Filipino protesters land on disputed island in South China Sea
... GOOD FOR THEM! Very gutsy effort! ..
Describing their expedition as a 'a patriotic voyage,' the protesters planned to camp on the island for three days in a symbolic act of defiance against China.
By Manuel Mogato, Reuters December 27, 2015
Rolex Dela Pena/Reuters/File View Caption [ why not -
A group of Filipino protesters has landed on the Pagasa Island, shown here in a 2011 file photo, in the South China Sea in protest against China's growing presence in the region .. done, thanks ]
Manila, Philippines — A group of Filipino protesters has landed on a disputed Philippine-held island in the South China Sea, a local government official said on Sunday, in a risky expedition that may trigger a strong reaction from China.
About 50 protesters, most of them students, reached Pagasa island in the Spratly archipelago on Saturday in a stand against what they say is Beijing's creeping invasion of the Philippine exclusive economic zone, said Eugenio Bito-onon, the island's mayor.
"The 'freedom voyage' arrived at about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday from Balabac island on a motor launch," Mr. Bito-onon told Reuters, adding the protesters left southern Palawan on Thursday in fine weather to make the long sea crossing.
China claims almost all the South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam also have claims on the strategic waters.
Describing their expedition as a "a patriotic voyage," the protesters, led by an ex-marine captain, planned to camp on Pagasa for three days in a symbolic act of defiance against China.
"We encourage the highest leadership of the country to inform the people correctly without sugar coating the truth about Chinese invasion of our exclusive economic zone," the protesters said in a post on Facebook.
Government and military officials had tried to prevent the group from sailing to the disputed waters, citing security and safety reasons after a storm in the South China Sea earlier this month.
The Philippines was also concerned about China's reaction to the trip as Manila has been trying to calm tensions heightened by Beijing's rapid expansion in the South China Sea – building seven artificial islands in the disputed waters.
The Philippines has challenged Beijing before the arbitration court in The Hague, a case Beijing has not recognized.
A spokesman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino said in a radio interview on Sunday the military was closely monitoring the trip and would assist the protesters if necessary.
Inform VIDEO - China 'seriously Concerned' by Philippine's Building in South China Sea 00:45
South China Sea: Beijing plans military drills running up to court ruling
"The Solution for the Spratly Islands Ought to Look Like This"
Tensions rise ahead of verdict due on 12 July on territorial dispute between China and Philippines
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, on the basis of a segmented line that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s, pitting it against several neighbours. Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Reuters
Sunday 3 July 2016 14.01 AEST
China will hold military drills around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea .. https://www.theguardian.com/world/south-china-sea , the country’s maritime safety administration has said, ahead of a decision by an international court in Beijing’s dispute with the Philippines.
In a brief statement the Chinese said the drills would take place from 5 to 11 July and gave coordinates covering an area from the east of China’s Hainan island down to and including the Paracels.
Other ships were prohibited from entering those waters during that time, it said.
Nuechterlein: Is China on a collision course in the South China Sea?
Here’s how China’s neighbors see the South China Sea issue.
PARESH NATH | Cagle Cartoons
LOUJIE | China Daily
Posted: Sunday, July 3, 2016 2:00 am
Donald Nuechterlein
We may be on the verge of serious trouble with China in Southeast Asia if Beijing continues to push its territorial claims in the South China Sea. While Secretary of State John Kerry was in Beijing recently attending an economic conference, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter was in Singapore meeting with other defense chiefs at a security conference known as the Shangri-La Dialogue. Both sought to warn China’s leaders that the South China Sea is a danger zone.
In Singapore, Carter directed criticism at China for its actions in Asia, charging that Beijing risked erecting a “Great Wall of self-isolation” with its aggressive policies. The following day, China’s deputy chief of the general staff, Admiral Sun Jianguo, leveled strong criticism at U.S. policies in East Asia, asserting that it encouraged and enabled smaller states to “bully” China. Referring to Carter’s speech, Admiral Sun declared: “We were not isolated in the past, we are not isolated now, and we will not be isolated in the future.” (WSJ, June 6).
Recently, I gave a UVa–sponsored seminar a hypothetical scenario dealing with crisis in the South China Sea. Here’s the case:
“The International Court has ruled that the Philippine claim to an area of rock formations in the South China Sea known as Scarborough Shoal is legal and that it has a right to the resources beneath it. China, which is not a member of the court, rejects the decision and reiterates its historical claim to most of the South China Sea. Recently the U.S. concluded a new defense agreement with the Philippines that reopens Clark air base to the U.S. Air Force and also permits our Navy to return to Subic Bay naval base. In addition, the U.S. will build three air bases in the southern Philippines facing South China Sea shipping lanes. The U.S. has also agreed to sell Vietnam modern weaponry. In return, Vietnam agreed to let the U.S. Navy use Cam Ranh Bay naval base, which the U.S. built during the Vietnam War. Further south, Singapore continues to permit the Navy to use its port facilities. New intelligence reports a flotilla of barges and dredging vessels has assembled at a Chinese port and is preparing for movement into the South China Sea. Several Chinese patrol craft are standing by to escort them to an unknown destination. The Philippine government is asking Washington how it will respond if these ships arrive at Scarborough Shoal and begin dredging operations. (China undertook a similar operation in the adjacent Spratly Islands in 2013-14 and constructed air fields and a port.)”
Seminar discussions highlighted a crucial issue for U.S. policy: Is the South China Sea a vital U.S. interest that may have to be defended with force? Or, is this a major interest that requires vigorous diplomacy but no use of force? Members were divided on this question, but concluded that the United States should not shirk its commitments in East Asia and permit China unilaterally to expand its territorial claims in Southeast Asia.
What’s likely to happen? Two possibilities are open: 1) a truce between Beijing and Washington to avoid armed conflict; 2) a clash between our navies in international waters, resulting in a diplomatic crisis.
A cooling off in tensions, in effect a truce, would occur if China instructs its navy not to harass U.S. and allied ships transiting China’s declared territorial waters off the Spratlys, Beijing also would not press its territorial claims to Scarborough Shoal.
A diplomatic crisis could lead to military action if China rejects the Hague Court’s decision and reinforces its claims by sending naval vessels to patrol the disputed areas. In this case, the United States and other maritime powers, notably Japan, would either have to concede to China’s extension of its power in Southeast Asia; or, take countering military action. If it chose the first course, Washington risks a collapse of its carefully constructed Asian coalition designed to restrain a belligerent China.
China has a long history of patience in pursuing its goals in Asia. This may be a time when its leaders show restraint and wait for a more opportune time to challenge Washington’s preeminence in Southeast Asia. Still, if hardline nationalist elements should prevail in Beijing, we may be in for a serious confrontation before the November elections.
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