South China Sea Forum

[Jeffymoen]

12000-ton CCG 2901 docked in Sanya，Hainan Island

Surprise it is CCG 2901， not its sistership 3901.

Hello, this is Precisetool, a manufacturer providing wire harness solution and producing crimping tools for wire harness and cable lugs. We used to cooprate with TE Connectivity and Vishay. The Main products include crimping tools, assembly tools, wind speed sensors, plastic and metal mold. The products are produced according to MIL(m22520/2-01, m22520/1-01, m22520/7-01,etc.). Meanwhile, we also develop for customers with special requirements for the products. In each section of designing, material selection, manufacturing and service, we make every efforts to provide the best experience, low price but high standard service.

@BoQ77 ... one thing we should admit both doing the same thing in SCS, but it's the typical MAN vs MACHINE Game.

MAN: Vietnamese doing your best
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MACHINE: Chinese doing our best
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Hello, this is Precisetool, a manufacturer providing wire harness solution and producing crimping tools for wire harness and cable lugs. We used to cooprate with TE Connectivity and Vishay. The Main products include crimping tools, assembly tools, wind speed sensors, plastic and metal mold. The products are produced according to MIL(m22520/2-01, m22520/1-01, m22520/7-01,etc.). Meanwhile, we also develop for customers with special requirements for the products. In each section of designing, material selection, manufacturing and service, we make every efforts to provide the best experience, low price but high standard service.

Source: https://defence.pk/threads/south-china-sea-news-discussions.196058/page-697#ixzz4CSUru8N4

 

[cochine]

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China’s illegal activities in East Sea must be ended: FM spokesman
VNA FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016 - 17:03:47

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Illegal activities that have been continuously deployed by China cannot change the fact that Vietnam has sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh on June 24.

Binh made the statement while fielding queries from reporters concerning information from Chinese media over China’s construction on and plans related to the two archipelagos.

China has continued building and operating a number of facilities on Truong Sa, including a hospital on the Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) Reef and a farm on Xubi (Subi) Reef, while its state-run shipping company COSCO said it plans to launch tours to Hoang Sa.

The FM Spokesman said: “Vietnam has repeatedly expressed its clear and consistent stance on the subject. Vietnam has indisputable sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. Either illegal construction and use of facilities on Truong Sa or the arrangement of tours to Hoang Sa carried out by China seriously violate Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagoes.”

“Vietnam strongly objects to these activities. Vietnam requests China to respect the country’s sovereignty over the two archipelagoes, to immediately put an end to these violations without similar repetition in the future, and to stringently comply with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), practically contributing to maintaining peace and security in the East Sea,” Binh stated.-VNA

 

[ahojunk]

As the verdict nears, China is very active on the diplomatic front.....

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Brazilian expert supports China's sovereignty over South China Sea islands
Source: Xinhua | 2016-06-26 22:59:30 | Editor: huaxia

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 26 (Xinhua) -- China's sovereignty over the South China Sea islands has already been established and there are no legal reasons for the Philippines' claim for the sovereignty over the Huangyan Island, a Brazilian expert has said.

The islands belong to China and not to the Philippines, and that is a matter already settled decades ago, Carlos Tavares, an author of 10 books on China and a longtime expert of China-Brazil relations, told Xinhua.

He criticized the Philippines for its decision to resort to an arbitration by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) based in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The Philippines unilaterally initiated an arbitration from the PCA over the South China Sea disputes in 2013. The Chinese government has reiterated its non-acceptance and non-participation stance in the case.

"This sort of conflict should be solved within Asia's borders, preferably by the two parties only," Tavares said.

On the U.S. influence in the case, Tavares said that it was inappropriate for the North-American country to meddle in matters of the Asian nations.

He said that the United States should keep itself out of Asian matters, leaving to Asian nations the task of solving their own disputes.

"China is not interfering in the matters of the North Atlantic, so why is the U.S. trying to meddle in the matters of the South China Sea?" he said.

Tavares remained optimistic about the resolution of the territorial dispute, noting that the issue should be settled as soon as possible.

The Brazilian expert hoped that the new Philippine government would solve its dispute with China through dialogue.

 

[cochine]

Philippines urgently needs multi-role warships

June 29, 2016 PNA Nation 0



The pressing need for warships capable of carrying out a variety of defense missions made Philippine naval planners decide on a proposed frigate design capable of engaging air, surface and sub-surface targets. Rear Admiral Roland Joseph Mercado, Western Command chief and head of the Philippine Navy (PN) technical working group head said there is nothing new on compressing three warfare requirements on the proposed frigates as it is the rule of thumb nowadays in warship design.

Some examples of multi-mission frigates include Germany’s Mekong class, Australia’s Anzac, and Canada’s Halifax warships.

The Philippines is in the market for two missile-capable frigates with a budget of PHP18 billion, with PHP16 billion going to the construction of the ship and PHP2 billion for its munitions.

Mercado declined to give exact specifics of the frigate program but said the two ship can “must steam in speeds in excess of 25 knots and can engage surface, air, and surface threats”.

Aside from this, the ships must be also capable of helping in the PN’s humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.

He expects the ships to be in service within three to four years.

Earlier, Mercado said representatives of the PN have visited and conducted post-qualification inspections on South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), one of the proponents in the country’s missile-capable frigate project.

HHI was one of the six foreign shipbuilders who participated in the project when it formally opened for bidding sometimes in 2014. It is based in Ulsan, South Korea

He added that post-qualification inspection on HHI is “very favorable” and said PN representatives focused on the proponent’s capability to meet the project’s “technical proposals and technical requirements”.

Post-qualification inspections took place some three weeks ago, Mercado added.

http://www.update.ph/2016/06/philippines-urgently-needs-multi-role-warships/6853

 

[bobsm]

South China Sea arbitration to have negative impact on international rule of law: experts
By Pei Guangjiang, Hu Zexi and Xu Liqun (People's Daily) 10:16, June 30, 2016

Some 30 international law experts gathered at Hague on Sunday for a seminar in which many have voiced their doubts and concerns over the negative impact that the South China Sea arbitration will bring to the rule of law at the international level.

Hu Dekun, dean of Wuhan University's China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, told the People’s Daily that experts focused on whether the tribunal’s interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) is impartial and comprehensive and if other valid interpretations from different perspectives are possible. Attending experts agreed that the tribunal’s interpretation cannot represent the common opinion of the international law community.

According to Yi Xianhe, chief researcher at the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University, experts attending the seminar hold that the arbitration violates the principles of various international laws.

The tribunal failed to correctly identify and verify the disputes between China and the Philippines and the formation of the court cannot represent major existing legal systems, Yi pointed out.

“The Philippines covers all the expense of the court and the process procedure has been going really fast,” Yi explained, adding that the verdict on the jurisdiction lacks a complete understanding of China’s views and necessary legal analysis.

“Some arbitrators even changed their stances without any explanation, which violates the principle of consistency,” Yi said, stressing that all these give the legal circle reasons to worry about the negative impact of the case.

Hu noted that the experts agreed on the following issues: First, the South China Sea arbitration is one-sided and the tribunal has no jurisdiction over territorial and maritime delimitation issues between China and the Philippines.

Moreover, unilaterally filed arbitration is illegal. The Philippines has deliberately ignored China’s statement of optional exception under Article 298 of the UNCLOS in 2006, breaking the consensus reached between both sides that to solve the maritime dispute through negotiation.

“This is a precedent that we cannot set,” Hu emphasized. “In addition, from the historical perspective, islands in the South China Sea have been part of China’s territory since ancient times. The arbitration submitted by the Philippines shows no respect to historical facts.”

The seminar was co-organized by Wuhan University's China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies and Leiden University's Grotius Center for International Legal Studies, which attracted international maritime law experts from Asia, Africa, the US and Europe.

Chinese experts attending the event are from Wuhan University, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Xiamen University and some other renowned institutions. Foreign experts include Sreenivasa Rao Pemmaraju, former chairman of the UN International Law Commission, Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and chief legal adviser in India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Koroma, former ICJ judge and Tom Zwart, law professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.


http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0630/c90000-9079717.html

 

[TaiShang]

China to hold military drills around Xisha islands
2016-07-04

China will hold military exercises this week in the South China Sea ahead of a UN arbitration ruling, with analysts saying the drills are meant for peacekeeping while showing that China is capable of defending its territorial sovereignty.

The Maritime Safety Administration of China on Sunday posted a notice on its official website, saying that military exercises in certain waters of the South China Sea will be held from Tuesday to July 11, and all civilian vessels will be prohibited from those areas.

The exercises will finish one day before the UN arbitration court announces its decision on the South China Sea case initiated by the Philippines against China.

"China gave coordinates for the drills that cover an area from the east of China's Hainan Island down to and including the Xisha Islands," Reuters reported Sunday.

The Hong Kong Economic Times reported Wednesday that warships from the three fleets of the Chinese navy were spotted at the Sanya military port, Hainan. The warships allegedly included the guided missile destroyer Shenyang under the North China Sea Fleet, the guided missile destroyer Ningbo and the missile frigate Chaozhou under the East China Sea Fleet.

An official from the defense ministry told the Global Times on Thursday that this is a routine exercise according to an annual plan.

"The timing of the exercises in the South China Sea is subtle, but it's not necessary to link it with the arbitration, because the exercise is a routine activity that was planned a long time ago," Liu Feng, an expert on Chinese maritime issues, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times the drill is a normal naval activity to methodically maintain regional stability, which is not connected with specific events or targeted at certain countries.

The situation in the South China Sea is sensitive. However, given the sluggish global economy, it is more essential to improve regional cooperation, instead of making trouble like the US and Japan, Liu said.

Currently, there are some unstable elements in the area, mainly because of persistent intervention from the US and the arbitration case initiated by the Philippines, which have overshadowed the security of the area, Wang said.

China will continue constructing on reefs in the area and improve naval power in order to maintain regional peace and show the outsiders that China has the capability to maintain its own sovereign security, Liu noted.

 

[cochine]

Vietnam opposes China’s military drill in Hoang Sa
Monday, 07/04/2016, 19:29
VOV.VN - Vietnam raises objection to China’s military drill in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh in response to reporters’ question on Vietnam’s reaction to China’s notice on conducting military drills from July 5- 11.

The military drills are transpiring in an area that covers Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago, he said, adding that China’s action once again violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago and runs counter to common perception of the two countries’ leaders, and violates international law including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Party in the East Sea (DOC).
Vietnam strongly opposes this action and demands that China respect the country’s sovereignty, act responsibly, and immediately end and not to conduct acts that threaten security and safety of navigation in the East Sea or escalate tension in the region.

VOV

 

[ahojunk]

Two more lighthouses from China on the way.

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Lighthouses at 2 reefs in Nansha to operate soon
CRI, June 7, 2016

It's been reported that lighthouses on two reefs in the South China Sea will be put into use at the end of the year.

Workers are stepping up the construction of the two lighthouses on Meiji and Yongshu reefs.

They were designed to provide navigation services such as positioning reference and navigation safety information to ships in the vicinity.

The lighthouse on Meiji Reef is over 60 meters high and is the tallest of all the structures on the Nansha Islands.

It has a range of over 20 nautical miles.

Meanwhile, a modern hospital will also be completed on Yongshu Reef later this month.

In April, China finished the construction of a lighthouse on Zhubi Reef, also in the South China Sea area.

 

[bobsm]

Taiwan to not compromise on sovereignty in South China Sea: official
2016/07/04 19:51:32

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Foreign Minister David Lee (李大維) said Monday that Taiwan has no way of knowing how an international court will rule in a dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea, but it will stand up for its sovereignty.

"Basically, we will insist on national sovereignty and will not compromise on it," Lee said at a legislative hearing.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Dutch city of The Hague will give a ruling on July 12 on the dispute between the two countries.

The Philippines has brought the case to the international court to undermine China's claims that it has sovereignty over South China Sea waters.

Manila has argued that the land formations China claims in the South China Sea are nothing more than reefs and therefore not entitled to 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones, which buttress Beijing's insistence that it has sovereignty over those waters.

China has repeatedly rejected the tribunal's jurisdiction over the case since it was filed, and its Maritime Safety Administration has announced that it will hold military exercises around the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea from July 5 to 11.

Though Taiwan is not a party to the case, its claims in the South China Sea are similar to China's, and Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba), which is controlled by Taiwan, was brought up in testimony during court hearings.

Should the court rule that Taiping Island is not an island under international law, it would also undercut some of Taiwan's claims.

Taiwan has no way of knowing what the ruling will say, but the government has prepared for various scenarios, and Taiwan will make clear its stance when the ruling is announced on July 12, Lee said.

Six countries -- Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei -- claim part or all of the South China Sea.


http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201607040026.aspx

 

[grey boy 2]

Nice pictures on (6/5/2016)

Very nice development, progressing day by day

 

[yusheng]

China to hold military drills around Xisha islands
2016-07-04

China will hold military exercises this week in the South China Sea.

in the red area, no other ship should be there

 

[ahojunk]

in the red area, no other ship should be there

View attachment 315940

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This is quite a large area and covers most of Xisha Islands.

 

[ahojunk]

Naval drill is fully within country's 'sovereign rights'
China Daily, July 7, 2016

China said its naval drill in the South China Sea is within its sovereign rights, and it urged the Philippines to come back to the negotiating table to solve its maritime disputes with China regardless of an arbitrary tribunal's ruling.

"The drill is a routine exercise the Chinese Navy carries out according to the annual plan. It is within China's sovereign rights and is not targeting any specific countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Wednesday.

Hong made the remarks after Vietnam claimed the drill was violating Vietnamese sovereignty.

The Ministry of National Defense confirmed on Tuesday that China would hold a drill in the area between Hainan Island and the Xisha Islands in the first 10 days of July and that military equipment including multiple ships and fixed-wing aircraft would participate.

The Defense Ministry said the drill "aims at improving the military's ability to respond to security threats and implement missions".

"The Xisha Islands are China's inherent territory. There is no dispute of this," Hong reiterated on Wednesday. He asked the parties concerned to "objectively view" the drill.

The drill takes place ahead of ruling expected on July 12 in the arbitration case the Philippines filed in 2013 against China over disputes in the South China Sea.

"China will not accept any country's claim or action based on the so-called ruling", Hong said, after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is reported to have said the Philippines is ready to talk to China if the ruling is in the Philippines' favor.

Hong reiterated that the arbitration case filed by the Aquino III administration is "illegal and invalid from the start", and he urged the new Philippine government to "abandon the old administration's wrong practice" and "come back to the proper path of talking and negotiating with China".

Xu Liping, a researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China is not concerned about whom the ruling will favor as it has already made clear that it will not accept or participate in, acknowledge or implement the ruling.

Xu suggested that the Philippines cool down and be low key about the ruling. He said he is "cautiously optimistic" that the Philippines will return to the consensus it reached with China, which is to deal with its maritime disputes with China through bilateral talks.

 

[cochine]

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Vietnam protests against Chinese drills in South China Sea
By Associated Press

Published: 03:24 GMT, 5 July 2016 | Updated: 03:24 GMT, 5 July 2016


HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has protested against a Chinese military drill in the contested South China Sea and has demanded that China stop the actions it says are a threat to security and maritime safety.

China announced that it will carry out the week-long military drills on and around the Paracel islands starting Tuesday. They will finish on the eve of a ruling by an international tribunal in a case filed by the Philippines challenging China's claims to most of the South China Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said in a statement posted late Monday on the ministry's website that China's moves seriously violate Vietnamese sovereignty and demanded that China stop the drills.

"Vietnam strongly protests and demanded that China respect Vietnam's sovereignty, behave responsibly, immediately stop and do not take actions that threaten security, maritime safety in the East Sea or escalate tension in this region," Binh said, referring to the South China Sea.

China's military exercise comes as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to issue a ruling on July 12 on a case brought by the Philippines in 2013 contesting China's claims in the South China Sea.

Vietnam, China and Taiwan all claim the Paracel islands which are occupied by China, and those three along with the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei claim all or parts of the Spratly islands, which are believed to rich in natural resources and occupy one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

China's massive land reclamation projects and increased militarization of the seven reefs and atolls in the Spratlys over the past two years have raised serious concerns in the region.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap...ese-drills-South-China-Sea.html#ixzz4DtoqPsjq

 

[cnleio]

Subi island 2016-06-05