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South China Sea Forum

Road network on China Yongshu Island.

Some part of the road is elevated, what's underneath?
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Chinese planes’ unannounced operations break int’l regulations
VNA SATURDAY, JANUARY 09, 2016


Hanoi (VNA) – Chinese airplanes’ unannounced operations in the Ho Chi Minh Flight Information Region (FIR) in the last few days violated the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)’s regulations and imperiled aviation safety in the region, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) Lai Xuan Thanh said.

From January 1 to early January 8, the Chinese side conducted 46 flights to the Ho Chi Minh FIR. The flights interfered with the air traffic service (ATS) routes L625, N892 (flight levels from FL135 to FL460), and route M771 (flight levels from FL250 to FL460), from the reporting point FONA to ALDAS.

The ICAO requires airplanes to report their positions when they fly to such points.

The CAAV said the area that the Chinese planes operated contains a great number of international air routes. These planes crossed many different routes without any notice about their flights or contact with the flight operating agency.

That seriously imperiled aviation safety in the region, the authority stressed.

Director Thanh said that on late January 8, the CAAV sent another document to the ICAO in which it reiterated that the Chinese planes infringed the ICAO regulations.

The CAAV requested the ICAO to take measures and solutions to prevent countries from doing activities that threaten regional and international aviation safety.

He added that his authority will also give notification to neighbouring countries so that they could coordinate and raise a voice against operations endangering aviation safety.

Earlier, the CAAV had submitted a document to the ICAO to report some planes operating in the Ho Chi Minh FIR without any contact with the air traffic control agency as internationally regulated.-VNA
 
So much warm feeling and love in the air on Chinese Yongshu island.
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Sweet!

Sansha to have full WIFI coverage this year
The file photo shows the Yongxing School in Sansha. [Photo/chinanews.com]
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Sansha city in Hainan province will start offering civil flight services and have full wifi coverage in 2016, its deputy mayor Feng Wenhai said Thursday.

Feng announced at his work report a series of measures for 2016 to improve the city's transportation and infrastructure to the local legislature.

Feng said this year the city will open civil aviation service at military-civilian airports like Yongxing airport, study the possibility of building new supply ships including the Sansha No 2, ensure all the inhabited islands and reefs to have practical piers, and start construction of simple wharfs for uninhabited islands and reefs.

"The city will complete construction of seabed optical cable and put it into use and provide access to WIFI to all inhabited islands and reefs. The city will also explore the possibility of involvement of social capital in its infrastructure construction," said Feng.

A detention house will be put into use in 2016 for the city and construction of courts and other judicial organs will be sped up. A standard court will be built in Yongxing Island with construction of a police ship beginning this year.

Sansha, which administers the island groups around Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha and the surrounding waters of the South China Sea, celebrated its third birthday in late July. Local authorities are still trying to boost the city's transportation infrastructure, and further improve its function as a center of government. A number of projects have also been launched to improve living conditions on Yongxing Island and the neighboring islets.
 
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Vietnam resolutely rejects Chinese spokesman’s viewpoints
VNA TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016 - 2

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam resolutely rejects the viewpoints in the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman’s statement on January 11 regarding Chinese planes’ flights to an illegally built airstrip on Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) Reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

Spokesman for the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Hai Binh made the remark on January 12, reiterating Vietnam’s indisputable sovereignty over Truong Sa as well as Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago.

In terms of China’s recent flights, as the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has repeatedly said, the Ho Chi Minh Flight Information Region’s management agency did not receive any notifications of flight plans from China as the country stated.

When a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi announced to a representative of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry on December 30, 2015, that Chinese civil planes would conduct flights to Fiery Cross Reef, Vietnam immediately objected to, and demanded China cancel that action, Binh noted.

China declaring the flights to Fiery Cross Reef its own “national aviation activities” is actually aimed at asserting the country’s unfounded sovereignty claim over Truong Sa archipelago, which seriously infringes Vietnam’s sovereignty over the chain of islands, he added.

The spokesman said China’s flights to Fiery Cross Reef, under any name, affected aviation security, safety and freedom over the East Sea and ran counter to international regulations, including the 1944 Chicago Convention (Convention on International Civil Aviation) and the annexes on rules of flights in international airspace, especially Annex 2 and 11.

“Once again, Vietnam demands China stop flights to Fiery Cross Reef, not conduct further actions that violate Vietnam’s sovereignty, and practically contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the region as well as security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea,” he stressed.-VNA
 
Here are some more pictures for Mr. dichoi to practice his Photoshop skills.
 

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Foreign experts criticise China’s actions in East Sea
VNA THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

Hanoi (VNA) – China’s recent test landing of planes on an airstrip illegally built on the Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) Reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago has sparked concerns in the region, and around the world.

Many countries have officially raised their voices against China’s action, while scholars also expressed their viewpoints on whether to take the East Sea dispute to an international court.

Theresa Fallon, a senior associate at the European Institute of Asian Studies (EIAS), said China’s action has escalated tensions in the East Sea, which is considered one of the world’s “hottest disputed areas”.

China’s putting the runway into service directly relates to coastal countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines, she said.

According to the expert, by using civilian planes, China is trying to persuade the world that the reclaimed islands are being built for civil purposes.

Fallon, however, also noted her doubts about China’s intentions when Beijing increased its management of take-off and landing procedures on the Chu Thap Reef via radio operators.

She forecast that Beijing would continue to reclaim islands in the East Sea, improve its communication system, set up long-range radars and build houses for Chinese staff there.

China may also deploy navy destroyers and military planes on these islands once aeroplane hangars and fuel storage centres have been completed.

Fallon called on regional countries to help attract the wider attention of the international community and promote international law enforcement, in order to curb China’s actions.

She also suggested the European Union send observers to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) to assist the settlement of disputes in the East Sea.

Eric David, Director of the Centre of International Law under the Free University of Brussels, described China’s construction of the airstrip on the Fiery Cross Reef as an act to claim its sovereignty.

Therefore, concerned nations should send diplomatic notes to oppose China and affirm that China has no right to build runways on the islands unilaterally assumed by China to belong to the country, he said.

He also suggested the countries ask China to address sovereignty-related issues by legal measures.

On January 2 and 6, China conducted test flights on an airstrip illegally built on the Chu Thap Reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

Responding to this act, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Spokesperson Le Hai Binh said the act seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Truong Sa archipelago and runs counter to the common perception reached by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders, the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of Vietnam – China issues at sea, and the spirit of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.

It has undermined peace and stability in the East Sea, eroded bilateral political trust and negatively impacted the neighbourliness and good sentiment between the two peoples, he added.

Vietnam resolutely protests against China’s pilot flights and asks the country to immediately end, and not repeat such an action, and take practical and specific steps towards maintaining peace, stability, security, and maritime and aviation safety and freedom in the East Sea, Binh said.-VNA
 
Vietnam asks China to pull drilling rig out of undelineated area
VNA TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2016

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has asked China not to conduct oil drilling and promptly pull its Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig out of the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin, Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh said on January 19.

In response to reporters’ queries about the operation of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 rig and Vietnam’s reaction, Binh said in the evening of January 16, 2016, the Haiyang Shiyou 981 moved to a position around 21.4 nautical miles to the east from the suggested equidistant boundary line between the two base lines of Vietnam and China.

On January 18, a representative from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry met a counterpart from the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi to raise Vietnam’s concern over China’s above-mentioned action, saying that it happened in the overlapping area between the continental shelves of Vietnam’s central region and China’s Hainan island which is yet to be delineated.

Vietnam reserves its legitimate rights and interests in the area in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and related international realties, he stated.-VNA
 
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