Page 52 of 52 FirstFirst ... 242444546474849505152
Results 1,276 to 1,293 of 1293
  1. #1276
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,105
    Overfishing Fuels South China Sea Tensions, Risks Armed Conflict, Researcher Says


    A collapse of fishery stocks in the South China Sea caused by overfishing and climate change could fuel serious tensions and even armed conflict, one of the authors of a new report on the topic has warned.


    “The simmering conflict that we see in the South China Sea is mostly because of fish even though countries don’t say it out loud,” Rashid Sumaila, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada, told BenarNews on Wednesday.


    Sumaila, from the university’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and its School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, co-authored a report titled “Sink or Swim: The Future Of Fisheries In the East And South China Sea.” He and other fisheries scientists and economists examined the impacts of climate change and overfishing in the region’s oceans.


    The report said under a scenario in which global temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, the South China Sea is “likely to experience significant declines in key commercial fish and invertebrate species, placing many regional fishing economies at risk of devastating failure.”


    Regional fisheries in the South China Sea are estimated to generate $100 billion annually, supporting the livelihoods of about 3.7 million people, which the report says will be at risk.


    China’s growing need for fish-based feed, not just fish for human consumption, is a key driver of overfishing in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, according to the report.


    “Fishery is one of the reasons China is entangled in disputes with its neighbors in the South China Sea,” Sumaila said.


    The report’s researchers urged immediate action to reduce fishing. They called for increased international cooperation to prevent the catastrophic fisheries collapse they are predicting.


    Fighting over fish


    The link between overfishing and maritime conflicts has been witnessed all over the world. One of the more notable incidents was the “cod war” between the United Kingdom and Iceland that continued for nearly 20 years beginning in 1958.


    Navies from both countries were deployed to protect rival fishermen until government leaders reached an agreement in 1976 through diplomacy.


    More recently, increased attacks by pirates in the waters off the coast of the East African nation of Somalia were attributed to the depletion of seafood resources through illegal fishing.


    Some researchers including John Quiggin, professor of economics at the University of Queensland, have a different perspective – that it is disputes and lawlessness that put pressure on fish stocks.


    “Unresolved conflict increases risk of overfishing and collapse,” Quiggin said.


    “As the Iceland-U.K. cod war and the Somali episode both showed, the optimal solution is for states to regulate exclusive economic zones (EEZs) with catch quotas,” he said. “Best outcome in South China Sea would be for a negotiated agreement.”


    Sumaila, meanwhile, said “the best thing the countries sharing the South China Sea can do is to recognize the immense value of the fisheries of this sea and to cooperate to manage the fisheries sustainably.


    “They could learn from Norway and Russia, who have decided to manage Barents Sea cod fisheries cooperatively even during the Cold War between the then-Soviet Union and the West because they recognized how important this fishery is to their citizens.”


    “I believe this can be done for the South China Sea too,” Sumaila said.


    Illegal fishing


    Separately, the South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a Chinese think tank, has alleged that illegal fishing, in particular by Vietnamese fishermen, has “seriously undermined regional mutual trust-building and posed a huge threat and challenge to maritime cooperation, conservation of fishery resources and security of neighboring countries.”


    In a new report, the SCSPI said Vietnam operates about 9,000 fishing boats in the South China Sea and got into fishing conflicts with China, Indonesia and Malaysia.


    Vietnamese authorities were not available for comment but Vietnamese media have reported on the government’s efforts to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, especially after the European Commission issued a “yellow card” warning against Vietnam’s fishing violations in 2017.


    Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had ordered local governments to stamp out IUU fishing by the end of 2021 and leaders of Vietnam’s 28 coastal provinces committed to stop fishing boats from encroaching on foreign waters.


    China, however, is still ahead of other countries in terms of IUU fishing. A Global Illegal Fishing Index created by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime ranked China the worst offender in 2019.


    With up to 800,000 vessels, China’s fishing fleet is by far the largest in the world and Chinese fishermen, having exhausted domestic grounds, are known to have traveled to distant waters such as the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa or the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador for their catches.


    In the South China Sea, China has been accused of operating a fleet of armed fishing militia to enforce its sweeping sovereignty claims which are disputed by its neighbors, including Vietnam.


    The RAND Corp., a U.S. think tank, said China has been carrying out classic “gray zone” operations designed to “win without fighting” by overwhelming the adversary with swarms of fishing boats usually bolstered from the rear by coast guard and possibly naval ships.


    Overfishing Fuels South China Sea Tensions, Risks Armed Conflict, Researcher Says — BenarNews

  2. #1277
    In Uranus
    bsnub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    30,434
    A close encounter with a Chinese aircraft carrier has become a badge of honor for a US Navy destroyer crew


    A close encounter with a Chinese aircraft carrier has become a point of pride for the crew of a US Navy destroyer, a top US admiral said Tuesday.

    In April, the USS Mustin sailed within visual range of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and then let the world know about it.

    The operation was a testament to the "boldness" and skill of US sailors, Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener said at the Surface Navy Association's national symposium. And those sailors have reveled in the condemnation it drew from China, added Kitchener, who serves as the commander of US Navy surface forces and of surface forces in the Pacific.

    The Mustin was assigned "to mark" the Liaoning as the carrier and its escorts conducted exercises in the South China Sea, Kitchener said, "so they went out there, and they approached the group, and the Chinese" cruiser and destroyer escorts "in the screen came out to meet them."

    The Mustin's crew "realized that at some point all the Chinese escorts sort of backed off, which told us, 'OK, there's some operating restrictions that they had around the carrier,'" Kitchener added.

    "Mustin didn't have those," he said. "They proceeded on in, found a good station, and sat alongside taking pictures and doing other things for quite a bit of time."

    China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'-0454f24a8edba7d64269237745f9e695d8147973c480e207008e0b95c72c2f5e_1-jpg


    One of those photos, showing the Mustin's commanding officer and executive officer casually observing the Liaoning, quickly spread around the world and was widely interpreted as a message to the Chinese navy.
    In the weeks that followed, Chinese officials condemned the Mustin, calling its actions "very vile" and accusing the destroyer of endangering Chinese ships and personnel, which US officials denied.

    "It was a good story in the end. At the time, we had to manage it a little bit," Kitchener said Tuesday, adding that the Mustin's crew had commemorated the encounter on a uniform patch.
    At the bottom of the patch, alongside the Mustin's initials and hull number, are the words "non grata," Kitchener said.

    "I said, 'Hey, what does that mean?' And they go, 'Well, sir, that is from the demarche the Chinese sent to our State Department that said, 'Hey, the USS Mustin is no longer welcome in the South China Sea because they're such a pain in the ass,'" he added.

    The incident was illustrative of "what our sailors are trained to do," Kitchener said, and the response of the Mustin's crew showed they were unified around their mission.

    Operating close to other forces is not a new experience for the US Navy, but run-ins with Russian and Chinese forces — whose conduct the US has at times deemed "unsafe and unprofessional" — have increased in recent years amid tensions with each of those countries.

    Kitchener and other Navy officials have said US forces should expect to encounter those forces more often and closer to US shores.

    "When we go out now on operations, whether it's East Coast or West Coast, Black Sea, South China Sea, we're there head-to-head with our adversaries," Kitchener said. "They're there. They're present. And we're managing the risk, and our sailors are getting really good at it."

    https://www.businessinsider.com/us-n...carrier-2022-1

    Got a laugh at this...

    China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'-uss-mustin-rebel-pepper-jpg

  3. #1278
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    the South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a Chinese think tank, has alleged that illegal fishing, in particular by Vietnamese fishermen, has “seriously undermined regional mutual trust-building"
    Obviously living on the same planet as hoohoo and sabang, and it isn't Earth.

  4. #1279
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,105
    Eye on China, Indonesia launches naval spending spree

    JAKARTA – Indonesia is embarking on a program to modernize its navy and build up a more effective deterrent to confront future incursions by Chinese ships into the 200-nautical-mile economic exclusion zone (EEZ) along its northern maritime border.


    Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Panjaitan has often stressed the need for what he calls “ocean-going” surface combatants to protect fishery resources from intruding Chinese and other foreign trawlers in the North Natuna Sea.


    But the brazen seven-week incursion by a Chinese survey ship and two armed coast guard cutters near a gas exploration rig 20 kilometers inside Indonesian waters last year has upped the stakes and left the Indonesians scratching their heads over what comes next.

    Indonesia’s two home-built Sigma-class and five 1960s-era Van Speijk-class frigates have a limited range of 6,000-9,000 kilometers, only slightly more than most of the navy’s core fleet of 24 corvettes, 14 of which were acquired from the former East German navy in 1993 and are nearing retirement.


    Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has concluded a deal for two British Arrowhead 140 frigates, which will be built at state-run PT PAL‘s Surabaya shipyard, and also signed a contract for six new Italian FREMM multi-role frigates and two upgraded Italian Navy Maestrale-class light frigates.


    Prabowo was a surprise inclusion in President Joko Widodo’s Cabinet after losing to the incumbent in the 2019 presidential race. But the former army general has impressed with his grasp of strategic issues and his prioritizing a stronger navy and air force.


    The minister is also considering the purchase of two or three squadrons of Boeing F-15EX Eagle II and Dassault Rafale fighter jets to augment a front-line fleet made up of three squadrons of Lockheed Martin F16s and 16 Russian Sukhoi Su-27/30s bought during an extended 15-year American arms embargo.

    Air force commander Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo recently confirmed Indonesia had made the long-rumored decision to drop the planned acquisition of Su-35 multi-role fighters because of feared US economic sanctions.




    Leaked Defense Ministry documents suggest Indonesia will rely heavily on foreign loans to fund an ambitious US$125 billion modernization program over the next 25 years. “Many of our defense systems are aging, so replacing them is urgent,” Prabowo said last year, stressing the need to respond to what he called the “ever-changing environment.”


    Neither he nor other senior security officials have said much about China’s aggressive activities in the North Natuna Sea, which are at puzzling variance with an economic relationship that has propelled Indonesia into a new era of industrialization.


    Maritime watchers have seen little Chinese activity over the past two months, but further north the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and USS Essex amphibious assault ship last week raised Beijing’s ire once again by skirting Chinese installations in the disputed Spratly Islands.


    Based on the hull of the Danish-designed Iver Huitfeld-class frigate and manufactured under license from British defense contractor Babcock International, the 5,100-tonne Arrowhead 140 has a range of 17,000 kilometers and a top speed of 30 knots.


    It is armed with Sea Ceptor missiles, guided by an advanced air and surface surveillance system, and carries either an AugustaWestland Wildcat or Sikorsky Seahawk helicopter capable of delivering anti-ship missiles and lightweight torpedoes.




    The Royal Navy is buying five similar Type 31 frigates, but Babcock says the baseline Arrowhead 140 design can be configured to meet a broad range of operational requirements specifically tailored for Indonesian operations.


    The $720 million deal is a triumph for Jakarta as it looks to benefit from a transfer of technology, not only to build its own military hardware in the future, but to contribute to the economic benefits of developing the country’s shipbuilding industry.


    Founded during president Suharto’s rule in 1980, PAL has already built corvettes, missile-armed fast attack craft and amphibious warfare vessels, in addition to two strategic sealift vessels for the Philippines Navy.


    Earlier, Trieste-based Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri announced it will build six FREMM frigates for Indonesia for $4.5 billion, apart from meeting more than 50 orders for the same vessel from the US, France, Italy, Egypt and Morocco.

    The 6,000-tonne Bergamini-class variant, first introduced into service in 2012, has a range of 12,000 kilometers and is equipped with a 127 mm main gun and Otomat MK2 anti-ship missiles capable of engaging targets at a distance of 180 kilometers.




    Under the arrangement, Fincantieri will also acquire and modernize the two 3,000-tonne Maestrale-class frigates, which have a range of 11,000 kilometers and are primarily designed for anti-submarine warfare.


    The new frigates are destined to be built in Fincantieri shipyards, but there has been little progress on the deal in the past seven months with a lack of finance still appearing to be a major obstacle.


    The same applies to a separate deal with Japan, which had a sales team ensconced in Jakarta for much of last year seeking to sell the Indonesians eight stealthy Mogami-class multi-mission frigates at an overall cost of $3.6 billion.


    Under a provisional plan, Mitsubishi and Mitsui were to deliver four of the 5,000-tonne vessels, beginning in late 2023, and for the other four to be built by PAL in what would have been the biggest-ever arms deal between the two countries.


    Indonesia’s last naval acquisitions were three 1,700-tonne F2000 corvettes, originally built by Briain’s BAE Systems for the Royal Brunei Navy and sold to Indonesia in 2014 after the sultanate refused to take delivery because they did not meet specifications.


    Last December, Vancouver-based OSI Maritime Systems announced it had been contracted to provide a new integrated navigation and tactical system for the mid-life modernization of the KRI Usman Harun.


    The Usman Harun and its sister ship, the KRI John Lie, were among the navy ships that shadowed the Chinese flotilla during the nearly two months it spent inside Indonesia’s EEZ on an intensive seabed mapping exercise.

    The incursion was seen as an attempt by China to enforce its so-called nine-dash line of national sovereignty, which despite extending across most of the South China Sea has no legal basis under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS).


    In a sign Beijing may be starting to realize the counter-productive effect of its aggressive actions against Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a forum in Manila this week that China will not use its strength to “bully” its neighbors.


    “Stressing only one side’s claims and imposing one’s will on the other is not a proper way for neighbors to treat each other and it goes against the oriental philosophy of how people should get along with each other,” he said.

    Eye on China, Indonesia launches naval spending spree - Asia Times

  5. #1280
    In Uranus
    bsnub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    30,434

    US Navy warship challenges Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea

    A United States Navy guided missile destroyer challenged Chinese claims of sovereignty in and around islands in the South China Sea on Thursday, with a Navy statement saying such claims violate international law and "pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas."The USS Benfold sailed around the Paracel Islands, known as the Xisha Islands in China, in what the Navy calls a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP), Lt. Mark Langford, spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet, said in the statement.

    The Paracels are a collection of 130 small coral islands and reefs in the northwestern part of the South China Sea. They have no indigenous population to speak of, only Chinese military garrisons amounting to 1,400 people, according to the CIA Factbook.

    The islands are also claimed by Vietnam and self-ruled Taiwan but in Chinese hands for more than 46 years. The islands have been fortified with People's Liberation Army (PLA) military installations.

    The US Navy statement said the Benfold also challenged the claims of Vietnam and Taiwan.

    "All three claimants require either permission or advance notification before a military vessel engages in 'innocent passage' through the territorial sea. Under international law ... the ships of all states -- including their warships -- enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The unilateral imposition of any authorization or advance-notification requirement for innocent passage is unlawful," the US Navy statement said.

    Asserting freedom of navigation rights involves sailing within the 12-mile territorial limit from a nation's coastline recognized by international law.

    But the Navy singled out China for making what it calls "straight baselines" enclosing all the waters within the island chain and said the Benfold was challenging those claims too.

    "International law does not permit continental States, like the PRC (People's Republic of China), to establish baselines around entire dispersed island groups," the US statement said.

    "With these baselines, the PRC has attempted to claim more internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf than it is entitled to under international law," it said.

    China reacted angrily to the presence of the Benfold in what it claims are its territorial waters.

    "The PLA Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to track, monitor and drive away the destroyer with warnings," a statement from the Chinese military said.

    "What the US has done seriously infringes on China's sovereignty and security, and is yet another hard evidence that it is pursuing maritime hegemony and militarizing the South China Sea.

    Facts fully prove that the US is a 'risk-maker' in the South China Sea and the 'biggest destroyer' of peace and stability in the South China Sea," it said.

    China claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory.

    Langford said Thursday's FONOP was the second of this year against Chinese claims in the South China Sea -- the USS Benfold also sailed near the Spratly Islands on Tuesday -- but he stressed it continues a longstanding US military practice.

    "US forces operate in the South China Sea on a daily basis, as they have for more than a century," the US Navy statement said.

    South China Sea: US Navy warship USS Benfold challenges Chinese territorial claims - CNN
    Last edited by bsnub; 20-01-2022 at 07:17 PM.

  6. #1281
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    Ah the ol chinkies will be whining again.

  7. #1282
    In Uranus
    bsnub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    30,434
    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Ah the ol chinkies will be whining again.
    They already did. It is in the article...

    China reacted angrily to the presence of the Benfold in what it claims are its territorial waters.

    "The PLA Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to track, monitor and drive away the destroyer with warnings," a statement from the Chinese military said.

    "What the US has done seriously infringes on China's sovereignty and security, and is yet another hard evidence that it is pursuing maritime hegemony and militarizing the South China Sea.

    Facts fully prove that the US is a 'risk-maker' in the South China Sea and the 'biggest destroyer' of peace and stability in the South China Sea," it said.
    US: Come get some.

    China: We would rather whinge because we are little pinks.


  8. #1283
    Thailand Expat
    Shutree's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Last Online
    27-03-2024 @ 06:14 PM
    Location
    One heartbeat away from eternity
    Posts
    4,658
    I didn't know this is happening:


    China ratchets up tension, declaring part of South China Sea closed

    Robert Besser 08 Mar 2022

    For over one week, China will conduct military drills in the South China Sea in an area between its southern province of Hainan and Vietnam, its government announced
    China claims a large part of the disputed waterway, which contains major shipping lanes, and has built airfields on islands and reefs, creating concern in the wider region and the U.S.
    In a statement late last week, the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration said the drills would run until 15th March

    HANOI, Vietnam: For over one week, China will conduct military drills in the South China Sea in an area between its southern province of Hainan and Vietnam, its government announced, warning shipping to avoid the area.

    China claims a large part of the disputed waterway, which contains major shipping lanes, and has built airfields on islands and reefs, creating concern in the wider region and the U.S.

    In a statement late last week, the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration said the drills would run until 15th March.

    China provided coordinates to avoid in an area roughly halfway between Hainan's Sanya and the Vietnamese city of Hue. Sanya is home to a major Chinese naval base.

    "Entering prohibited," it said in a Chinese and English language statement on its website.

    Vietnam has criticized China for infringing upon its sovereignty, as part of the area is well within its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

    Tensions between the two countries rose to their highest levels in decades in 2014 when a Chinese oil rig began drilling in Vietnamese waters, triggering boat rammings by both sides and anti-China riots in Vietnam.

    China routinely carries out military exercises in the South China Sea, where Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei also have competing claims.

    China ratchets up tension, declaring part of South China Sea closed

  9. #1284
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    Yes, it's chinky SOP to stir the shit when it's least needed.

  10. #1285
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,105
    Manila eyes broader ties with Indo-Pacific nations looking to counter Beijing

    The Philippines is broadening its relationship with countries that are trying to counter Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region, while it maintains friendly ties with China despite the Asian superpower’s incursions into Manila’s waters in the South China Sea.


    Nurtured by President Rodrigo Duterte to much criticism at home, Manila is keeping its relationship with Beijing on an even keel, ostensibly demonstrating, according to political analyst Rommel Banlaoi, a “pragmatic independent foreign policy” in a polarized world.


    For instance, the Filipino foreign secretary is in Tokyo this weekend to take part in the first ever bilateral two-plus-two talks involving the foreign and defense ministers of the Philippines and Japan.


    This visit follows a meeting between China’s Xi Jinping and Duterte on Friday, where they “committed to broaden the space for positive engagements” on the South China Sea issue. And on the same day, the Philippines concluded one of its largest military exercises with the United States, its longtime defense ally.


    Banlaoi, president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies (PACS), said Manila is demonstrating its independence by maintaining its longstanding security alliance with the U.S, strengthening is strategic partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea, and the European Union, and maintaining friendly relations with China despite tensions over the waterway.


    Still, disputes to do with the South China Sea, part of which is called the West Philippine Sea by the Filipinos, are the main reason behind for broadened security cooperation between the Philippines and other countries in the region, analysts said. Celia Lamkin, Founder of the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea


    “The foreign and defense talks between Japan and the Philippines in Tokyo [on Saturday] are significant because of the non-stop aggression and militarization by China in our West Philippine Sea,” Celia Lamkin, Founder of the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea, told BenarNews, using the Philippine term for the South China Sea.


    On Thursday, the Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana met with his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kishi, in Tokyo to discuss “ways to further enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation,” according to the official Philippine News Agency.


    The two defense ministers agreed to bolster security cooperation and expand bilateral and multilateral exercises, according to a statement from the Japanese Ministry of National Defense.


    “They shared their intent that they will not tolerate any unilateral change of the status quo by force in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in East Asia and Southeast Asia,” the statement said.


    China is involved in maritime disputes with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.


    The inaugural two-plus-two meeting on Saturday will continue to “promote bilateral defense cooperation and exchanges to uphold and strengthen the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP),” Japan Defense Ministry said.


    “We need allies like Japan and the U.S. to show China to respect international law in our West Philippine Sea and the rest of the South China Sea,” said Lamkin from the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea.


    China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. While Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesia's exclusive economic zone as well.


    ‘Open, warm, and positive’


    A day before this two-plus-two meeting, Duterte, who is due to leave office after the Philippine general election in May and who has consistently called China’s Xi a friend, had a telephone meeting with the Chinese leader.


    During the call, the two said they work towards maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea by exercising restraint, a statement from Duterte’s office said.


    A Chinese statement, meanwhile, said Xi had expressed his approval for how the two nations have dealt with the issue of the disputed South China Sea. Beijing, however, has consistently ignored a 2016 decision by an international arbitration court in The Hague that rejected China’s expansive claims in the contested waterway.


    Meanwhile, news emerged on Thursday that, for days, a Chinese coastguard ship had followed a research vessel deployed by Philippine and Taiwanese scientists in waters in off the northern Philippines, sparking concerns.


    Still, the statement from Duterte’s office described the hour-long telephone conversation as “open, warm and positive.”


    Then again, Manila surprised many a day earlier by voting against Beijing’s ally Moscow, and in favor of a resolution to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council. It was the only ASEAN Nation to vote in favor of the resolution, apart from the Myanmar government in exile.


    Also, last September, when Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. announced the establishment of a trilateral security pact, AUKUS, the Philippines was the first country in Southeast Asia to endorse it despite concerns from regional players including Malaysia and Indonesia.


    With the Philippine presidential election looming in May, all eyes are on who will win the race, said Lamkin from the National Youth Movement for the West Philippine Sea.


    She added: “Our struggle for sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea depend very much on who will be the next president.”


    Manila eyes broader ties with Indo-Pacific nations looking to counter Beijing — Radio Free Asia

  11. #1286
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,105
    Philippines: China ship hits Filipino crew with laser light

    MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Chinese coast guard ship twice hit a Philippine coast guard vessel with a “military-grade laser light” that caused temporarily blinded some of its Filipino crew in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine coast guard said Monday, calling the act a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights.


    The Chinese coast guard ship also maneuvered dangerously close, about 150 yards (137 meters), to block the Philippine coast guard’s BRP Malapascua patrol vessel from approaching the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal on Feb. 6, the Philippine coast guard said in a statement.


    The Philippines has filed nearly 200 diplomatic protests against China’s aggressive actions in the disputed waters in 2022 alone.


    Although the Chinese coast guard had tried to block Philippine coast guard ships in the disputed waters before, this was the first time it used a laser light and caused physical suffering among Filipino coast guard personnel, Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo told The Associated Press.


    There was no immediate comment from the Chinese Embassy in Manila.


    “The Chinese ship illuminated the green laser light twice toward the BRP Malapascua, causing temporary blindness to her crew at the bridge,” the Philippine coast guard said. “The Chinese vessel also made dangerous maneuvers by approaching about 150 yards from the vessel’s starboard quarter.”


    The Chinese coast guard’s aggressive actions forced the BRP Malapascua to veer away from the offshore area, where it was escorting a Philippine supply vessel that was delivering food and Filipino sailors to a Philippine navy sentry ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which has long been marooned on Second Thomas shoal, the coast guard said.


    “The deliberate blocking of the Philippine government ships to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea,” the coast guard said, using the name the Philippines has adopted for the stretch of waters close to its western coast.


    It was not immediately clear if the Philippine resupply mission pushed through despite the incident. The coast guard has reported the incident to an inter-agency body monitoring the South China Sea and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, Balilo said.


    China’s increasingly assertive actions in the strategic waterway, which it claims virtually in its entirety, has continued despite friendly overtures by former President Rodrigo Duterte — whose term ended in June — and his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who met Chinese President Xi Jinping in January on a visit to Beijing.


    The Chinese coast guard also blocked Philippine coast guard vessels escorting a Filipino supply vessel from approaching the Second Thomas Shoal in August, the coast guard said.


    One of two Chinese coast guard ships that were joined by two Chinese militia vessels removed the cover of its 70mm armament during the blockade, the coast guard said, adding it would not be deterred by China’s aggression in protecting Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights in the disputed sea.


    “The Philippine coast guard will continue to exercise due diligence in protecting the country’s territorial integrity against foreign aggression,” coast guard Adm. Artemio Abu said.


    Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, where a bulk of the world’s commerce and oil transits.


    The United States lays no claims to the disputed sea but has deployed its Navy ships, aircraft carriers and Air Force jets to patrol the waters to promote freedom of navigation and overflight — moves that have angered Beijing, which has warned Washington to stop meddling in what it says is a purely Asian dispute.


    The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps held joint exercises in the South China Sea over the weekend at a time of heightened tensions with Beijing over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon. The U.S. has been taking steps to rebuild its military might in the Philippines more than 30 years after the closure of its large bases in the country and reinforcing an arc of military alliances in Asia.

    Philippines: China ship hits Filipino crew with laser light

  12. #1287
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    Philippines: China ship hits Filipino crew with laser light
    Chinky bastards at it again.

  13. #1288
    A Cockless Wonder
    Looper's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 11:30 PM
    Posts
    15,187
    Holding out against China in a row over reefs

    China has had an unusually busy and bizarre week.

    On Monday - as the saga over the alleged spy balloon dragged into its 11th day - a fresh spat erupted between Beijing and Manila. This one was over lasers.

    China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'-laser-png

    The Philippines accused China of using a "military grade" laser light on a Philippine coastguard boat. It said the incident had happened on 6 February when the boat was attempting to take supplies to the Sierra Madre, a vessel that is used as a Filipino naval outpost in the South China Sea; and that a Chinese vessel intercepted the Filipino coast guard boat, blocked its way and used a laser device to temporarily blind the crew.

    It's not clear what sort of device the Chinese crew used or how powerful it was, but laser weapons designed to damage eyesight are banned under UN convention. The incident has been quickly condemned by a host of countries including the United States, Australia, Japan and Germany.

    China for its part defended its right to use lasers to protect its "sovereignty", and then denied shining the light at the Filipino crew, saying they had used a "hand-held laser speed detector and hand-held greenlight pointer", neither of which are dangerous.

    All this over a submerged reef.

    In 2014, the BBC visited the South China Sea in search of the Sierra Madre. As the sun rose across the South China Sea, the horizon showed no sign of our quarry.

    "Don't worry," shouted the skipper who was taking us to the ship above the sound of the engine, "I know where I'm going. It's on the reef over there."

    He pointed north and out of the morning mist appeared a rusting grey hulk sitting, grounded, atop the vast submerged reef visible just a few feet below the water.

    China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'-reef-png

    The Sierra Madre was not a particularly grand ship even in its youth. Built as a tank landing ship during World War Two, it served with the US navy in the Vietnam war. In 1970 she was transferred to the South Vietnamese navy, and after the fall of Saigon in 1975 she ended up in the Philippines. In 1999 the ageing ship was deliberately beached on top of this reef 160km (100 miles) off the Philippine coast.
    Sierra Madre
    Image caption,
    The Sierra Madre is beached on the Second Thomas Shoal

    As the little fishing boat drew close, large holes rusted right through the ship's hull became visible. It looked like the next typhoon would wash her away.

    Nearly 10 years on, the Sierra Madre is somehow still holding together, more rust and concrete, than steel. And a tiny contingent of Filipino marines still live a precarious existence aboard.

    The actions of the Chinese coastguard ship in blocking the Philippine vessel may also breach international law. Whatever Beijing says, the waters around the rusting Sierra Madre do not belong to China.

    In 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague made a clear ruling. China's claim to a large swathe of the South China Sea, often defined as the nine-dash line, has no basis in international law.

    Of course, it's not quite as simple as that.

    There are numerous claims and counter-claims to the islands, reefs and waters of the South China Sea. China's is only the most expansive. The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia all have their own overlapping claims to smaller bits of the sea. And most of those claims are also not supported by international law.

    The Philippines' rusting Sierra Madre sits atop a reef variously known as Second Thomas Shoal, Ayungin Shoal and - in Chinese - Ren-ai Reef. But a submerged reef is not land and controlling a reef does not give a country any new territorial waters and does not expand its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

    There is almost no real land in the South China Sea. In the most hotly contested area, known as the Spratly Islands, there are a handful of tiny islets. The biggest is called Taiping Dao. It's just 1,000 metres long and 400 metres wide.

    By an accident of history, it has ended up under the control of Taiwan. The second biggest is called Pagasa. You can walk around it in half an hour. Pagasa was snatched by the Philippines in 1971, when the Taiwanese troops stationed there withdrew to escape a powerful typhoon. Vietnam has a few other scraps of land.

    But China, distracted by the internal turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, was too late - and ended up with no real land. So, it decided to make its own.
    South China Sea

    In 2014, while a handful of Filipino marines clung to the rusting decks of the Sierra Madre, 40km (25 miles) away on another atoll called Mischief Reef, China had begun a massive land reclamation project. The world's largest ocean-going dredgers were pumping millions of tonnes of gravel and sand on to the top of the reef creating a huge artificial island.

    The new land China has made at Mischief Reef is well inside the Philippines' internationally recognised 320 km (200 mile) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

    The new island is not recognised by international law. It does not give China the right to 20 km (12 mile) territorial waters. But that has not stopped Beijing from using its large coastguard and maritime militia fleet, to enforce its claims, and to drive away Philippine fishermen and challenge Philippine coastguard vessels.

    China's new islands are what military strategists call "facts on the ground" - in other words this is the reality, rather than an abstract legal concept.

    The fear in Manila is that China's ambitions do not stop at Mischief Reef. Ayungin Shoal could be next. That's why the rusting hulk of the Sierra Madre holds such symbolic importance here.

    It's also why after a 30-year absence, the government of President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr, is opening the door for large numbers of US troops to return to bases in the Philippines.

    Holding out against China in a row over reefs - BBC News

  14. #1289
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    The chinkies don't understand the Law of Unintended Consequences....

    It's also why after a 30-year absence, the government of President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr, is opening the door for large numbers of US troops to return to bases in the Philippines.

  15. #1290
    A Cockless Wonder
    Looper's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 11:30 PM
    Posts
    15,187
    Philippines accuses China of firing water cannon at boats in South China Sea

    The Philippine Coast Guard has accused its Chinese counterpart of firing water cannon at its vessels and blocking them in the disputed South China Sea.

    China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'-scs-png

    It said this happened when its ship was escorting boats carrying supplies for Filipino soldiers stationed on one of the contested Spratly Islands.

    The US condemned Beijing's "dangerous actions", also blaming Chinese "maritime militia" for the incident.

    China has not publicly commented on the reported incident.

    Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the Spratlys, which is also claimed in part by the Philippines.

    There are also competing claims by Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan.

    Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea
    What is the South China Sea dispute?

    In a statement, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the incident happened on Saturday as its vessels were heading to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

    It described China's actions as "excessive and unlawful", adding that they also violated international law.

    Meanwhile, the US Department of State voiced its support for "our Philippine allies".

    "Firing water cannons and employing unsafe blocking manoeuvres, PRC [China's] ships interfered with the Philippines' lawful exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and jeopardised the safety of the Philippine vessels and crew," the department said in a statement.

    China ignores an international arbitration court's ruling that its claim to almost the entire South China Sea is ill-founded.

    In April, a BBC team aboard a PCG ship witnessed Chinese harassment at first hand.

    The South China Sea is now one of the world's biggest flashpoints, especially as US-China tensions have soared in recent years.

    Access to these waters is key to defending Taiwan at a time when China's claims over the self-governed island have intensified.

    The waterways also host $5tn (£4tn) of global trade every year, raising concerns that Beijing's increasing footprint could restrict commerce.

    Philippines accuses China of firing water cannon at boats in South China Sea - BBC News

  16. #1291
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    Chinky bastards at it again.

  17. #1292
    A Cockless Wonder
    Looper's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 11:30 PM
    Posts
    15,187
    South China Sea: Why the Philippines and China are on a collision course

    Take a close look at a video of Sunday's "collision" between a Philippine coastguard ship and a Chinese maritime militia vessel in the South China Sea.

    As the stern of one bumps the deck of the other, right in the middle of the frame is a Filipino television crew scrambling to get what in the business is called an "action piece to camera".

    China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'-screenshot-2023-10-25-04-01-a

    The confrontation between Manila and Beijing over submerged shoals in the South China Sea has been going on for decades.

    But in recent months something has changed. The spats at sea are now unfolding in the full glare of the television media. This is the second time in weeks Philippine journalists have filmed a close encounter near a particularly sensitive reef known variously as Second Thomas Shoal, Ayungin Shoal or Ren Ai Reef.

    This is no accident. It is part of a deliberate policy by the Philippine government to shine a spotlight on what it has called China's "brute force" in asserting control over what Manila says are its waters.

    "I think we've seen a significant change this year. It's what I call an assertive transparency campaign," says retired Colonel Raymond Powell of Stanford University's Gordian Knot Centre.

    Starting in January, the Philippine government began feeding more video of the encounters to local media. By summer it was taking more and more journalists, including the BBC, aboard its boats and aircraft heading out into the disputed waters.

    "It's been like turning on a light to show China's grey zone operations," Col Powell says.
    A Philippine flagged boat is blocked by a China Coast Guard vesselImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,
    The Filipino vessel was on its way Sunday to a Philippine outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal

    China appears to have been taken aback by these new tactics.

    For a while it looked like the strategy was working, says Oriana Skylar Mastro of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies: "We saw a bit of a lull in China's activities."

    Beijing eased off and Manila was able to make several re-supply runs to an outpost it has on Second Thomas Shoal - an aged World War II-era landing ship called the Sierra Madre.

    It was deliberately grounded on the reef in 1999. Since then, a tiny contingent of Philippine marines has kept lonely watch aboard the rusting hulk as it has gradually begun to fall apart. In 2014 a BBC team went aboard the ship. Even then it was in terrible condition with huge holes in its sides, and waves splashing through the structure.

    BBC sees Chinese ships blocking Philippine supply boats
    What is the South China Sea dispute?
    Philippines stands up to Beijing in South China sea

    Most analysts believe China has been content to play the long game. When relations between Beijing and Manila have been good China's coastguard has allowed resupplies to the Sierra Madre to go ahead. When relations have turned sour, they have moved to block the resupply ships.

    But Beijing's overall assessment is that the Sierra Madre cannot last forever, and at some point, the Philippines will be forced to evacuate the marines, as the ship crumbles into the sea.

    During the six years under former president Rodrigo Duterte that assumption appeared well-founded. But since the election of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr last year, the Philippines' foreign policy has turned 180 degrees.

    China 'building runway in disputed South China Sea island'-screenshot-2023-10-25-03-59-a

    Sierra madreImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,
    A handful of Filipino troops are stationed on the crumbling Sierra Madre

    Not only has President Marcos reversed Mr Duterte's policy of cosying up to Beijing, he has fully re-embraced the alliance with the United States and begun shouting loudly about China's incursions into Manila's 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

    There's more. Sources in Manila say food and water is not the only thing the Philippines has been taking out to the Sierra Madre on resupply runs. They say it has quietly been shipping construction materials, including cement and scaffolding. The aim: to shore up the rusting ship.

    "It's very hard to see how they could extend the life of the ship," Col Powell says. "I think we're coming to a crisis point. The end is near for the Sierra Madre. It could break up very soon."

    Perhaps it is this new sense of urgency that is pushing both Manila and Beijing to greater assertiveness. The Philippines is desperate to cling to its presence on Ayungen Shoal. And Beijing is once again reiterating its power, determined that the Sierra Madre will not survive.

    But if the Sierra Madre does finally crumble into the aquamarine waters of the South China Sea - or West Philippine Sea as its called in Manila - what happens then?

    Will Beijing swoop in and attempt to seize control of the reef as it has done elsewhere in the South China Sea? Will Manila attempt to ground another vessel on Ayungin Shoal? And how will Washington react?

    No-one knows but that day is coming, perhaps quite soon.

    South China Sea: Why the Philippines and China are on a collision course - BBC News

  18. #1293
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    It's good to see the Phils sticking up to the thieving, parasitic chinkies I say.

Page 52 of 52 FirstFirst ... 242444546474849505152

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •