South China Sea Forum

[ahfatzia]

China says "board and search" sea rules limited to Hainan coast


BEIJING - Contentious new rules allowing Chinese police to board vessels deemed breaking the law off the southern island of Hainan are only valid within a narrow coastal zone, the government said on Monday, seeking to calm regional tensions.

The regulations, which go into effect in the new year, sparked widespread concern in Southeast Asia that China was taking a tougher line on the disputed South China Sea, where several nations are involved in a bitter territorial dispute.

Worries were compounded as Hainan is technically the province which has jurisdiction over China's extensive South China Seas claims, raising the possibility Chinese police could board ships anywhere in those waters.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the scope of Hainan's rules, announced by state media in November, represented no change from regulations passed in 1999 limiting enforcement to within 12 nautical miles of Hainan's coast.

"What I want to stress is that these local rules were formulated by the Hainan provincial government to strengthen border controls over the coast and maritime management," Hua told a daily news briefing.

"Their aim is to tackle crime at sea and maintain peace on the seas. There is no change to the scope of how these rules are used compared to the 1999 rules," she added, without elaborating.

It is the first time the Chinese government has provided a detailed explanation of where the rules would be applied.

Southeast Asia's top diplomat had warned that they could spark naval clashes and hurt the region's economy, while the US government said it was seeking clarification.

China is in an increasingly angry dispute with neighbours including the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia over claims to parts of the potentially oil and gas-rich South China Sea.

China lays claim to almost the whole of the sea, which is criss-crossed by crucial shipping lanes.

Hua repeated that the Chinese government's stance had not changed, and that it advocated resolving the issue by talks between the claimant nations.

"I think that all sides should adopt a fair and objective attitude towards this and be constructive and show goodwill towards the reading of these rules."

China says "board and search" sea rules limited to Hainan coast


Just as I though, local officials misinterpretation of the rules.

 

[Knight of Tang]

That's what we called "impressive"

More and bigger CMS vessels are on their way：

Sounds a little bit disappointing but since Hainan can legislate its local rule, so does Sansha...I hope it's just a matter of time.

China says "board and search" sea rules limited to Hainan coast


BEIJING - Contentious new rules allowing Chinese police to board vessels deemed breaking the law off the southern island of Hainan are only valid within a narrow coastal zone, the government said on Monday, seeking to calm regional tensions.

The regulations, which go into effect in the new year, sparked widespread concern in Southeast Asia that China was taking a tougher line on the disputed South China Sea, where several nations are involved in a bitter territorial dispute.

Worries were compounded as Hainan is technically the province which has jurisdiction over China's extensive South China Seas claims, raising the possibility Chinese police could board ships anywhere in those waters.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the scope of Hainan's rules, announced by state media in November, represented no change from regulations passed in 1999 limiting enforcement to within 12 nautical miles of Hainan's coast.

"What I want to stress is that these local rules were formulated by the Hainan provincial government to strengthen border controls over the coast and maritime management," Hua told a daily news briefing.

"Their aim is to tackle crime at sea and maintain peace on the seas. There is no change to the scope of how these rules are used compared to the 1999 rules," she added, without elaborating.

It is the first time the Chinese government has provided a detailed explanation of where the rules would be applied.

Southeast Asia's top diplomat had warned that they could spark naval clashes and hurt the region's economy, while the US government said it was seeking clarification.

China is in an increasingly angry dispute with neighbours including the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia over claims to parts of the potentially oil and gas-rich South China Sea.

China lays claim to almost the whole of the sea, which is criss-crossed by crucial shipping lanes.

Hua repeated that the Chinese government's stance had not changed, and that it advocated resolving the issue by talks between the claimant nations.

"I think that all sides should adopt a fair and objective attitude towards this and be constructive and show goodwill towards the reading of these rules."

China says "board and search" sea rules limited to Hainan coast


Just as I though, local officials misinterpretation of the rules.

 

[hoangsa]

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the scope of Hainan's rules, announced by state media in November, represented no change from regulations passed in 1999 limiting enforcement to within 12 nautical miles of Hainan's coast.

just like a little boy announcement...yesterday say that, today say this, tomorrow say another...ha...ha...you announce whatever you like...people do not care...just because your announcement is not reliable.

If you want to a great nation with respect from others...firstly act & annouce like a gentlemen...please!

 

[Knight of Tang]

The problem is a gentleman can never communicate efficiently enough with a barbarian...
Your broken words made a great illustration of what I said above. Hard time in US hmm?

just like a little boy announcement...yesterday say that, today say this, tomorrow say another...ha...ha...you announce whatever you like...people do not care...just because your announcement is not reliable.

If you want to a great nation with respect from others...firstly act & annouce like a gentlemen...please!

 

[WuMaoCleverbot]

‘Chinese warship harassed Phl boats off Kalayaan’
By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 1, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese amphibious warship twice harassed a four-boat convoy of Kalayaan town while delivering food and other household supplies to the inhabitants of Pag-Asa Island last Oct. 27, according to the mayor of the island town.

Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon, who recently returned to mainland Palawan from the island town, said a silver gray warship with bow No. 995 directly sailed towards and crossed the path of M/T Queen Seagull, a 200-ton vessel owned and operated by the local government of Kalayaan island town in the Spratlys.

The vessel, a cargo and supply ship, is being used to haul supplies from mainland Palawan to the civilian residents in Pag-Asa island, the seat of the Kalayaan island municipality that comprises the country’s seven regime of islands and two reefs in the hotly-contested region.

Bito-onon said their boats were already five hours away from Pag-Asa island after spending four nights and four days in Lawak island due to bad weather.

The convoy was with 12 Vietnamese fishing boats, a Chinese aquarium ship and four Filipino fishing boats from Batangas and General Santos City when the Chinese warship cut the path of M/T Seagull, which was then towing a utility boat with civilian passengers followed by a twin-engine motorboat that was also towing another utility boat loaded with fishing gear for local fishermen in Pag-Asa.

“We thought that Chinese warship was just heading back to Hainan from one of their occupied islands, as it was sailing north coming from southern part of the Spratlys. But we saw it again heading back towards our position, threatening to ram the utility boat being towed by M/T Seagull Queen, triggering panic among the civilians passengers,” Bito-onon told The STAR.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/01/01/892056/chinese-warship-harassed-phl-boats-kalayaan

 

[Viet]

Even so, Vietnam is the country most likely to be punished ,for you are more guilty than Filipinos.
btw,it looks like you've received your year-end awards from your Propaganda Department and started to work again.

Your guess is wrong. I work for my own company, not for the government. I am currently a holiday trip through Vietnam. On the streets I can see many banners voicing for a strong defence in the SCS. Talking seriously, the Philippines shall increase their defence spending to better protect their assets and act more agressively in the SCS, otherwise they lose.

As for Vietnam, the first priority is to strengthen the Navy, too.

More and bigger CMS vessels are on their way：

do you work for the government?

 

[Viet]

What agreement you're referring to? I wonder if you people read 'bout this article carefully and see what your leader was saying?

the agreement that both sides want to work on a peaceful solution, based on consensus.

Those words like "brotherhood" and "comradeship" sounds really sarcastic to me now!

well, they were indeed comrades in the wars against France and America. Nothing is sarcastic.
Basically when Vietnamese leaders visit China, they always mention the good side of China. They surely know the bad side of China, too, though they never say in public.

 

[SinoChallenger]

‘Chinese warship harassed Phl boats off Kalayaan’
By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 1, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese amphibious warship twice harassed a four-boat convoy of Kalayaan town while delivering food and other household supplies to the inhabitants of Pag-Asa Island last Oct. 27, according to the mayor of the island town.

Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon, who recently returned to mainland Palawan from the island town, said a silver gray warship with bow No. 995 directly sailed towards and crossed the path of M/T Queen Seagull, a 200-ton vessel owned and operated by the local government of Kalayaan island town in the Spratlys.

The vessel, a cargo and supply ship, is being used to haul supplies from mainland Palawan to the civilian residents in Pag-Asa island, the seat of the Kalayaan island municipality that comprises the country’s seven regime of islands and two reefs in the hotly-contested region.

Bito-onon said their boats were already five hours away from Pag-Asa island after spending four nights and four days in Lawak island due to bad weather.

The convoy was with 12 Vietnamese fishing boats, a Chinese aquarium ship and four Filipino fishing boats from Batangas and General Santos City when the Chinese warship cut the path of M/T Seagull, which was then towing a utility boat with civilian passengers followed by a twin-engine motorboat that was also towing another utility boat loaded with fishing gear for local fishermen in Pag-Asa.

“We thought that Chinese warship was just heading back to Hainan from one of their occupied islands, as it was sailing north coming from southern part of the Spratlys. But we saw it again heading back towards our position, threatening to ram the utility boat being towed by M/T Seagull Queen, triggering panic among the civilians passengers,” Bito-onon told The STAR.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/01/01/892056/chinese-warship-harassed-phl-boats-kalayaan

Our amphibious warship is preparing to take back our Nansha Islands from illegal Pinoy squatters.

Vietnam ask Taiwan to cancel military exercises in Spratly (Truong Sa)

Posted by admin on Aug 23, 2012 | 1 Comment

Ministry of Foreign Affairs today opposed the plan of Taiwan-fire exercises on the island of Itu Aba, Truong Sa, and requested to cancel the activities violate the sovereignty of Vietnam over Spratly Islands.

http://tinmoidoday.com/viet-nam-yeu-cau-dai-loan-huy-tap-tran-o-truong-sa/
.

Taiwan's navy can take on Vietnam anytime and anywhere, so Vietnam is afraid.

Philippines objects to new Chinese gunboat in South China Sea

Chinese surveillance ships off huangyan


MANILA: The Philippines on Friday said it "strongly objects" to China's deployment of a new patrol vessel in the South China Sea, where the two countries have a seething maritime territorial dispute.

Such patrols will not boost China's claim to the disputed territory where the two countries have had a standoff since April, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a statement.

"The Philippines strongly objects to the Chinese patrol of Philippine maritime domain in the West Philippine Sea," the statement said, using the local name for the South China Sea.

It called on China to respect the country's "territorial sovereignty and EEZ", referring to the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

China's official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday an ocean-going patrol vessel equipped with a helipad would be deployed to the South China Sea, the first of its kind in the area.

In late November, China said it had granted its border patrol police the right to board and turn away foreign ships entering the disputed waters, raising fears of a confrontation.

Both the Philippines and China have overlapping claims over parts of the South China Sea, a major shipping route that is also believed to hold vast mineral resources.

Tensions between China and the Philippines have risen in the area since April after ships from both countries had a standoff over a rock outcropping known as the Scarborough Shoal.

While the Philippines has withdrawn its ships, it says China reneged on an agreement to pull out its own vessels.

China claims the shoal as well as nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to the coasts of neighbouring countries. The Philippines says the shoal is well within its EEZ.

Philippines objects to new Chinese gunboat in South China Sea - Channel NewsAsia

Whining will not stop our warships from taking back our Nansha Islands.

 

[beijingwalker]

Chinese ships begin patrolling disputed South China Sea areas
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 01, 2013, 21:25

Beijing: China's marine surveillance ships today began patrolling the disputed South China Sea, implementing a controversial order to border police to board and search ships entering disputed areas which Beijing considers its territorial waters.

China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said its two vessels aided by a surveillance aircraft patrolled waters near the Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea, where Vietnam recently complained of harassment of Chinese vessels obstructing its survey ship.

One of the oil platforms, Ledong 22-1, told patrolling fleet that no oil leak had taken place, nor had they been harassed by foreign vessels lately, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Early last month Petro Vietnam alleged that Chinese fishing boats sabotaged one of its seismic survey ships 69 km from the small island of Con Co in the South China Sea.

It said two Chinese fishing boats had cut across cables being laid by the survey vessel Binh Minh 2 off the coast of central Vietnam.

Reacting to Hanoi's allegation Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei told media here on Dec 6 that "Vietnam's allegation is inconsistent with facts".

"To our knowledge the sea area claimed by Vietnam is in the overlapping areas between China's Hainan island and Vietnam and our side Beibu Gulf," he said.

In November last year the local legislature of China's Hainan authorised provincial border police to board or seize foreign ships that illegally enter the province's waters and order them to change course or stop sailing from January 1.

According to the order activities such as entering the island province's waters without permission, damaging coastal defence facilities, and engaging in publicity that threatens national security are illegal, excerpts of the order published in the official media at that time said.

If foreign ships or crew members violate the regulations, Hainan police have the right to take over the ships or their communications systems, under the revised regulations, the orders said.

China virtually claims ownership to the entire South China Sea.

Besides Vietnam; Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan too have disputes with China over the disputed islands in the South China Sea as well as the extent of territorial waters.

Philippines and Vietnam have raised objections over the maps printed in China's e-passports claiming the sovereignty over the disputed areas.

 

[problemfreeleader]

USA igniting world warIII But US grand strategy is clear. Just as the US sought to contain the Soviet Union during the Cold War by surrounding it with American allies and bases, so Washington plans to do with China.America is creating a sweeping arc of allies and bases that begins in Singapore, and moves northeast to the Philippines, then Taiwan, Okinawa, Japan, and South Korea, neatly bottling up China’s expanding naval forces. India is being encouraged to build powerful naval forces that can threaten China’s oil routes to the Mideast and keep its navy out of the Indian Ocean.

 

[Cherokee]

From NHK
NHK?????

The Philippines has begun stationing elite marines on some of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines claim sovereignty over all or some of the Spratlys.

High-ranking Philippine military officers said their country has started to deploy marines on the 9 islands and shoals since October. The country had already stationed naval officers there. The military says personnel numbers have almost doubled on some of the islands.

Before the deployment, the elite Marines underwent training to protect the islands. They have been equipped with upgraded weapons.

The Philippines also began expanding its military facility on the island of Lawak to accommodate tools and personnel for drilling and other operations. The country is developing oil and natural gas in waters near the island.

China is also increasing its military presence in the South China Sea to boost its claims to maritime interests in the area. An NHK reporter says the Philippines' deployment is intended to solidify its defense of the islands and shoals.



Philippines puts marines on Spratly Islands : Zeke

Found one more interesting Pic

 

[Markus]

Good move by Philippines.

Middle finger to Chinese bullying.

 

[auspice]

Professional squatters usually work in syndicate. Using fake titles and maps they grab large tracts of land and waterways from real owners. For semblance of possession they build fences and passageways, workplaces and shelters. They refuse appeals to prove their rights in court, for they know they would lose against the true owners. Instead they employ armed bands to enforce their land-grab, and publicists to distort the truth. Respecting no one, they flout the law and public outrage. They delay inevitable eviction with blarney or harassment. Meantime, they profit from the illegal takeover, by directly exploiting resources or by subletting.

There are a billion squatters worldwide, mostly penurious and landless, and only a handful of land-grab syndicates. The biggest of the latter is China’s dictatorial party.

China uses baseless ancient rights and maps to lay claim to the entire South China Sea and scores of islets, shoals, and reefs. Such claim goes against geologic science and international law, particularly freedom of navigation. But China is unperturbed. It also ignores verified historical accounts and maps, particularly of Vietnam and the Philippines, about the Paracel and the Spratly archipelagoes and landforms abutting their shores. It flouts the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, even if it is a signatory, by disrespecting the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of the two countries, and of Malaysia and Brunei.

China has built military facilities in three of the islets and reefs, feigning at first to be doing so for fishermen of all nations. In pretense of true ownership, its navy patrols the seawaters, as if that would make genuine its unfounded nine-dash line map. Recently it clashed with Vietnamese sailors in the Paracels, and harassed Filipino marine surveyors and fishermen in the Recto Bank and Panatag Shoal.

The Philippines has challenged China to settle the claim once and for all before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. But China refuses. It knows it has no chance of winning. That’s why it uses instead armed might and guile, including putting up traitorous public officials and pseudo-journalists as spokesmen. Because the Philippines refuses to be cowered or fooled, China also employs trade and tourism embargoes. It plays deaf to world opinion about its undiplomatic breaks of UN pacts, and mobilizes vassal states to thwart those that stand up to it.

China chatters about a supposed peaceful economic rise and joint use of the disputed area. But all that aims only to avoid peaceful resolution. One cannot expect peace from an avaricious bully-squatter whose real intent is to build an invisible Great Wall across the Pacific Ocean.

Like a true professional squatter, China is ravaging the sea like there’s no tomorrow. Fake owners think not of conserving resources in the grabbed territory. China scours the sea of marine life, even endangered species, for food and ornaments. It is slurping petroleum from offshore wells close to Vietnam, and has leased out parts of these to privateers. Nonstop too is the search for undersea minerals and rare-earth metals.


China, the professional squatter in Southeast Asia | Opinion, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

 

[OrionHunter]

Time to grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the mayhem about to unfold on your TV screens! Exiting days ahead!

 

[auspice]

China is walking the big stick now. If unchallenged, it will become normal and cement their claim.

Can you imagine they actually claimed (9 dash-lines) or the whole of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea)? just leaving enough space as beach for other countries. Maybe 5km from the shore and everything is China's? From the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei.