the teeth and has full US backing, The Mainland leadership no longer threatens to launch an invasion across the Straits of Formosa.

Japan won’t be bullied on the Senkaku Island territorial row. Threatened by an aggressive China, Japan’s political leaders plan to amend its pacifist constitution so it can rearm.

Meanwhile, we have yet to hear our politicians speak out on the Chinese threat. Instead, they are more concern on the possible violation of the Constitution over giving our allies access to Subic naval base.
With billions in pork barrel funds lost to a scam syndicate, the President should really abolish the practice of allocating money to senators and congressmen’s pet projects.

Why not use the PDAF appropriation to beef up the military?

Incoming Senate President Franklin Drilon expressed the view it does not require legislation to abolish the graft-ridden pork barrel. It’s really President Aquino’s call.

Waging war with China is a no- brainer. But bolstering our self-defense capability and spending for the nation’s security should be paramount in our leaders’ agenda.

source:  Manila Standard today's Column of Alejandro Del Rosario

Toward a Philippine defense policy that works

Second of Three Parts
With President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s policy of allowing massive deployment of the American military and perhaps the Japanese as well, China will not only undertake adverse economic, diplomatic and security measures against the Philippines. As explained in the first part of this article, PNoy is provoking the People’s Liberation Army to build up PLA capabilities and firepower in the area.

Thus, the very policies intended to secure the Philippines and its claimed islands, waters and economic zones, will actually further endanger them and extend the threats to the entire archipelago as well as the economy and the nation’s global standing.

But guess what: increasing Chinese military, economic and international pressure on the Philippines is exactly what would serve Washington’s long-advocated initiative to create a “regional architecture” addressing international issues in Asia, and to increase its military presence in the region, including the planned shift to the region of 60 percent of American naval forces, while enhancing alliances and building new ones.

As the PLA expands in the South China Sea to match the U.S. Seventh Fleet and the Japanese Navy rotating in and near the Philippines with access to its bases, the Chinese deployment would underscore even more the aggressor role in which Beijing has been cast in recent years. And the more it uses its economic and geopolitical clout against helpless Manila, the more the bully label sticks.

That would only add greater impetus and justification for Washington’s so-called Pivot to Asia, including its push for military buildup, alliances and regional arrangements to counter the supposed threat of Chinese regional dominance. If Asian nations buy that geopolitical line, then Washington would be on its way to regaining its regional clout while trimming Beijing’s expanding influence.

What a scheme: Aquino lets Washington and Tokyo expand their military presence in and around the Philippines, which then provokes Beijing to punish Manila and build up its forces in the South China Sea—lending credence to the U.S. spiel that Asian nations must line up with it to contain Chinese aggression.
Will Asians fall for it? Not if they have a good grasp of history. Then they would recall that after the early 1991 Soviet collapse, the U.S. stopped wooing Asia after its global rivalry with the defunct U.S.S.R. ended. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in America rekindled its interest and involvement in the region, but mainly to combat violent extremists. Only belatedly and with much prodding from Washington policy wonks did the U.S. scramble to regain clout in the region as it woke up to China’s rapid rise and the coming shift of the world’s economic and geopolitical center to Asia.

By comparison, since Deng Xiaoping’s reforms in the mid-seventies, China has proved a reliable and supportive friend to its neighbors, especially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It cut ties with communist rebels in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, and backed Asean in opposing Vietnam’s 1978 invasion of Cambodia, even waging a brief punitive war against its fellow communist state.

During the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the West lectured and imposed crushing bailout conditions on the region, epitomized by then International Monetary Fund Managing Director Michel Camdessus looking down on then Indonesian President Suharto signing rescue loan terms. China, by contrast, quietly helped out by not devaluing its renminbi.

And in the past decade, it boosted trade and investment in Asean, outstripping most nations in new capital and commerce, especially after the U.S. financial crisis of 2007.

Those with even longer memories can look back on past centuries and see that unlike Western colonizers and their Japanese imitators, China never invaded and occupied faraway lands and peoples, even when it sent what was the world’s most powerful navy to Asia and Africa early in the 15th Century, with vessels several times the size of Christopher Columbus’s ships during his voyage to America decades later in 1492.

The United States, on the other hand, waged a brutal war to subjugate the Philippines, Asia’s first republic, in 1900, and fought five major conflicts in Asia since 1950—in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan, and two in Iraq. Plus even more interventions in the Western Hemisphere, from invasion in Cuba and Nicaragua to subversion in Guatemala and Chile.

Washington’s big-power ways continue today with its campaign pressuring governments to hand over cyber-surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden.

All that makes it hard for most Asian nations to swallow the line that China is an aggressor against which the region should unite under American protection. Nor are they going to sacrifice burgeoning trade and investment ties with the region’s main economic growth engine by becoming its adversaries.
Rather, most of Asia will follow what has been Asean’s longstanding policy of being friends with all major powers, as envisioned in its 1971 Declaration promoting a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) in Southeast Asia. Big nations will always be competing for influence and clout; little ones should generally avoid taking sides and getting caught in the crossfire.

That should be one key principle in addressing the Philippines’ security problems with China: Restore the warm but equidistant relations the country has had with America, China and Japan for at least the past decade. Two other tenets toward true national security: Downplay disputes and undertake confidence-boosting collaboration. And lastly, build up Philippine defense capabilities, rather than depending on other nations.

For space reasons, this article will need to extend to a third part on Friday outlining a roadmap toward regional harmony and Philippine national security. The way forward won’t be easy, but it can work.
(The first part of the article appeared on Monday. The last will be published on Friday.)

source:  Manila Times' Column of by Ricardo Saludo

Japan wary of 'coercive' China

AFP News/Japan Coast Guard - A Chinese marine surveillance ship (R) alongside a Japan Coast Guard vessel near disputed islets on February 4, 2013. China's "coercive" behaviour in the waters around the land mass could trigger an incident, Tokyo said in a new defence paper

China's "coercive" behaviour in waters around islands at the centre of a bitter dispute with Japan is dangerous and could trigger an incident, Tokyo said in a new defence paper Tuesday.

At a cabinet meeting, hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ministers adopted the white paper, the first annual report on Japan's defence capabilities and regional security since the islands dispute flared anew last year.

Tokyo nationalised three of the five Senkaku islands in September. Beijing lays claim to the islands, and calls them the Diaoyus.

"China... has taken action described as coercive, which includes risky behaviour," the 450-page report said.

"China's activities include its intrusion into Japan's territorial waters, its violation of Japan's territorial airspace and even dangerous actions that could cause a contingency," it said.

In particular, the paper said a Chinese frigate locked weapons-targeting radar on a Japanese destroyer in January -- a claim Beijing has denied.

"These acts are extremely regrettable and China should accept and stick to the international norms," it said.
Chinese and Japanese ships have for months traded warnings over intrusions into what both governments regard as their sovereign areas around the islands, which are strategically sited and rich in resources.

Chinese government ships have regularly sailed into the 12 nautical mile territorial waters of the islands, where they are confronted by Japan's well-equipped coastguard.

The most recent incident was Sunday.

Masayoshi Tatsumi, press secretary at Japan's defence ministry, said the ministry was stepping up efforts to boost cooperation between the armed forces and coastguard in patrolling Japanese waters.

"We are taking all possible measures to maintain full readiness toward issues surrounding our country by using aircraft and other equipment in a flexible manner," Tatsumi said.

Japanese fighters were scrambled more than 300 times against Chinese planes flying near Japan's airspace for the year to March, a new record, the paper said.

Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the white paper "makes some unfounded accusations against China".

"Recently Japan has often played up the so-called China threat and unilaterally caused tensions and confrontations," she said.

"Given that some political forces and politicians in Japan clamour for war preparations, military build-up and frequent military exercises, the international community cannot but be worried about where Japan is heading."
Japan has officially been pacifist since World War II but has 140,000 troops, 140 military ships and 410 aircraft as part of its "self-defence forces". It raised its military budget by 0.8 percent for the year to March, the first annual gain in 11 years, citing the need to boost island defences.

The defence paper also stressed the need to enhance the country's alliance with the United States in the face of China's increasingly assertive behaviour.

Ties with Washington had been strained under Japan's previous centre-left government, which pushed for the relocation of US bases in Okinawa. But under the conservative Abe, Japan has adopted a more nationalistic tone, to Beijing's concern.

Commentators say the disputed islands are a potential flashpoint for a possible military confrontation between Asia's two largest powers.

"Senkaku is strategically important for Japan, China and Taiwan," said Takehiko Yamamoto, professor of international politics at Waseda University in Tokyo.

Taiwan also claims the islands.

"Japan may need to work together with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries to jointly bring China to an arena of dialogue, but it will take some time," Yamamoto said.

Several members of ASEAN are also at loggerheads with China over separate territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which contains some of the world's most important shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in fossil fuels.

ASEAN has been pushing a reluctant China for talks on a set of rules governing conduct at sea meant to avert unilateral actions that could spark trouble.

At annual Asia-Pacific security talks a week ago, the Philippines warned that China was engaging in a military buildup at sea that threatened regional peace. China agreed at the talks to begin discussing a code of conduct with ASEAN.

The white paper is an assessment and summary of Japan's thinking on defence matters and is intended as an effort at transparency aimed at both the public and at neighbouring countires.

A policy paper that will discuss specifics on deployment of forces is expected later in the year.

source: Yahoo!

People to people

There is something amiss about the way we conduct our foreign policy especially as it refers to the South China Sea conflict. It seems that we have boxed ourselves into a position where diplomacy has become more and more difficult. The recent “testy exchange” between Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario is a good example of how personalities come in the way of finding solutions for the benefit of the peoples of their respective countries.

It is in this light that this column suggests a think tank that includes a wide variety of personalities (not created by the government but a private initiative) to enable ordinary people, especially the fishermen who are most affected by the South China Sea conflict to have their say.

Why should something as important as the source of livelihood be left to officials who never have to scramble for food everyday? To them the sea, whatever it is called and whoever claims ownership, is where they get their daily food.

It is time that ordinary people step in and have their say. By doing so they create a wider atmosphere more conducive to explore alternative approaches beyond “testy exchanges.’  It is clear that we cannot rely mainly on high government officials. After all, they are only human and would not be immune to flares of tempers. Imagine the thousands who will be affected if an official did not wake up on the right side of the bed. That happens.

*       *       *

In a supposedly free and democratic country like the Philippines media is just as controlled with news on the South China conflict concentrating on news that generate a war frenzy. That was the reason for the “testy exchange” and then probably regretting a breach of polite diplomacy, Secretary del Rosario invited his Chinese counterpart to come and visit for talks. (At which it was disputed whether it should be called negotiations or consultation).

Vietnam is closest to the Philippines insofar as the disputed claims on the South China is concerned and for a while went along with Philippine initiatives. But that changed when Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang visited China.

The Vietnamese have come up with an alternative approach leaving the Philippines behind in what is looking more and more like a stalemate. The Vietnamese have moved forward, never mind what it has said in the past for the sake of the development of their country through cooperation with China.
I have some Vietnamese friends who tell me that even before their President’s visit to China, there were already private initiatives to look for alternative approaches. This is a wise move and does not necessarily come in the way of what its government or indeed the Chinese positions on the claims.

*      *      *

I was surprised but welcomed a request from the prestigious Guang Ming Daily that they wished to reprint in Chinese my column “A visit between friends” that talked on the new approach between Vietnam and China about the South China Sea conflict. Why not? But it had to be translated in Chinese so that Chinese readers would appreciate that there was room for peace not war. If the Vietnamese can do it, so can Filipinos.

Chinese businessmen who might have wanted to invest in projects in the Philippines, reading only mainstream media have shied away from doing business here. We have to get to them to discourage this kind of thinking that all Filipinos are against the Chinese and threats that they should be careful because we have the Americans on our side that the Americans in any case promptly denied.  That puts us in limbo.

A think tank would be an ideal vehicle to take in as many views as possible including the real stakeholders ie the fishermen would be a good thing.

Most of us know only about TIME and Newsweek and of course the CNN and BBC. Whoever heard of Guang Ming Daily? Yet it has millions of readers.

According to Wikipedia the “Guangming Daily is an influential newspaper in China in the fields of science and technology, education and culture. It possesses a large readership and enjoys high prestige amongst state agencies, universities and schools, the armed forces and in intellectual circles.

As a newspaper with a long history in China, the Guangming Daily enjoys a high reputation among the media. Over years of development, the Guangming Daily has grown into a large-scale newspaper group that runs other three newspapers, four periodicals, a website and a publishing house. Also printed in the cities of Shenyang, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Chengdu and Kunming, all copies of the Guangming Daily circulated in Beijing are offset laser printed. The Guangming Daily has correspondents resident in many countries worldwide and has a global circulation although it is written in Chinese.”
Below is the connection to the story in Chinese and how it looks in the newspaper: http://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2013-07/01/nbs.D110000gmrb_08.htm


FROM A DISTANCE By Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 6, 2013 -

PH-China disputes ‘temporary setback’

Cultural, economic ties between the two nations are stronger than their political differences
NANNING, China—Although complicated, the fueling tensions over the disputed maritime territories between China and the Philippines are seen to be just a temporary obstacle to the economic growth and cooperation of both countries, a Chinese professor said.

Prof. Hu Jianghua from Guangxi University of Finance and Economics in Nanning, China told Filipino reporters that the ongoing territorial row between the two countries is just a short-term impediment to the economic partnership that the two countries are trying to forge.

“Both the Chinese businessmen and Filipino businessmen, they are focused. Their attention is to put on the presence of common interest and business profit,” Hu said through a translator. “So I think that the political problem should not be the obstacle to our fundamental economic interest.”

Hu explained that “business is business”—despite the feud over the disputed waters, the Philippines and China will continue to have sound economic and trade relations, which is more important for both countries.
Based on the data by the Department of Trade and Industry, China is the Philippines’ second largest source of imports and third largest export destination. Philippine exports to China, meanwhile, increased by 11 percent in 2010 from 2000, according to research director Dr. Dan Steinbock.

In a report by Philexport, Chinese projects in the Philippines grew by 63.2 percent or $1.02 billion in 2012.

The professor made the remarks in one of the lectures at the two-week Economic and Trade seminar for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Journalists held last June 18 to 30 in Nanning. The assembly was organized by the China-Asean Expo secretariat and sponsored by China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Stronger cooperation
With the rapid economic growth that China and Southeast Asia demonstrated in the past few years, Hu explained that it is imperative for the region to build stronger bilateral economic and trade cooperation for a more permanent and lasting progress.

“The political issues are the effect to some extent of the bilateral economic cooperation but the focus of attention of the businessmen of China and the Philippines are focused on the pursuit of the common interest,” he said.

“Also, there are expectations for the government of both sides to solve the critical issues and problems and create more favorable business environment for them.”

So far, the maritime territorial dispute has no direct effect yet on the economic relations between the two countries, except when China imposed restriction on the importation of Philippine bananas last year after the Scarborough Shoal standoff erupted. China then claimed that the banana shipments were infested with bugs.

The restriction has eased, though, as Chinese quarantine officials informed the Philippines that the quality of bananas has improved. To date, China remains as the third biggest importer of Cavendish bananas, next to Japan and South Korea.

Good shape
The economic exchanges between China and the Philippines is in relatively good shape. Ministry of Commerce Department of Asian Affairs Director Li An said in one of the lectures during the same seminar that the bilateral trade between the two countries are increasing.

“The political relationship between the countries is not very good,” he said. “But from the point of view of trade and economic cooperation, I believe in recent years, the bilateral cooperation has been fairly increasing. The figures concerning the bilateral trade have been great.”

In fact, the Philippines is one of China’s major foreign direct investments (FDI) source among the Asean countries next to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The Philippines’ FDI in China was recorded at $130 million in 2012.

However, Li said that the Philippine government should exert more efforts to attract more Chinese investors to the country. According to the DTI, Chinese investments in the country last year only reached $65.45 million, which is about half of the Philippines’ FDI in China.

According to Li, there have been no considerable investments made by Chinese investors in the Philippines compared to other Asean countries since 2005. Most of China’s FDI is concentrated in Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

Just recently, DTI Secretary Gregory L. Domingo urged Chinese businessmen to invest in the Philippines.

“Since China has more money than the Philippines, we hope that Chinese will invest more in the Philippines,” he said during a Philippine-China business forum in April.

Challenge
Besides China and the Philippines, there are four other countries claiming parts of the West Philippine Sea (referred to as the South China Sea by China). These are Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.

The maritime territory is a home for the world’s biggest coral reefs and hundreds of species of fish and marine animals. It is also believed to contain unexploited reserves of oil and natural gas.

Hu noted that both governments should appropriately handle territorial disputes by strengthening dialogues and maintaining consultations on political issues as this is vital to promote peace and stability in the region.

Other entities like non-government organizations can also play a role in building relationships between Chinese and Filipino investors.

The suggestion is easier said than done, though, as the conflict has become tougher and tougher. Since tensions broke out last year, China has strengthened security around the area it claims while the Philippines recently launched military exercises around the area together with U.S. forces.

Add to that the “testy exchanges” that Philippine Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario and his counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, engaged in last week during the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Brunei.
Now, it is a tough challenge for both parties—who are bound by their long historical and cultural relations—to ease the tension for a more strategic and long-lasting cooperation.

source:  Manila Times

Del Rosario pushes talks on sea issue with China

Foreign Affairs Department Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Thursday said he has invited China Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Manila for a “full and constructive discussion on all issues” on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Del Rosario said that since he was appointed as Foreign Affairs chief in 2011, he has had no official visit from a Chinese Foreign Minister.

The invitation was made amid the country’s ongoing political conflict on territorial claims with Beijing and came on the heels of the reported “testy exchanges” between the two envoys during the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum held in Brunei.

“I indicated to him that perhaps, it’s timely for him to do this because I have been to Beijing three times since I became foreign minister [in 2011] and all throughout that time, we had no visit from a Chinese foreign minister,” he said.

When asked how Wang reacted to the invitation, Del Rosario said the Chinese envoy said that “he would think about it and will consider.”

During the 46th Asean Regional Forum in Bandar Seri Bagawan, Wang and Del Rosario reportedly had a “testy” conversation after the Chinese envoy accused the Philippines of making aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.

Del Rosario reportedly raised his hand to answer Wang’s accusations even if he was not supposed to respond to the Chinese envoy’s remarks.

The DFA chief did not deny the report, but refused to make any further comment on the incident.

“I will not deny what has been reported, but I feel there’s no need to add to it,” he said.

Del Rosario said that China has agreed to hold “consultations and not “negotiations”, in Beijing in September to discuss the “full and effective implementation of the DOC [Declaration on the Code of Conduct].”

In all, China and ASEAN’s top envoys are scheduled to have three meetings this year:  the first among ASEAN member-countries in Thailand; the second among ASEAN members and China in August and another ‘consultation’ meeting in September.

Thailand called for the first meeting to prepare the Asean for the August and September meeting in China.
“Our hope is that we can have a discussion on a way forward on the COC [Code of Conduct],” Del Rosario said.

The DFA chief added that he hopes that Beijing was sincere in starting consultations on the draft of a maritime code of conduct based on the non-binding but confidence-building DOC that was signed in 2002 by China and the Asean.

In the past, Beijing had repeatedly refused to agree on multilateral negotiations on the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

China had instead pushed for bilateral talks between China and claimant-countries, such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Vietnam and the Philippines had been the most vocal in criticizing China’s aggressive stance over the oil-rich territory.

Recently, however, Beijing and Hanoi had agreed to explore and share the resources on their disputed territories. Both countries even set up a hotline that would help prevent tensions between their fishermen.
The Philippines, on the other hand, still has a pending case against China before the arbitral tribunal under the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, but Beijing had rejected Manila’s decision to “internationalize” the issue.

Also yesterday, the DFA announced that the BRP Alcaraz, the second of two Hamilton-class cutters the Philippine government purchased from the United States, is slated to arrive on August 3.

The BRP Alcaraz (PF-16), and the BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15), which arrived in Philippine shores in August 2011, were acquired by the Philippines under the Excess Defense Article and Military Assistance Program.

The Alcaraz is named after Commodore Ramon Alcaraz, a Philippine Navy officer, who distinguished himself during the Second World War when the patrol boat he commanded reportedly shot down three Japanese aircrafts.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez meanwhile, denied reports that the Chinese vessels had left the Panatag Shoal.

Hernandez said that contrary to reports, Chinese vessels continue to intrude into Philippine maritime territories.

“They leave. They come back. They come back and forth. The intrusions are continuing,” said Hernandez, wo added that the Philippines remained steadfast in its stand that the shoal is part of Philippine territory.
“Our position remains the same that these areas are part of our national territory and China should respect that,” he said.

Hernandez made the statement following reports on Wednesday that a a senior security official had said that the Chinese vessels had sailed away from the Panatag Shoal.

source:  Malaya

Aquino backs bases access for US

President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Tuesday expressed his support to a plan that would allow the United States and Japan to use Philippine military bases, saying it is “a natural circumstance” to achieve a “credible alliance.”

He said the proposed access agreement will not lead to the permanent presence of foreign troops since the country will not allow US or Japan to establish their own military facility here.

“If you want a credible alliance, then you will have to have mutual training and that will normally occur within our territory or the allies’ territory,” Aquino added.

He explained that the country’s “strategic partners” should be familiar with the terrain in case of a “disturbance.”

“There are only two strategic partners that we have, it is America and Japan,” Aquino said. “Kung hindi tayo makikipag-ugnayan sa kanila at mag-aayos ng mga sistema kung sakaling may gulo na is palagay ko maling paghahanda ‘yon. Walang paghahanda ‘yon [ If we don’t coordinate with them and fix our systems for a possible disturbance, I think that is wrong preparation. That is the absence of preparation].”

“So kailangan nila ng may knowledge na rin ‘nung ating terrain. Kailangan rin naman natin ‘yung inter-operability with them [They need to know our terrain. We need to practice inter-operability],” Aquino added.

The government is initially drafting a plan that would allow US or Japan forces to spend more time on Philippine bases.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had said it is looking to give the US and Japan greater access to its military bases, as it seeks to counter what it perceives as a rising security threat from China.

source:  Manila Times