South China Sea Forum

[BoQ77]

Japan gave tons of money to Southeast Asia

From China's perspective - Japan is up to no good, there is a price to pay.
From Japan's perspective - it is trying to get access to naval bases and sale of boats.

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Japan eyeing Philippine naval ports: expert
2016-08-12 08:32 | Global Times | Editor: Li Yan

'Tokyo is encouraging Southeast Asian neighbors to confront China'

Japan's real purpose in helping improve Philippine naval forces is to get to use the latter's ports, a maritime expert said, even as Tokyo and the Philippines on Thursday urged China to observe the rule of law in resolving maritime disputes.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Manila shows that Japan is encouraging the Philippine government to pursue the former administration's policy against China while spreading the misleading message that China has no intention to fix the souring relationship with Japan, experts said.

Kishida met his counterpart Perfecto Yasay in the southern Philippine city of Davao, where both pledged to work closely to boost maritime security while facing separate sea disputes with China, AFP reported.

Kishida is visiting the Philippines to strengthen "friendly ties." During the visit, both sides will discuss both the South and East China sea issues, and the possible sale of Japanese patrol ships to the Philippines, according to the Kyodo News Agency.

Japan appears to be trying to help the Philippines improve its naval forces, but its real purpose is to capitalize on these cooperation programs to use Philippine naval ports, Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times.

Japan is offering the Philippines patrol ships and P-3C aircraft at a low price or even for free to enhance Manila's maritime defense, Song said.

Lü Yaodong, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stressed that Japan is the most aggressive "trouble maker" by encouraging Southeast Asian countries to confront China, disrupting negotiations between Beijing and Manila, especially as former Philippine president Fidel Ramos meets with contacts from the Chinese side in Hong Kong.

The visit of Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou to Japan this month has been suspended due to China's displeasure over Japan's repeated protests against the presence of Chinese vessels around the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.

A Japanese government source said under such an intense situation, chances of a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at next month's G20 summit in Hangzhou are "collapsing," the Asahi Shimbun reported.

Lü explained that Japan is accusing China of showing no sincerity in maintaining sound bilateral ties, by claiming China is preventing its diplomats from communicating with Japan.

In Vietnamese "bãi Thuyền Chài" "bai Thuyen Chai"
Vietnam has 3 garrison sites on it.

Barque Canada Reef. Measure from top to bottom is 31.5 km. It's widest width is 5.6km. Total area excluding the lagoon should be more than 80km2. This is the largest reef in the Spratly. If this reef is turned into an artificial island, it can be a city of a few hundred thousand inhabitants. Vietnam currently holds this reef.

 

[BoQ77]

Cornwallis South Reef
đá Núi Le : length 10km, width 5km

 

[TaiShang]

Huangyan development will start soon, bros.

Hold your breath.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

In bid to defend sovereignty, Indonesia plans to change name of South China Sea to Natuna Sea
The plan would involve renaming the sea surrounding the Natuna Islands, which lie to the northwest of the Indonesian part of Borneo, within their 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 18 August, 2016, 10:59am
UPDATED : Thursday, 18 August, 2016, 10:59am
Comments: 2

In a bid to maintain its sovereignty in the region, Indonesia announced on Wednesday evening that it will seek to change the name of the South China Sea to the Natuna Sea in the area within 200 miles of its Natuna Islands.

Ahmad Santosa, the Chief of Task Force 115, an agency combating illegal fishing, said the proposal will “be given to the United Nations”, adding that “if no one objects ... then it will be officially the Natuna Sea”.

The plan would involve renaming the sea surrounding the Natuna Islands, which lie to the northwest of the Indonesian part of Borneo, within their 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

The islands’ mayor, Hamid Rizal, said the change was aimed at helping people to understand that section of the sea belongs to Indonesia, and to help fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Indonesian waters.

On Wednesday, Indonesian Independence Day, authorities sank 60 vessels – 58 foreign boats and two domestic vessels – because of such fishing. Most of these were in the Natuna area, which is often claimed by China as a traditional fishing ground.

The same day, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Affairs, Susi Pudjiastuti, said “my ministerial role is dealing with fish and all natural resources from the sea. I do not talk about sovereignty of political territories. I am talking about sovereignty over fish and ocean marine resources. As long as the fish are swimming in Indonesia’s EEZ, they are Indonesian fish. If someone takes it from there, it is illegal.”

Susi added that Indonesia only has a fishing rights agreement with Malaysia in the Malacca Strait. She highlighted that Indonesia does not recognise any traditional fishing ground, referring to Chinese claims in Natuna’s waters.

Since December 2014, Susi’s ministry has sunk 236 vessels.

The vessels are left to become artificial reefs for fish. However, five of them will become a monument in Pangandaran, West Java. Next to the monument, Susi’s ministry will make the International Maritime Museum, assisted by the United States and Norway.

Besides sinking the ships, Susi also held a groundbreaking ceremony for a detention centre for illegal fishing on Indonesia’s Independence Day. The building will have a capacity of 300 to 500 people, and is estimated to be finished before the end of 2016.

To develop the Natuna Islands, Indonesia will also build an integrated fisheries area, which will include a 200 tonne cold storage capacity.

The South China Sea has been the site of numerous clashes over territorial claims, with China asserting its claim more aggressively in recent months with extensive land reclamation and building of military facilities on reefs and islands in the sea.

China’s claim to much of the sea overlaps land claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, and also overlaps Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone around the Natuna Islands.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague recently ruled that China’s claim was invalid, and that it had caused irreparable damage to the marine environment in the region.



Source: https://defence.pk/threads/in-bid-t...china-sea-to-natuna-sea.444836/#ixzz4HfM0A5SP

 

[cochine]

ISRAEL OFFERS SHALDAG MK. V TO PHILIPPINE NAVY
Posted on August 17, 2016

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Israel Shipyards with the assistance of the Israel Ministry of Defense has formally offered Shaldag Mk V fast attack craft to the Philippine Navy (PN). MaxDefense reports.

President Rodrigo Duterte will continue the modernization of AFP but will focus more on internal security. Duterte plans to improve the AFP by purchasing equipment such as helicopter and fast craft.

The Philippine Navy recently released a Request for Information (RFI) for 6 Fast Attack Crafts to equip the Littoral Combat Force of the Philippine Fleet.

According to MaxDefense, the Mk. V, which is currently the Shaldag family’s largest variant, is almost the same size as the Philippine Navy’s own Andrada-class patrol gunboats, but is faster and is proven to carry more weapons than the PN’s almost 30-year old US-designed boats.

The proposed Philippine Navy variant of the Shaldag Mk. V is expected to be armed with a stabilized remote weapons station for a 25mm gun, and small surface-to-surface missiles which MaxDefense expects to be the Spike family due to the PN’s recent order of Spike-ER missiles for the Multi-Purpose Attack Craft (MPAC) Mk. 3.

 

[ahojunk]

Interior minister arrives on Taiping Island
2016/08/16 13:07:30

The hospital on Taiping Island. (File photo courtesy of the Presidential Office)


Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) led officials and scholars on a visit to Taiping Island on Tuesday, hoping to underscore Taiwan's sovereignty over the island and establish it as a climate change research base.

Yeh arrived on the island -- the biggest in the Spratlys in the South China Sea -- accompanied by Coast Guard and land administration officials, climate change experts, and researchers participating in a Ministry of Science and Technology South China Sea research project.

In addition to asserting Taiwan's sovereignty over the island, the visit was aimed at setting up long-term observation facilities there and seeking opportunities for global cooperation on climate issues, according to the ministry.

The observation post can be operated by an international team, and the information gathered can be shared with the international community, ministry officials said Monday.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said Tuesday that Taiping Island is under the jurisdiction of Kaohsiung and officials from her city also took part in Tuesday's trip and were scheduled to install an address plaque that reads "Nansha No. 2" on the island's hospital building.

The Spratly Islands are also known as the Nansha Islands.

When asked on Tuesday if the government had informed the United States of the visit, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said it was normal for Yeh to visit Taiping Island and "there is no need to inform other countries" about the visit.

When asked by a reporter on Monday if the U.S. had received any notice of the trip from President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) administration, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said she would not comment specifically on the visit.

But she called on all South China Sea claimants to avoid actions that would raise tensions and intensify efforts to find a peaceful and diplomatic solution to disputes.

When asked if Yeh is paving the road for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to visit the island in the future, Cabinet spokesman Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said "future visits are not ruled out" but there are currently no such plans.

(By Liu Li-jung, Tang Pei-chun and Christie Chen)

 

[cochine]

Vietnam protests Chinese Taiwan’s violation of Truong Sa
Visits by a number of Taiwanese officials to the Ba Binh (Itu Aba) feature area have seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, stated Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh on July 28.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh.


Responding to a reporter’s question on Vietnam’s stance on the Taiwanese officials’ visits, the diplomat stressed that Vietnam resolutely protests the visits and demands Taiwan not to repeat those and contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

“Vietnam asserts its indisputable sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa archipelagoes. All activities carried out by foreign sides in these areas without Vietnam’s permission are illegal,” stated the spokesperson.

VNA

 

[ahojunk]

Taiwan a victim of S. China Sea ruling: Canadian think tank
By Chanda JL, Special to The China Post
August 18, 2016, 12:12 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The NATO Association of Canada has said that Taiwan had been victimized by last month's Hague ruling on the South China Sea.

In an article published on the association's website, research analyst David Sutton said that though "The Hague ruling wished to restrict the Asian giant China ... it ended up affecting Taiwan."

Sutton said that the case, which was brought to establish the legal rights of the Philippines in the South China Sea, had harmed an "unrecognized but abiding member" in Taiwan.

The article rebuts the ruling's finding that Taiping should not be classified as an island, which would entitle it to a 200-square-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

Pointing to Article 121 of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defines an island as "a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water," the article argues that Taiping's status "should not be up for dispute."

Sutton says that Taiwan had maintained a cooperative approach to disputes in the South China Sea, pointing to the Agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters (台菲漁業事務執法合作協定), which was finalized between the Philippines and Taiwan last year. The agreement was prompted by hostilities between the two sides in the SCS that resulted in the death of a Taiwanese fisherman two years ago.

Sutton adds that such agreements showed "Taiwan's commitment to a conciliatory approach to matters of overlapping claims," which he says mitigates "the court's concerns that Taiwan would try to prevent the Philippines access to the region surrounding Taiping Island."

He also states that protecting the claims of Taiwan should be in the interest of all parties who oppose those of China, adding that the Hague ruling's effect on Taiping's island status had challenged the integrity and validity of the international community, of which Taiwan was an active member.

The ruling elicited an angry response from the Taiwanese government — which has usually adopted a cooperative approach — forcing it to stand up for its territorial claims, the report says.

 

[hoangsa74]

The ruling that Taiping is a reef favors Vietnam in this case. Since Taiwan/China controls this island; giving Taiping the status of "island" would mean that Taiwan/China is the only one claimant who has 200 mile EEZ in the Spratly. Naturally, Taiping would qualify as an island since it is the only island that has natural fresh water and by definition can sustain life on its own. The viet kong are jumping up and down protesting the PCA ruling but they don't realize the PCA's ruling indirectly help them in this case because none of viet kong's island holding in the Spratly has natural fresh water like Taiping island.

 

[cochine]

The ruling that Taiping is a reef favors Vietnam in this case. Since Taiwan/China controls this island; giving Taiping the status of "island" would mean that Taiwan/China is the only one claimant who has 200 mile EEZ in the Spratly. Naturally, Taiping would qualify as an island since it is the only island that has natural fresh water and by definition can sustain life on its own. The viet kong are jumping up and down protesting the PCA ruling but they don't realize the PCA's ruling indirectly help them in this case because none of viet kong's island holding in the Spratly has natural fresh water like Taiping island.

Taiwan has robbed Itu Aba from south Vietnam in 1956. Occupation with force is illegal. PCA ruling said that China ( included Taiwan) doesn't has historical sovereignty over SCS, it is enough said.

 

[hoangsa74]

Taiwan did not go to war against south vn to get itu aba. Same thing with the phillipnes getting thitu island. Occupation when there was no owner is different than going to war and rob it from someone. Historical evidence means jack in modern day lawsuit. Everyone including the chinese have evidence that they some point in time occupied or discovered spratly. The status quo is that taipjng is not occupied by vn. Had pca awarded taiping the island status. Vn would have in Big trouble because none of vn holding in the spratly has natural fresh water to qualify for 200 miles eez

 

[cochine]

Taiwan did not go to war against south vn to get itu aba. Same thing with the phillipnes getting thitu island. Occupation when there was no owner is different than going to war and rob it from someone. Historical evidence means jack in modern day lawsuit. Everyone including the chinese have evidence that they some point in time occupied or discovered spratly. The status quo is that taipjng is not occupied by vn. Had pca awarded taiping the island status. Vn would have in Big trouble because none of vn holding in the spratly has natural fresh water to qualify for 200 miles eez

Taiwan invasion is in 1956. Hoang sa and Truong Sa is part of Vietnam sovereignty territory from long time ago.

 

[CCP]

Taiwan invasion is in 1956. Hoang sa and Truong Sa is part of Vietnam sovereignty territory from long time ago.

Well, vietnam is part of China from long time ago too.

 

[cochine]

Well, vietnam is part of China from long time ago too.

Well, vietnam is part of China from long time ago too.

apply your logic, China is part of Japan Imperial recently.

 

[cirr]

New CCG vessels

ready to roll