South China Sea Forum

[Malaya]

Loud protests in US cities hit China’s ‘aggression’
By Mandy Chavez, Vivian Zalvidea Araullo
INQUIRER.net US Bureau
Thursday, July 25th, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO–Some 500 members of the Filipino and Vietnamese American communities staged a protest rally in front of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).

Seven Filipino World War 2 veterans chained themselves to the entrance of the consulate. No arrests were made.

A large contingent of Vietnamese protesters chanted continuously, demanding that China get out of Vietnam and the Philippines. Vietnamese war veterans ripped and trampled on the Chinese flags.

This was one of the biggest joint rallies by communities from the two Asean neighbors ever since Chinese expansionism in Southeast Asia became the geopolitical issue that it is now.

“They are here to defend the Philippines’ and Vietnam’s sovereignty against Chinese aggression,” said Rudy Asercion, commissioner of the Veterans War Memorial Commission. The rally dispersed peacefully.

Filipinos in major cities in the US and other countries gathered in front of Chinese embassies and consulates to rally against “Chinese aggression in the West Philippine seas.”

Vietnamese protesters joined Filipinos in San Francisco protest against “China’s aggression.” PHOTO/Mandy Chavez

he US Pinoys for Good Governance (USPGG), organized the protests. The group strongly supported the candidacy of President Benigno Aquino III in 2010. The protests marked one year after China created the Sansha Prefecture, which administers several island groups in the disputed South China Sea.

In New York City, Filipino activists demonstrated in front of the United Nations headquarters to denounce China’s “aggression and continued occupation” of Philippine territory.

“We are here at the United Nations so that they will declare that China has no basis in international Law,” said USPGG president Loida Nicolas Lewis. Protesters came as from as far away as Connecticut and Boston.

In Washington, DC, Celestino Almeda, 96, Filipino American WWII veteran held up a map with China’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone under the United Nation’s Convention of Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS) cut away from the West Philippine Sea and Vietnam Sea. The protest rally was held in front of the Embassy of China.

Likewise, Trinh Nguyen-Mau, co-chair of the Vietnamese Community of DC-Maryland-Virginia pointed out to the news media the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of Vietnam on the map with the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.

Celestino Almeda, 96-year-old WWII veteran, cuts out China’s economic zone out of West Philippine Sea and Vietnam Sea map. PHOTO/ Eric Lachica

 

[Malaya]

Filipinos tell China: Bad feng shui to take what isn't yours
BY PATERNO ESMAQUEL II

GLOBAL PROTEST.' Hundreds of protesters troop to the Chinese consulate to denounce Beijing's 'bullying' over the West Philippine Sea.

MANILA, Philippines – Marimi de la Fuente quietly held up a homemade poster Wednesday, July 24, as groups swelled in front of the Chinese consulate in Makati City to protest China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

“Bad feng shui to take what isn’t yours,” her poster said.

De la Fuente wasn't among the groups that organized the rally, but she came anyway to protest “Chinese aggression and their imperialism.” (Watch Rappler's video report below.)

She joined hundreds who trooped to the World Center, which houses the Chinese consulate, at noon on Wednesday.

The newly formed West Philippine Sea Coalition led the protest, which stretched until past 1 pm.

De la Fuente said: “I have nothing against the Chinese people. I have everything against the Chinese government. They’re bullying our government. That’s why I’m here. I want them to know that they cannot bully the Filipino people.”

BAD LUCK. Marimi de la Fuente says China's territorial incursion is 'bad feng shui.' Photo by Rappler/Paterno Esmaquel II

The rally came as the Philippines and China engaged in a word war over their territorial dispute.

The Philippine government on Wednesday disowned the protest. "No, we do not have a hand on this," presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

In an apparent reaction to the rally, the Chinese consulate on Wednesday closed its visa section "for security reasons."

Like Jericho’s walls

Singing the Philippine national anthem twice, protesters considered the rally a show of patriotism.

FOR BEIJING. Protesters blow their horns to reenact the fall of Jericho

Several times during the two-hour event, a Christian group also blew horns to reenact the biblical story of the fall of Jericho.

In the Bible, the Israelites conquered Jericho after priests marched for 6 days and, on the 7th day, blew their horns. Jericho’s walls collapsed – which protesters also want to happen to China in its territorial row with the Philippines.

Wearing a collarless shirt, former Sen Rene Saguisag said he attended the rally as an “ordinary citizen” to support the movement against China’s claims.

He said it’s time the Philippines put its foot down, after China’s incursions in the Ayungin and Scarborough Shoals.

'IT'S OURS.' One of the protest leaders, former National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, shows maps to disprove China's territorial claims.

“We have to take a stand, dahil 'yung Ayungin, Scarborough, pinipitik na lang tayo eh. It’s our own self interest. Hindi sa Kano, hindi sa Intsik, hindi sa Hapon, kundi kung anong ikabubuti ng Pilipino, dahil ayoko na paglaki ng mga apo ko, problema pa rin ito,” Saguisag said.

(We have to take a stand, because in Ayungin and Scarborough, China is picking on us. It’s our own self-interest. Not for the Americans, not for the Chinese, not for the Japanese, but for Filipinos, because I don’t want my grandchildren to grow up with this problem unresolved.)

War? So what?

Saguisag deflected concerns that the protest could worsen the rift between Manila and Beijing.

POLICE BARRICADE. Policemen block protesters from going near the building that houses the Chinese consulate.

“Kaysa naman pipi tayo na hindi natin pinapaano ang ano natin. Eh ano kung lumala? Giyera sa Tsina? Ang ikinakatakot ko pag nagkagiyera sa Tsina, baka manalo tayo eh,” the former senator said.

(That’s better than keeping quiet about this. So what if it worsens? War with China? My fear is that if we’re caught in a war with China, we could even win.)

He said the rally will make China “pay a little attention. This will be noticed, I’m sure.”

Organizers said similar rallies were scheduled in other countries, such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.

RALLY ORGANIZERS. The West Philippine Sea Coalition urges Filipinos to protest against China's claims through other means.

One of the protest leaders, former Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan III, said Filipinos should use social media and other means to protest against China.

“We’re asking Filipinos to take leadership wherever they are,” Alunan said. – Rappler.com

Filipinos tell China: Bad feng shui to take what isn't yours

 

[Malaya]

Protests In The Philippines Over China's Claims On Scarborough Shoal Shut Down Chinese Visa Office
By Michelle FlorCruz
on July 25 2013

China is continuing to stake its claim on various areas off its mainland, upsetting several of its neighboring Asian countries, including Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. Now, protests in the Philippines against China’s claims over disputed maritime territory and the Scarborough Shoal, known to the Chinese as Huangyan Island, have escalated, prompting China to close its visa offices in Manila over safety concerns.

Hundreds of Filipinos gathered outside the visa offices on the one-year anniversary of Beijing’s declaration of the new Sansha prefecture-level city in the Paracel Islands to oversee its other claims in the South China Sea. Among the protesters was Rafael Alunan, a Filipino businessman who wanted to ensure that the protests were not against the people but rather “against your government’s policy of home invasion in our exclusive economic zone” and intended for the demonstration to be peaceful. Still, Alunan’s words had some bite. “We have a long history of resistance, and you are well advised that Filipinos get angry badly,” he told reporters from the South China Morning Post.

The group of roughly 500 protesters gathered outside singing traditional nationalist songs, holding picket signs with statements like “China, get out of our waters” while yelling about the country’s “gunboat diplomacy” and other similar sentiments, even garnering support from Filipino political figures. In attendance were former congresswoman Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, former congressman and chair to the House defense committee Rolio Golez, and Senator Rene Saguisag.

Also showing their support were a small group of Vietnamese, who chose to join the rally because state restrictions on assemblies of people in their home nation are much tougher. “We Vietnamese like to stand beside you in this struggle against an aggressive China,” Ngo Van Kha, 24, from Hanoi, said. Besides China, Vietnam and the Philippines, three other governments are claiming territory in the South China Sea: Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. Though the islands seem to be clusters of barely inhabited land, the gas reserves and potential mineral deposits, as well as maritime shipping lanes, are valuable to all parties involved.

As China continues to be at the center of the disputes, Southeast Asian countries are finding alliances with each other. When Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Manila this weekend, maritime security and political cooperation in regards to the countries' respective disputes with China will likely be on the agenda. Japan is engaged in an ongoing tug-of-war over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands located in the East China Sea. In perhaps the most volatile situation regarding China and disputed territories, both nations have started flexing their military muscle around the disputed territory via ships and aircraft.

 

[Malaya]

 

[Malaya]

China's new '10-dash line map' eats into PHL territory; Manila protests
By MICHAELA DEL CALLARJuly 26, 2013

The Philippines has protested China's recent publication of a new "10-dash line" map that places sprawling offshore territories it claims within Beijing's "national boundaries," officials said Friday.

In a confidential June 7, 2013 note verbale handed to the Chinese Embassy in Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it "protests the reference to those dash lines as China's national boundaries."

The new Chinese map, which was first published last January by China's state mapping authority Sinomap Press, features 10-dash lines instead of the popularly known "nine" dashes to mark a huge swath of the South China Sea in a tongue-shaped encirclement as Chinese territory.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have been contesting China's massive claim of the territory.

Nine dashes in the new Chinese map are in the South China Sea and a tenth dash has been placed near Taiwan, apparently to signify that territory's status as a Chinese province, analysts said.

Reinforcing territorial claims

An analyst said the new map was another step by China to reinforce its territorial claims amid a series of territorial confrontations in recent years and the legal challenge posed by Manila against Beijing's claims before an international arbitration tribunal.

Professor Carl Thayer of the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy said "the significance of China's latest map of the South China Sea lies not in its ten-dash lines but the naming of numerous features in the South China Sea that had not been listed on previous maps."

"China appear to be laying the ground for claiming sovereignty of every feature, such as reefs, shoals as well as rocks, islets and islands," Thayer told GMA News Online by e-mail.

"Asian claimants should issue official statements reiterating their claims to sovereignty over features in the South China Sea. They should also state unequivocally that naming a feature on a map so recently will not be taken as evidence of sovereignty by any international court of legal tribunal," Thayer said.

"Maps, in international law, are only pieces of information. The key to sovereignty is to demonstrate long-standing continuous occupation and administration over features in the South China Sea," he added.

Strong objection

The DFA stated in its protest that it "strongly objects to the indication that the nine-dash lines are China's national boundaries in the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea."

The Philippine government has adopted the name West Philippine Sea to refer to parts of the South China Sea that are also being claimed by China.

Vietnam has also squared off with China in the contested region due to recent maritime confrontations. Many countries are threatened that the conflicts could suddenly turn violent, even by accident, and result in a major armed conflict in Asia.

China claims "indisputable sovereignty" over the entire waters, where undersea gas deposits have been discovered in several areas. China's claims overlaps with the offshore territories claimed by Asian neighbors surrounding the South China Sea.

UNCLOS

The Philippines has sought international arbitration and asked a tribunal formed under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and based in The Hague to declare China's massive territorial claim as illegal and invalid.

The DFA reiterated its position in the note verbale that China's claim "has no basis under international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS.”

UNCLOS is a 1982 accord by 163 countries, including the Philippines and China, that aims to govern the use of offshore areas and sets territorial limits of coastal states.

"Like other littoral states in the South China Sea, China is a state party to the UNCLOS and as such its maritime areas are only those which are established by UNCLOS. Maritime claims of China based on the nine-dash line are contrary to UNCLOS and invalid," the document said.

China's nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea, it added, "encroaches on the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Philippines" and in Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, site of a standoff last year between Chinese and Philippine ships.

The Philippines maintains that Scarborough lies within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as mandated by the UNCLOS.

The standoff temporarily ended in June last year when President Benigno S. Aquino III ordered the withdrawal of Philippine vessels in the area due to bad weather. China's ships stayed put and Chinese authorities set up barriers at the narrow mouth of the shoal to block non-Chinese fishermen from gaining entry, including Filipino fishermen.

American officials have warned that it was in the US national interest that the disputes are resolved peacefully and freedom of navigation is guaranteed in the contested waters. — KBK, GMA News

China's new '10-dash line map' eats into PHL territory; Manila protests | News | GMA News Online

WTF?

 

[Slavery]

Protest and cry all you want, nothing will stop us.

 

[rcrmj]

the very next day after the pathetic protests, the phinos went back for their usual maid jobs

 

[Zero_wing]

Racist much oh please this just the start! Please keep it up so alliance of free nations will finally put you in your place. With the Nazi Germany and The old Empire of Japan and Arrogant old Italy

 

[Slavery]

Racist much oh please this just the start! Please keep it up so alliance of free nations will finally put you in your place. With the Nazi Germany and The old Empire of Japan and Arrogant old Italy

When you get free from your American master, then lets talk. Pinoys are world renowned for their maids.

 

[Zero_wing]

When you get free from your American master, then lets talk. Pinoys are world renowned for their maids.

Again racist b.s which is noting hell only you imperialist chekwas believe that! while studies and statistics and common sense are simply not in your side just like your claims! to a sea and since you love that i will do the same: Wow this coming from the largest producres of fakes and dangerous products and the world main source of prostitutes hahahaha. Sure when you have brain and learn to some hygiene will talk but will stick to protest see who do you like that! Again blame the American? again is that the best you can do?hahahaha losers Cut the b.s only an idiot would say that! and point proven! This is the result of your arrogance you facing India, Japan, Us ,Vietnam and Yes the US so again its just like world war 2 please read some history i mean real history not the b.s issue you were given at your brainwashing facilities you call schools.

 

[gpit]

Looks like a lot of clowns jumping up and down these days….


Chinese civilization has grown for thousands of years among protests, and even invasion(!) by surrounding “barbarians”. It only becomes even greater and shinier.

 

[EastSea]

Looks like a lot of clowns jumping up and down these days….


Chinese civilization has grown for thousands of years among protests, and even invasion(!) by surrounding “barbarians”. It only becomes even greater and shinier.

Chinese civilization is that "bad feng hui to take what is'nt your".

 

[longyi]

Fish the real hazard in South China Seas
By Lucio Blanco Pitlo III



The hydrocarbon potential of the South China Sea (SCS) has become a source of tension between the littoral states of the region and, to a certain extent, a number of outside actors. However, the SCS's significance to global oil and gas supplies is overhyped. Instead, it is the region's fisheries rather than fossil fuels that have the potential to ignite a regional conflict.

Fish not fuel

Put simply, speculation that the SCS constitutes a "second Persian Gulf" lacks substance. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the region's offshore energy resources - at just over 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas - are comparable to European supplies.

Contrary to popular belief, most of SCS's oil and gas resources are in non-disputed territory, closer to the shores of coastal states. Factors such as technological challenges, inadequate seismic studies, plus huge costs and political risks also place serious limits on deep-water drilling farther into the SCS.

But while the value of oil and gas resources in the SCS remains the subject of debate, the potential value of its fishery and aquaculture resources is not in doubt. Currently, the SCS accounts for one-tenth of the world's global fisheries catch, and plays host to a multi-billion dollar fishing industry. Fish protein accounts for more than 22% of the average Asian diet and growing incomes across Asia will inevitably raise demand.

Initially, fishing across much of the South China Sea was not even a matter of geopolitical concern. For decades, fishermen were oblivious to maritime boundaries and international maritime laws, with littoral states often turning a blind eye to their activities.

This has changed in recent years. Dwindling fisheries around coastal areas and long range commercial fishing have pushed the fishing frontier farther into the disputed waters of the SCS. As a result, fishing has now become a politically sensitive and emotionally charged national security issue for claimant countries.

The politics of fish

After years of relative state neglect, fishermen across the region are now receiving increased government and public support. A nascent fishing lobby is emerging in several countries advocating better state assistance and support for fishermen encroaching into territorial waters.

However, the growing securitization of the SCS' maritime and territorial disputes puts the fishermen of the region in a precarious position. No longer are they innocent actors making a livelihood: increasingly they are viewed as agents of their home governments and pawns in the maritime policies of their respective states.

This viewpoint is not entirely unjustified given the significant trend in some countries - most notably China - that has seen marked increase in coordination and physical support between fishermen and maritime authorities.

For instance, in April 2012, Chinese fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal, about to be apprehended for illegal fishing, were able to radio Chinese Maritime Surveillance (CMS) ships to intercede on their behalf. The fishermen were caught capturing endangered, protected marine species, including giant clams; however, the intervention by the CMS effectively prevented their arrest by the Philippine maritime authorities.

China has also increased its SCS patrols significantly in the last decade - going from 477 in 2005 to 1,235 in 2009. Though the assertion of state presence worked to the fishermen's advantage in this case, in the long-run such precedents are detrimental to the security of fishing industries in regional states, and those who depend on them.

As distinctions between private economic interests and geopolitical objectives grow blurred, private economic activities become politically tainted. Relatively "neutral" projects, such as constructing shelters for protection during typhoons, are now seen with suspicion and alarm: previous experience has shown that such shelters can eventually turn into military bases or be used for dual purposes.

A case in point was the Chinese occupation of Mischief Reef, a feature in the Philippines' Kalayaan Island Group and within its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. Though in 1995 the project was allegedly for the construction of fishermen shelters, by 1998 it had evolved into a military garrison. Fishermen who enter contested waters are now seen as challenging a coastal state's sovereignty. Such intrusions provoke calls among claimants for stronger penalties for illegal fishing, making it difficult for governments to release foreign offenders for fear of domestic backlash.

The passing of domestic laws that formalize maritime claims in the SCS is also a worrying development. Since fishermen are known to migrate to neighboring areas where maritime law enforcement is weaker, this incentivizes aggrieved local fishermen to compel their government to take a tougher stance on the issue. What results is a competitive dynamic between disputants to build up their naval and coast guard assets, exacerbating tensions and contributing to further regional instability.

Overlapping EEZ claims and the squabble for resource access has already spurred a regional naval arms race, with China in the lead in constructing patrol, coastal defense, and warships, to be deployed over the next decade.

Spare the fishermen

This dynamic is unsustainable. Alongside the need to safeguard livelihoods, the migratory nature of living marine resources needs a collaborative joint strategy between littoral states if marine resources are to be managed sustainably. At present, this trans-boundary issue does not receive the attention it deserves in international maritime law, which grants "exclusive" territorial rights over a maritime area, contributing to a tragedy of the marine commons.

Agreements on fishing seasons, maximum catch limits, prohibition on the capture of certain marine species and protection from unilateral arrests are among the "neutral" issues that may facilitate dialogue without spilling over into geopolitics. The last thing individual fishermen need is to get caught in a political standoff, or become modern day soldiers of territorial expansion. This blurring between civilian and state interests leaves them vulnerable as legitimate targets of neighboring governments, in whose waters they used to fish long before such tensions surfaced.

Asia Times Online :: Fish the real hazard in South China Seas

 

[Reashot Xigwin]

Chinese civilization is that "bad feng hui to take what is'nt your".

That's the root of the problem lies, its a disputed territories. As in it could belong to China or whoever. I think the guy mean Bad Karma.

 

[Zero_wing]

Well china wants the wold system back if you have big military you rule all typical imperial bull those days have pass they dont want rules only their rules what bull