Thursday, June 26, 2014

China’s new map covers West Philippine Sea

China has unveiled a new map of its entire country that shows its claim over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) marked by not just nine but 10 dash lines around the region.

Xinhua, a government run news agency, published the photo of the map on its website on June 24 at around 8:00 p.m (China time). The photo caption reads: “Islands in South China Sea share the same scale with mainland and are better shown than traditional map.”

China map, China new map, Manila Bulletin, mb.com.ph, China, West Philippine Sea, South China Sea
The photo of China’s new map. (Xinhua/Bai Yu)

The new map created by Hunan Map Publishing House shows China claiming the West Philippine Sea which stretches down the coasts of Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily on its website said the islands of the South China Sea on the traditional map of China are shown in a cut-away box that causes readers not to “fully, directly know the full map of China.”

Meanwhile, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Spokesperson Charles Jose told Manila Bulletin Online that China’s publication of the new map is “precisely such ambitious expansionism” that causes tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

“We reiterate that such a publication only shows China’s unreasonably expansive claim that is clearly contrary to international law and UNCLOS,” Jose said in a text message.

The Philippines has been embroiled in a dispute with China over ownership of the West Philippine Sea.

The West Philippines Sea is a major shipping lane that is rich in oil and natural gas reserves.


source:  Manila Bulletin

Friday, June 13, 2014

Japan should have role in fixing Asia conflicts, Australia says

JAPAN should play a bigger part in resolving conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region, where it is caught up in a territorial dispute with neighbor China, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.

“We see Japan taking an ever increasing role in some of the areas of conflict, some of the challenging environments,” Bishop said in a phone interview from Tokyo on Thursday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to reinterpret the country’s pacifist Constitution to allow it to defend allies, as part of a broader push for influence in the region as China asserts itself as an economic and military power.

Japan and China are embroiled in a dispute over islands in the East China Sea and China is pressing its claims to a large part of the South China Sea, a major trade route.

Japan has a right to collective self-defense, Bishop said after concluding “two-plus-two” meetings with Defense Minister David Johnston and her Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera.

“We support Japan’s desire to achieve peace and security for the long term in our region,” she said. “We welcome Japan’s efforts to play an even greater role in regional affairs and global affairs.”
Abe, who has increased defense spending two years in a row, used the Shangri-La security forum in Singapore last month to outline his efforts to toughen Japan’s defense posture and pledged to aid Southeast Asian nations in their disputes with China over territory.
He framed Japan’s plans for a more active contribution to security as the path for “new Japanese.” That prompted Chinese Lt. Gen. Wang Guanzhong to call Abe’s comments provocative.

Chinese fighter jets on Wednesday flew “abnormally close” to Japanese military surveillance planes in the East China Sea, the second incident in less than a month, Japan’s Ministry of Defense said. Ships and planes from the countries have tailed one another around the islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese since Japan bought three of them from a private owner in 2012.
While China is committed to a peaceful rise in power in the Asia-Pacific, a strong US presence in the region is vital to prosperity and stability, Bishop said.

“Our point in all of our discussions, whether it be with the United States or Japan or China or any of the Asean countries, is that there must be a peaceful resolution to these territorial claims,” Bishop said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. “The key to managing disputes in the South China Sea is to ensure that the Asean countries continue to engage in negotiations for a code of conduct.”

Australia is also seeking to build its defense capacity. The world’s 12th-largest economy must balance its interests between the US—a strategic ally that has Marines based in the northern Australian city of Darwin—and top trading partner China, which Bishop criticized last year for proclaiming an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.

Australia, which is in talks to potentially use submarine technology from Japan, on Wednesday reached a “substantial conclusion” to negotiations with Kishida and Onodera in their bid for cooperation in sharing defense equipment and technology, the nations said in a joint statement. Further details are expected next month when Abe addresses the Australian parliament in Canberra, Bishop said on Thursday. 

source:  Bloomberg News / Business Mirror

Thursday, June 12, 2014

South China Sea contract to be extended

FORUM ENERGY Plc will be granted a two-year extension of its contract for an exploration area located in a disputed part of the South China Sea, a Cabinet official yesterday said.

The firm, majority owned by Philex Petroleum Corp., has said it needs more time to drill appraisal wells called for under Service Contract (SC) 72, which will expire in August 2015.

“We will grant it. The usual two years [extension]. We don’t have any reason not to grant it,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla told reporters yesterday.

A meeting, “hopefully within this week or next week”, will be held with Forum Energy officials, he added.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, Philex Petroleum chairman, last month said that Forum Energy needed more time to conduct exploration work.

SC 72, granted by the Energy department in February 2010, upgraded a concession acquired by Forum Energy in April 2005. It includes an obligation to drill the wells by August 2011 but this was extended last year to August 2015 to avoid further inflaming a row with China, which claims most of the resource-rich South China Sea.

Mr. Pangilinan has said that rig mobilization will take around 12-18 months, so Forum Energy was looking to commence drilling activity in the Sampaguita gas field “sometime in the first or second quarter of 2016”.

Philex Petroleum holds a 60.49% interest in Forum Energy, which in turn holds 70% interest in SC 72.

Mr. Pangilinan also confirmed that Forum Energy was reviving talks on a possible partnership with China National Offshore Oil Corp. to develop the prospect.

Shares of Philex Petroleum shed one centavo or 0.14% to close at P7.10 apiece yesterday. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano


source:  Businessworld

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Vietnam urges China to withdraw oil-drilling rig in disputed area

Vietnam’s United Nations ambassador urged China on Tuesday to withdraw its oil rig and more than 100 ships from the South China Sea to create “an environment” for negotiations on the disputed waters.

But Ambassador Le Hoai Trung said in an interview with the Associated Press that Beijing refuses to engage in dialogue and insists there is no dispute, claiming the area around the rig belongs to China.
The escalation in tensions is the most serious in years between Vietnam and its massive northern neighbor, which claims nearly all of the South China Sea.

China sent the rig into the disputed waters on May 1, provoking a confrontation with Vietnamese ships, complaints from Hanoi and street protests that turned into bloody anti-Chinese riots. Hundreds of factories were damaged, and China said four of its citizens were “brutally killed” and over 300 wounded.

Trung said “some extreme elements” provoked by China’s deployment of the rig undertook actions which the government “very much regrets.” He said many suspects have been arrested and prosecuted, and the government has taken measures to prevent a repetition of the violence.

Both Vietnam and China have taken the dispute over the rig to the United Nations, circulating rival documents among the UN General Assembly’s 193 member- states. Vietnam has said it is considering legal action against China in an international court. China has accused Vietnam of “illegally and forcefully” disrupting the rig’s operation by sending armed ships and ramming Chinese vessels.

The oil platform is about 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the China-controlled Paracel Islands, which Vietnam claims, and 278 kilometers (173 miles) from the coast ofVietnam.

Trung said Vietnam has “the legal basis and historical evidence to affirm our sovereign rights over the area” where the rig is deployed, which the country says is part of its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

The ambassador said China’s refusal to discuss the dispute is provocative and raises “serious concerns.”

“We don’t want to be provocative with this issue,” he said. “We want to have negotiations, to have dialogue, or any other means of peaceful settlement of the dispute.”

He added, “Up until now we exercise our restraint, but of course we always, like any other country, reserve the right of self-defense.”

Trung stressed, however, that after decades of war the Vietnamese people want peace “and friendly relations with China.”

source:  AP / Business Mirror

Monday, June 9, 2014

China sea claims have no basis: SC Justice

CHINA’S NINE-dashed line claim in the West Philippine Sea could not be supported by evidence, a Supreme Court (SC) Justice said, pointing to ancient maps and historical data which debunk Beijing’s claims over disputed waters.

“Clearly there is nothing ‘historical’ or ‘right’ about China’s nine-dashed line claim. The nine-dashed line claim is based not on historical facts but on historical lies,” Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio said in 63-page report.

“In sum, China’s so-called ‘historical facts’ to justify its nine-dashed lines are glaringly inconsistent with actual historical facts, based on China’s own historical maps, Constitutions and official pronouncements,” he added.

Mr. Carpio said China has no historical link to Scarborough Shoal.

“The rocks of Scarborough Shoal were never bequeathed to the present generation of Chinese by their ancestors because their ancestors never owned those rocks in the first place,” Mr. Carpio said.

Mr. Carpio, citing historical maps and data, pointed out that China’s southernmost territory of China “has always been” Hainan island, the smallest and southernmost province of the country.

“The southernmost territory of China under its imperial dynasties was always Hainan island, and has remained so under several Constitutions of the Republic of China,” Mr. Carpio said.

Mr. Carpio has been among the vocal critics of China’s nine-dashed line, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, encroaching the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of countries around the disputed waters, including that of the Philippines.

A United Nations arbitral tribunal has already asked China to answer the Philippines’ plea on overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea.

China, however, said it would not participate in the proceedings. The Philippines, has submitted to the tribunal its memorandum asserting its claim to disputed islands within the West Philippine Sea through a 4,000-page, 10-volume “memorial” serving as proof of its sovereignty within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

The country’s move to seek international arbitration prompted China to accuse the Philippines of violating morality and international law to resolve the territorial dispute.

Meanwhile, the government is yet to verify reports that China is planning to build a military base at the disputed Kagitingan Reef, a MalacaƱang official said yesterday.

“The report that China is building up on the Fiery Cross Reef was reported over the weekend on a Chinese newspaper, so that still needs verification,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin S. Lacierda told a press briefing yesterday, adding he does not want to comment on questions regarding the options of the Philippines in case China declares an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the West Philippine Sea.

“On the ADIZ over South China Sea, that is purely speculative at this point, so hypothetical at this point, so we don’t want to speculate,” he said.

DIPLOMATIC TRACK
The Palace Spokesman reiterated the country will continue to push the diplomatic track against the escalating tensions over the West Philippine Sea, amid China’s seeming expanded activities in the disputed shoals.

Mr. Lacierda noted that the country’s move for a peaceful resolution to disputes has been gaining approval from the international community.

He said the Philippines does not want to further escalate the tensions over the contested waters.

“We will continue to resort to the diplomatic track that we have resorted to and that particular track has been gaining approval from the international community,” Mr. Lacierda said.

“Certainly, we do not want to escalate any tensions in the South China Sea. That is not what we are there for and, therefore, the best thing that we can do is to resort to the diplomatic mechanism,” he added.

Mr. Lacierda said that with the growing support for a peaceful resolution to the maritime rows from the international community, the country is hoping that China will change its mind and participate in arbitration initiated by the Philippines to resolve the territorial disputes among countries in Asia.

“People seem to underestimate the power of the diplomatic track, [but] we believe that with the international community’s support, we can persuade China to act as a responsible member of the international community. And also that China realizes the importance of being a member of the international community in good standing,” Mr. Lacierda said.

NEWS REPORT
Mr. Lacierda’s statement comes on the heels of a South China Morning Post report on Saturday indicating that China plans to put up a military base in the disputed Kalayaan Island Group amid escalating tensions over maritime territorial rows with regional neighbors in Asia.

In its report, South China Morning Post said: “A military base will be built after the planned expansion of an artificial island located on Fiery Cross Reef”, which the Philippines refers to as Kagitingan Reef.

The planned military base, the report noted, will feature an air strip and a port which will also house storage facilities for military supplies. An observation post on the reef already exists, the report added.

Should China push through with the said plan as announced, the Asian economic giant will have the most strategic outpost in the heart of the disputed territories over the West Philippine Sea, the Spratly Group of Islands, Professor Jay L. Batongbacal of the College of Law Maritime Affairs and Law of the Seas of the University of the Philippines (UP) said.

“It makes perfect strategic sense in terms of asserting its claim such bases will enable China to carry out its current operations versus other claimant countries on a continuous basis 24/7 operations,” he told BusinessWorld in a text message.

In terms of its strategic competition with the US, Mr. Batongbacal added that a base in the West Philippine Sea, “is essential to be able to monitor and constrain US naval movements.”

“A base in the South China Sea is China’s solution to US increased rotational presence in the region. A full-blown military base will also support China’s military movements. Instead of making do with small outposts that have limited capacity and capability to support maritime operations, bases will give China all the capabilities it needs to elbow everyone else out of their current position,” Mr. Batongbacal further explained.

ASEAN MEETINGS
Meanwhile, the Philippines also renewed its call for the peaceful, rules-based resolution of disputes in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea during high-level meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEAN Plus Three (APT), East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Yangon, Myanmar.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Evan P. Garcia, Philippine Senior Official and Head of Delegation to the meetings, emphasized that recent provocative and unilateral actions by China constitute an infringement on the rights of the Philippines and other countries under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and a violation of the 2002 ASEAN China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC).

He called on all parties to exercise self-restraint as provided by paragraph 5 of the DoC, citing that these unilateral actions “raise the level of tensions to a new high and undermine the spirit of good neighborly ties and mutual confidence necessary for the region to move forward and decisively to implement the DoC fully and effectively.”

Mr. Garcia stressed the urgency for ASEAN and China to expeditiously conclude a substantive and legally binding Code of Conduct in the disputed waters. Noting that the Arbitral Tribunal has fixed Dec. 15, 2014 as the date by which China should submit its response to the Philippine memorial, Mr. Garcia noted that the Philippines has invited China from the very beginning to take part in the peaceful, rules-based process to clarify the extent of its maritime claims before the international community.

He said the Philippines called for regional maritime norms which are compliant with international law to promote good order at sea, to serve as confidence-building measures and to reduce risks of miscalculation.

The series of meetings hosted by Myanmar, chair of ASEAN this year, began last Saturday, to prepare for the Ministerial Meetings in August.

The said meetings reviewed the progress of regional cooperation in comprehensive areas and discussed strategic and security issues affecting the Asia-Pacific region.

Aside from calling for a peaceful means to mend ties with China over escalating tensions, the Palace Spokesman maintained the Philippines’ relationship with the Asian economic giant is not solely dependent on the conflict with them in the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea.

“Again, our relationship with China is multi-faceted, plus the fact that we have a number of Filipino-Chinese members in our country. We have always had very good relations with China in the other areas of exchange -- people-to-people, tourism, trade -- so I think it should not be a concern for us because, again, we have a very rich relation with China which is not limited to the current situation in the West Philippine Sea,” Mr. Lacierda said.

He added that President Benigno S. C. Aquino III is set to attend today, the joint celebration of the 116th Philippine Independence Day and 13th Filipino-Chinese Friendship Day at the Manila Hotel, organized by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII).

Mr. Lacierda said the President will deliver a speech, during which, he will highlight the contributions of the Filipino-Chinese community not only to the growth of our economy but also to the enhancement of civic life.

The joint celebration marks the 13th Filipino-Chinese Friendship Day, the Palace Spokesman added, which is celebrated on June 9. Ambassador Zhao Jianhua of the People’s Republic of China will also deliver a message.

Earlier, the President confirmed China has expanded its activities on the disputed waters revealing he has received reports on the presence of Chinese ships in more areas in the disputed shoals over the West Philippine Sea, particularly in Gavin Reef and Cuarteron Reef in the Kalayaan Group of Islands.

Last month, the Philippine government tagged China’s reclamation activities in Mabini Reef as “illegal” accusing Beijing of violating the DoC.

The Chinese activity was first monitored by the Philippines in February 2014. On May 15, the Department of Foreign Affairs released photos of China’s “destabilizing” moves in the disputed seas.

‘A FARCE’
China yesterday expressed displeasure after Vietnamese and Filipino troops played sports together on a contested island, with the foreign ministry denouncing the activity as “a farce.”

The retort from Beijing came a day after Vietnam hosted Filipino troops on an island it controls in the disputed Spratlys archipelago in the South China Sea that the Philippines’ Navy said was designed to “foster camaraderie.”

Asked about the joint sports activity, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing: “Don’t you think that these small tricks conducted by the Philippines and Vietnam are nothing but a farce?”

She also urged Hanoi and Manila to “refrain from taking any actions that may complicate or magnify the dispute” and said that China “exercises indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters”, referring to the Spratlys by their Chinese name. -- with Imee Charlee C. Delavin (Businessworld) and AFP

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Snubs, harsh words at Asia security meet as US and Japan rile China

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - When Japan's defence minister greeted the deputy chief of staff of China's army at a regional security forum this weekend, he was undiplomatically snubbed.
Lieutenant General Wang Guanzhong said he was incensed by comments from Japananese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe implicitly holding China responsible for territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas and later by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's accusations that Beijing was destabilising the region.
"When Mr Abe spoke just now, there was veiled criticism targeted at China," Wang told Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera, according to the semi-official China News Service. "These accusations are wrong and go against the standards of international relations."
The exchange between the world's three biggest economies at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a security forum for government officials, military officers and defence experts, were among the most caustic in years at diplomatic gatherings, and could be a setback to efforts to bring ties back on track.
It was the first such major conference since tensions have surged in the South China Sea, one of Asia's most intractable disputes and a possible flashpoint for conflict.
Tellingly, despite around 100 bilateral and trilateral meetings taking place over the week, officials from China and Japan did not sit down together.
China's Wang had rejected an offer of talks with Japan and said: "This will hinge on whether the Japanese side is willing to amend the erroneous policy towards China and improve relations between China and Japan. Japan should correct its mistakes as soon as possible to improve China-Japan ties."
Wang later accused the United States of hegemonism, threats and intimidation.
China claims almost the entire oil- and gas-rich South China Sea, and dismisses competing claims from Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. Japan has its own territorial row with China over islands in the East China Sea.
Riots broke out in Vietnam last month after China placed an oil rig in waters claimed by Hanoi, and the Philippines said Beijing could be building an airstrip on a disputed island.
Tensions have been rising steadily in the East China Sea as well. Japan's defence ministry said Chinese SU-27 fighters came as close as 50 metres (170 ft) to a Japanese OP-3C surveillance plane near disputed islets last week and within 30 metres of a YS-11EB electronic intelligence aircraft.
On Sunday, Wang stepped up the rhetoric.
"Mr Abe, as the head of a country and as someone the organisers have invited to give a speech, is supposed to stick to the event's aim in boosting security in the Asia Pacific region," he said. "However Mr Abe went against the aim of the event by instigating disputes."
Despite the heated words, analysts do not believe relations have deteriorated beyond reach.
"In the past, there was a sense we were sailing towards stability," said Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
"Now people worry. Overall, things are going in the right direction. Nobody thinks there will be war, but there is a level of unease which is new."
JAPAN'S COMING OUT
China has been particularly aggrieved by Japan trying to woo Southeast Asia.
In his keynote address to the conference, Abe pitched his plan for Japan to take on a bigger international security role and said Tokyo would offer its "utmost support" to Southeast Asian countries in their efforts to protect their seas and airspace. It is part of his nationalist agenda to loosen the restraints of the pacifist post World War Two constitution and to shape a more muscular Japanese foreign policy.
Philip Hammond, the British defence minister, said Abe's agenda was well know but provoked a response because it was laid out publicly.
"It's certainly the first time I had heard him articulate it on a public platform in that way," he said.
Japan's growing proximity to Washington is also a worry for Beijing.
"What really worries them is that Japan and the U.S. are in a very strong alliance and seem to be pulling closer, that was clear at this year's dialogue," said Tim Huxley, executive director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in Asia, the organiser of the forum.
"Rightly or wrongly, that will be seen by the Chinese as threatening them because it will mean they will be facing a more coherent alliance."
Still, the row is not likely to spill over. The three nations have deep economic and business ties, which none of them would like to see disrupted.
"Relations are definitely not at a breaking point," said Bonnie Glaser of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies and a regular visitor to the dialogue.
"Leaders are aware that their countries have huge stakes in this relationship and they are committed to trying to find areas where interests do overlap, where they can work together."
Beijing, she said, had compartmentalised various aspects of its relationship with Japan and the United States. "There is a wider strategy from China, though we don’t see that here, partly because it's a security forum."
William Cohen, a former U.S. secretary for defence, said the strong words from the United States and Japan were necessary.
"China is growing, it's maturing, it's also feeling its oats a bit and throwing its weight around. That is normal if they see no counterweight. It's incumbent upon us to say, okay, there are limits. These things have to be said."
(Additional reporting by Chyen Yee Lee; Editing by Alex Richardson)
source:  Yahoo! and Reuters