Navy removes China markers on West Philippine Sea

PNoy welcomes U.S. envoy's support over Spratlys row

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy has removed markers in the West Philippine Sea that were placed by Chinese forces.

One was removed from the Reed Bank, which is now known as Recto Bank, one was taken from the Boxall Reef, while another from Douglas Bank.

The markers were placed by China without permission.

Meanwhile, Chinese and Vietnamese poachers are often sighted by villagers in Barangay Simpokan, Puerto Princesa, whose shores face the disputed Spratlys.

However, barangay officials, armed with only one patrol boat, can't go after them.

The Philippine Air Force recently observed Chinese and Vietnamese forces upgrading their facilities on the Spratly Islands.

In August, a second-hand ship from the U.S. Coast Guard will augment Philippine Navy forces in Palawan.

U.S. support for Philippines

The U.S. has also waded in on the Spratlys dispute.

U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas said being a treaty ally, America will support the Philippines.

"I wanna assure you that on all subjects, we, the United States, are with the Philippines. The Philippines and the United States are strategic treaty allies," he said. "We will continue to consult and work with each other on all issues including the South China Sea and Spratly Islands."

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao earlier said Washington should not interfere in the issue, since it is not a party to the Spratlys dispute.

This was echoed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei after Vietnam also asked the U.S. for help.

The U.S., however, did not categorically state if its support would include military aid if the tension gives way to armed conflict.

President Benigno Aquino III, meanwhile, is happy with Thomas' statement.

Aquino is insisting on the Philippines' right to search for oil within its territory.

He invoked the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that states a country's territory extends 200 nautical miles from its shores.   

Recto Bank is 80 nautical miles from Palawan, and is 576 miles away from China.

"So 576 is obviously greater than 200. So suddenly why should there be a dispute if we are conforming to international law?" Aquino asked.

"Siyempre they are a superpower, they have more than 10 times our population, we do not want any hostility to break out. Perhaps the presence of our treaty partner, which is the United States of America, ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation."

The Philippines and China, however, both reiterate that they would like to peacefully settle the Spratlys dispute. - Reports from Ces Oreña Drilon and Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News; ANC

China 'will not use force' in sea disputes

China on Tuesday pledged not to resort to the use of force in the tense South China Sea, as neighbours with rival border claims stepped up their complaints over Beijing's assertive maritime posture.

Beijing called for more dialogue to resolve the long-standing territorial disputes in the area after the Philippines sought help from the United States and Vietnam staged live-fire military exercises in a show of military strength.

"We will not resort to the use of force or the threat of force," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"We hope relevant countries will do more for peace and stability in the region."

Tensions between China and other rival claimants to the strategically vital South China Sea -- home to two potentially oil-rich archipelagos, the Paracels and Spratlys -- have escalated in recent weeks.

The Philippines and Vietnam in particular have expressed alarm at what they say are increasingly aggressive actions by China in the disputed waters, but Beijing has insisted it is committed to resolving the issue peacefully.

In Manila, Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday his country needed help from longtime ally the United States in the increasingly tense maritime dispute.

"Of course they (China) are a superpower, they have more than 10 times our population. We do not want any hostilities to break out," Aquino told reporters when asked about recent Chinese actions in the disputed waters.

"Perhaps the presence of our treaty partners, the United States of America, ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation (and) will conform to international law."

The Philippines has accused China of undermining peace and stability in the region by sending naval vessels to intimidate Filipino fishermen and the crew of an oil exploration ship.

China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia have competing claims to the Spratlys. Beijing and Hanoi are at odds over the Paracels.

The area has commercial shipping lanes that are vital for global trade.

Hong insisted Vietnam was to blame for the recent flare-up in the spat between Beijing and Hanoi, sparked by a confrontation last month between Chinese surveillance vessels and a Vietnamese oil survey ship.

"Some country took unilateral actions to impair China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and released groundless and irresponsible remarks with the attempt to expand and complicate the issue of the South China Seas," Hong said, in a thinly veiled reference to Hanoi.

"This is where the problem lies."

He said China was willing to hold direct negotiations with the other nations making territorial claims within the framework of a code of conduct agreed to in 2002.

Hong also urged nations not directly involved in the maritime disputes to "respect" the efforts of disputing nations to peacefully resolve the issue -- perhaps a warning to Washington.

On Monday, US Senator Jim Webb urged Congress to condemn China's recent behaviour, saying that Washington has been too weak-kneed on the South China Sea issue.

Webb, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said he was introducing a bill that would denounce China for the use of force and urge it to seek a peaceful resolution to disputes.

The United States generally does not take positions on territorial disputes in which it is not directly involved.

A Chinese military newspaper stated Beijing's position more bluntly.

"China resolutely opposes any country unrelated to the South China Sea issue meddling in disputes, and it opposes the internationalisation of the South China Sea issue," the People's Liberation Army Daily said Tuesday in a commentary.

"This dispute must be resolved peacefully through friendly consultations between the two parties involved."

Taiwan at the weekend reiterated its claim to the Spratlys, and said missile boats and tanks could be deployed to disputed territory.

Vietnam to hold live-fire drill amid China dispute

Vietnam is set to hold live-fire naval drills on Monday in the South China Sea, as tensions with Beijing reach their highest levels in years over an escalating maritime dispute.

The neighbouring nations are at loggerheads over sovereignty of the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly archipelagos and surrounding waters, where recent confrontations between their ships have sparked a war of words.

A Vietnamese naval officer told AFP that the six hours of live-fire exercises would be held around Hon Ong island, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) off Quang Nam province in central Vietnam.

The officer declined to give the reason for the night drill or say how many vessels would be involved, but foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said the exercises were part of routine annual training.

The drills will be held in the area claimed as Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, where Hanoi last month accused Chinese surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship, causing tensions to rise sharply.

On Thursday Vietnam alleged a similar incident in the zone, saying a Chinese fishing boat rammed the cables of another oil survey ship in its waters, describing it as a "premeditated" attack.

Beijing countered by warning Vietnam to halt all activities that it says violate China's sovereignty in the disputed area.

The United States said it was "troubled" by tensions triggered by the maritime border dispute, calling for a "peaceful resolution".

The area where the live-fire exercise is planned is about 250 kilometres from the Paracels and almost 1,000 kms from the Spratlys.

Carl Thayer, a veteran analyst of Vietnam and the South China Sea, said that the drill would be a way for Vietnam to send a message, after China a day earlier also said it would conduct naval exercises.

Thayer said Vietnam was firing "a soft warning shot across the bow, rather than a real one."

But he added such drills were not unprecedented because Vietnam held an air-defence drill on land about two months ago.

Beijing says it is committed to peace in the South China Sea, but its more assertive maritime posture has caused concern among regional nations and beyond.

Tensions have also risen this year between China and the Philippines, another claimant to the Spratlys, where Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also say they have a stake.

In Vietnam, where protests are rarely held, hundreds of citizens in southern Ho Chi Minh City and in Hanoi held anti-China rallies on Sunday, bearing signs proclaiming Vietnamese sovereignty over the disputed archipelagos.

Vietnamese bitterly recall 1,000 years of Chinese occupation and, more recently, a 1979 border war. More than 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed in 1988 when the two sides had a battle off the Spratlys.

US not coming to Philippines' aid vs China

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The United States has said it will not side with any party in the Spratlys conflict, which is to say that the Philippines' most powerful ally will not be coming to its aid should its spat with China escalate into a shooting war.

The US Embassy made this clear in reaction to a Malacanang (the presidential palace) statement expressing confidence that Washington would honour its commitment under the two countries' Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) to come to the aid of a beleaguered ally.

"The US does not take sides in regional territorial disputes," the US press attache Rebecca Thompson said in an e-mailed statement when contacted for comment to deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte's invoking of the 60-year-old MDT.

Thompson said the US was "troubled by incidents in the South China Sea in recent days that have raised tensions in the region" and that Washington opposes "the use or threat of force" by any of the countries with rival claims to the Spratly islands.

The brief statement said the US "shares a number of national interests with the international community in the South China Sea" but did not mention the Philippines or the two countries' over-a-hundred-year-old ties and mutual defence pact.

In an interview on state-run dzRB radio earlier on Saturday, Valte figured the Philippines could count on its superpower ally should the situation with China deteriorate because of the MDT.

"I haven't seen the terms of the MDT quite recently but I know that as an ally, the United States will help if ever it reaches that point because of the Mutual Defence Treaty," she said.

"Hopefully, it doesn't get to that point because, again, we are committed to the resolution of the issue in the most diplomatic and the most peaceful way possible," she added.

Armed Forces Chief General Eduardo Oban was also earlier quoted as saying that the military remained "hopeful that the Americans will not stand aside should the conflict erupt and that they can invoke the MDT with the US".

The MDT was signed on Aug 13, 1951, in Washington, DC with both parties declaring "publicly and formally their sense of unity and their common determination to defend themselves against external armed attack".

Under the eight articles of the treaty, both parties agree to aid and support each other in settling any international disputes by peaceful means, among others.

Sentor Francis Escudero said the Department of Foreign Affairs should be designated as the lead agency to talk about the Spratlys issue in public.

Avoid any mistakes

He said Malacanang should not do so through its spokespersons "in order to avoid any faux pas on our part".

Escudero said the government should also review the MDT to ascertain if US forces would indeed come to the rescue if the Philippines is attacked because of the Spratlys dispute.

He said Palace officials should carefully review the MDT, read through its fine print and get confirmations from the US government "if indeed this situation is covered".

But he remained optimistic that US military support would be given in case of an armed conflict as "a gesture of longstanding friendship".

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the House would leave it to the Department of Foreign Affairs assert the country's sovereignty claim over the West Philippine Sea.

"The DFA is articulating our position and we're supporting it," he said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Commodore Miguel Rodriguez said the AFP leaves it to the DFA to make an official comment on the developments in the Spratlys issue.

Not joining Viet Nam

"We submit our reports to the DFA and the DFA crafts the country's position on KIG [Kalayaan Island Group] affairs," he said, referring to the portion of the Spratlys claimed by the Philippines.

He also said the military was not joining Viet Nam, another Spratlys claimant, in the deepening rift with China over the issue.

"We are not looking at partnering with one country against another country," he said.

At a Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Independence Day dinner Saturday night, President Aquino came face to face with Chinese Ambassador Liu Jiangchao who only a few days ago had warned claimant states to stop exploring for oil in the Spratlys.

"Like all neighbours, I know we may have our disagreements sometimes," Aquino said in his speech, acknowledging Liu's presence.

"(But) no one can deny the benefits our relationship has brought to both our countries throughout the years," he added.

Liu adverted to "incidents" that have arisen between the two countries since Aquino came to power.

"But facts have manifested we are stronger than these tests," he said.

Liu said the August 23 botched hostage crisis involving Hong Kong tourists had been settled with a "loving and understanding heart".

"The last thing the Chinese government and people want to see is that the [Spratlys] dispute stands in the way of the progress of our wonderful relations and the friendship and brotherhood of our two peoples," Liu said, who hinted at a visit to China from Aquino later this year.

In the past two weeks, the Philippines has accused China of making at least six incursions into Philippine territory in the past four months, a charge that Beijing has dismissed as rumors.

Recently, the Aquino government has made a point of referring to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea to bolster its claim to certain parts of the Spratlys. With reports from Christian V. Esguerra, DJ Yap and Cynthia D. Balana

Vietnam to hold live-fire drill as China rift grows

Vietnam announced Friday that it would hold a live-fire naval drill next week in the South China Sea as an escalating maritime dispute fuels tensions with Beijing.

Relations between China and Vietnam are at their worst in years as the two countries trade accusations over recent confrontations between their ships in potentially energy-rich contested waters.

The United States said it was "troubled" by tensions triggered by the maritime border dispute, calling for a "peaceful resolution".

A Vietnamese naval officer told AFP that the six hours of live-fire exercises would be held on Monday around Hon Ong island, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) off Quang Nam province in central Vietnam.

The officer declined to give the reason for the night drill or say how many vessels would be involved.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said the exercises were part of routine annual training.

Tensions between the communist neighbours have risen sharply after Hanoi accused Chinese marine surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship in May inside its exclusive economic zone, where the drill will be.

On Thursday Vietnam alleged a similar incident in the zone, saying a Chinese fishing boat rammed the cables of another oil survey ship in its waters, describing it as a "premeditated" attack.

Beijing countered by warning Vietnam to halt all activities that it says violate its sovereignty in disputed South China Sea waters.

The two countries have long-standing disputes over the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly archipelagos and surrounding sea.

The area where the live-fire exercise is planned is about 250 kilometres from the Paracels and almost 1,000 kms from the Spratlys.

Carl Thayer, a veteran analyst of Vietnam and the South China Sea, said the drill would be a way for Vietnam to send a message, after China on Thursday also said it would conduct naval exercises.

Thayer said Vietnam was firing "a soft warning shot across the bow, rather than a real one."

But he added such drills were not unprecedented as Vietnam held an air-defence drill on land about two months ago.

In a sign of how seriously Hanoi views the situation, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung this week vowed to protect Vietnam's "incontestable" sovereignty of the Paracels and Spratlys.

Vietnam said it has since deployed eight boats to "escort" the ship involved in the May incident, without saying what kind of vessels. Analysts say the move raises the stakes in the dispute.

Beijing says it is committed to peace in the South China Sea, but its more assertive maritime posture has caused concern among regional nations.

Tensions have also risen this year between China and the Philippines, another claimant to the Spratlys, where Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also say they have a stake.

"Nobody wants war but when there is an escalation we will act," vice defence minister Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh told local media earlier this week.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Friday said: "We've been troubled by some of these reports about the South China Sea and believe they only serve to raise tensions and don't help peace and security in the region," "We support a collaborative diplomatic process... and call on all claimants to conform all the claims, both land and maritime, to international law."

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned last weekend that clashes may erupt in the South China Sea unless nations with conflicting territorial claims adopt a mechanism to settle disputes peacefully.

Hundreds of people held a peaceful anti-China protest outside Beijing's embassy in Hanoi on Sunday, the largest action of its kind since 2007. Protests are rare in authoritarian Vietnam.

Tensions have also spread to the Internet.

More than 200 Vietnamese websites have been attacked and some defaced with Chinese flags, an Internet security firm said Friday.

The ministries of agriculture and foreign affairs are among those targeted since the beginning of June, said Nguyen Minh Duc, director of the state-linked Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Centre.

"We don't yet know if it concerns Chinese hackers," Duc said.

Chinese tourist arrivals up despite Quirino incident

Despite the Quirino Grandstand hostage taking where several Chinese nationals were killed on August 2010, Chinese tourists continue to visit the country, an ambassador said.

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao said there has been an increase of about 19 percent in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Philippines.

Liu told reporters in a roundtable discussion that the embassy recorded some 70,000 Chinese tourists in the Philippines for 2011 alone.

On August 23, 2010, disgruntled policeman Rolando Mendoza held hostage several tourists while in a bus in Quirino grandstand as he demanded to be re-employed in the police service.

Negotiations bogged down and the 12-hour hostage ended with nine people, all foreigners, dead.

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has since ordered several government officials charged administratively for “incompetence and neglect of duty.”

PH maintains ownership of Reed Bank in Spratlys

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines maintained its ownership of Reed Bank, amid a reported call of China to all claimants of the Spratly Islands to stop all forms of explorations in the South China Sea.

Malacañang said oil exploration should continue in non-disputed areas or areas owned by the Philippines, including Reed Bank.

"Number one, we will have to confer with the Department of Energy and with the Department of Foreign Affairs with respect to the disputed areas. With respect to the non-disputed areas, we have every reason to do our exploration there because it's ours. There should be no issue as to our sovereign right to explore our own natural resources," Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters in Malacañang.  

The Philippines stood by its statements on the recent incidents in the South China Sea, even after a statement from the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, demanding that the Philippines "stop unilateral actions that damage China's sovereignty and interests at sea…and stop issuing irresponsible comments that are inconsistent with facts."

"Well, 'yun ang kanilang pananaw. Ang aming pananaw, ang sinabi po ni [Defense] Sec. Voltz Gazmin, it's a very responsible statement. We believe that we are asserting only what we claim is ours in our sovereign capacity…Dapat po walang question sa Western Palawan, sa Reed Bank, ito po ay atin, kasi ito ay 80 nautical miles po from Palawan in contrast to them which is about over 400 or a little less than 500 nautical miles from them. So obviously, ito po ay ating inaangkin noon pa and was never considered disputed," Lacierda said. Peaceful resolution of dispute, PNoy visit

Amid all these, the Philippines remains committed to having the issue resolved peacefully and diplomatically.

Lacierda said the situation is not worsening as all claimants remain committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. He said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) continues to be in touch with Chinese Embassy officials in Manila.

"What we believe and what we strongly would like to see is the peaceful resolution in this area. China obviously has their claimed of the 9-dash line. We obviously dispute that so we would rather have a peaceful dialogue be undertaken by the various claimants on the South China Sea, not just between the Philippines and China, but also the other claimants of the area, for instance Vietnam and the other countries," Lacierda said.

The date for President Aquino's state visit to China has not yet been finalized but Aquino is expected to take up the Spratlys issue with his Chinese counterparts.

"Well, again, we don't have a firm schedule yet on China. The DFA would be handling that but definitely the President has been apprised of the situation and in the proper time, the President will relay to the Chinese officials, his counterpart, as to the conduct and attitude of the Philippines and the stand of the Philippines on that matter," Lacierda said.

US also alarmed by China's intrusions: AFP chief

MANILA, Philippines - The United States is also alarmed by China's intrusions into Philippine territory, Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Oban said on Thursday.

He said President Benigno Aquino III's visit to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson last month had a message for China.

Under their Mutual Defense Treaty, the US is obliged to help the Philippines if it gets attacked by another country.

Oban said Chinese forces have entered Philippine territory 6 times this year.

To boost the Philippines' defense and answer China's intrusions, the Armed Forces plan to buy more equipment and hardware worth around P11.9 billion within the next 3 years.

The military currently only has one radar while at least 6 are needed to secure the country's airspace.

Oban said Philippine troops will fire back if they are attacked in the Spratlys.

However, he said that based on statements made by the Chinese defense minister during his visit to the Philippines last month, the situation in the South China Sea has not deteriorated yet into a shooting war. - Report from Ces Oreña Drilon, ABS-CBN News

China says PH allegations founded by 'bad rumor'

While it seeks to strengthen its relationship with the Philippines, China said that the government’s claims of their supposed intrusions were just “founded by a bad rumor.” 

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jinchao said that the lingering dispute over claims on the oil-rich South China Sea was only fanned by false reports.

“It is unfortunate that this issue, the current dispute about the area, everything, was founded by a bad rumor,” Jinchao told reporters Thursday.

Jinchao was referring to previous statements from the Department of Foreign affairs (DFA) and the Armed Forces that foreign fighter jets were sighted near the disputed Spratly Islands. 

The ambassador also dismissed as a “bad rumor” the DFA’s claims of the presence of a China Marine Surveillance vessel and some Chinese navy ships at the vicinity the Amy Douglas Bank, which is within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

“That is [a] bad rumor because we have no intention of occupying one of the islands,” Jinchao added.

But he justified the presence of China’s patrol teams in the vast South China Sea, saying they “have every right to exercise jurisdiction over an area where we claim sovereignty” as part of their “normal exercises.”

Apart from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam also claim parts of the South China Sea.

To date, the Philippines has accused China of at least six incidents of intrusions. A diplomatic protest has since been filed before the United Nations.

While it is saying it is “ready to talk” with other claimants to reach a “feasible and effective way to relax the possible tension,” China stands firm on their ownership of the disputed parts of the South China Sea.

“China is firm on its territorial claims,” said Jinchao.  He also added, “We will never use force unless we are attacked one way or another.”

In a separate statement, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Philippines is “committed to a multilateral approach to the resolution of claims in the Spratlys.”

“The Philippines believes that its territorial rights must be asserted with firmness, its position reiterated at every appropriate opportunity,” Lacierda said.