South China Sea Forum

[shuttler]

How can we be so kind to all these illegal immigrants?

 

[EastSea]

How can we be so kind to all these illegal immigrants?

Sea pirates don't have right to talk about our Islamds

 

[LetsGetRowdy]

Those Latin alphabets look so out of place. Vietnam should revert back to beautiful Chu Nom.

 

[ahfatzia]

I actually feel sorry for these people living in the smallest of the shoals, constantly facing the dangerous elements of nature. I also hope they are volunteered to move there and getting good incentives instead of ordered by the government.

 

[dunhill]

I actually feel sorry for these people living in the smallest of the shoals, constantly facing the dangerous elements of nature. I also hope they are volunteered to move there and getting good incentives instead of ordered by the government.

Actually, if China does not poke its noses around on these Islands then their lives are pretty SAVE. Don't you think?

 

[ahfatzia]

Actually, if China does not poke its noses around on these Islands then their lives are pretty SAVE. Don't you think?

How can I argue with a man of words.

 

[Alchemy]

It appears most appropriate that Spartly Islands should belong to Khánh Hoà province of vietnam or atleast status quo is maintained !!

Nice pics by the way

 

[Viet]

200-year-old manuscript on Spratly Islands found
TUOITRE Updated : Sat, August 27, 2011,10:57 AM (GMT+0700)

The manuscript documenting a funeral oration for soldiers based in Spratly Islands 200 years ago
Photo: Tuoitre


A Quang Ngai official has found a manuscript honoring the deceased soldiers based in the Spratly Islands, kept by a family in Tinh Long commune, Son Tinh district for the last 200 years.

The manuscript documented a funeral oration for deceased soldiers deployed by the Nguyen Dynasty to the Spratly Islands two centuries ago, he said.

88-year-old Diep Cong Thang, owner of the manuscript, said it was copied down from the original version by his father, a priest who passed away 60 years ago.

Nguyen Dang Vu, head of the provincial culture department said he had discovered four similar manuscripts on Ly Son island, but it was the first time this document was discovered in the mainland.

 

[ChinaToday]

With coloured banners, saluting soldiers and the national anthem playing loud and clear, China threw a birthday party yesterday for its newest city - on a tiny island in the very middle of the disputed South China Sea.
Sansha City is on Yongxing Island, less than a square mile in size and not big enough to accommodate its own airstrip - which extends into the sea either side.
It has a small permanent population of fishermen - the rest of its 1,000 residents are police, soldiers and government workers who work on the island in 'tours of duty'.

There are few 'civilian' buildings - a supermarket here, a hospital there - and fresh water has to be shipped in from China's southernmost province in a 13-hour supply mission.
But China is clearly proud of its new addition, and made a point that the world knew of its arrival.
Unlike most birthday parties, though, the neighbours were not invited.

That is because Sansha City represents China's expanding toehold in the world's most disputed waters, portions of which are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan

Beijing has created the city administration to oversee hundreds of thousands of square miles of water where it wants to strengthen its control.
The Philippines said it does not recognise the city or its jurisdiction, and Vietnam said China's actions violated international law. The U.S. has also voiced its concern over 'unilateral moves' in the South China Sea, where it says collective diplomacy is needed to resolve competing claims.
Yongxing Island, formerly Woody Island, is 220 miles southeast from China's tropical Hainan Island

Even the name of the island is disputed among its neighbours - Vietnam refers to it as Phu Lam Island.
China approved Sansha City to 'consolidate administration' over the Paracel island chain, of which Yongxing is a part, and the nearby Spratly island chain and the Macclesfield Bank - a large, completely submerged atoll that boasts rich fishing grounds that is also claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines.
Vietnam and China both claim the Paracels, and both would have to slug it out with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan to claim all or parts of the Spratlys.
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and its island groups, and its disputes occasionally erupt into open confrontation.

And it's not just for the good fishing. The sea is one of the world's busiest commercial shipping lanes, and sits on a potential mother load of oil and gas deposits.
Official broadcaster China Central Television aired Tuesday morning's formal establishment ceremony live from Sansha, with speeches from the new mayor and other officials.
Plaques for the Sansha Municipal Government and the Sansha Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China were unveiled on a white-columned government building.
Mayor Xiao Jie trumpeted Sansha's important role in protecting China's sovereignty. He said the designation of Sansha as a new city was 'a wise decision made by the party and the government of China to protect the sovereign rights of China, and to strengthen the protection and the development of natural resources'.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported earlier that Sansha's jurisdiction covers just five square miles of land, including other islands and atolls in the South China Sea around Yongxing.
Crucially, the jurisdiction also covers more than 750,000 square miles of surrounding waters.

Yongxing translates to 'eternal prosperity', and Sansha means 'three sandbanks' - an apparent reference to the Chinese names for the disputed island chains and atoll - West, South and Middle Banks (or Xisha, Nansha and Zhongsha).
A description from a former People's Liberation Army officer who was among the officials overseeing the island before Sansha was established paints a picture of a harsh and isolated post where officials rotate staffing for a month at a time.

Tan Xiankun, director of the office in Hainan overseeing Xisha and other South China Sea territories, said: 'The living conditions are pretty simple. It's very humid and hot, more than 30 degrees, and there's salt everywhere. There's no fresh water, except for what's shipped in and what's collected from rain water.'
Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said Manila had expressed its concern and registered a strong protest with Beijing over the decision to set up

He said: 'The Philippines does not recognise the Sansha City and the extent of its jurisdiction, and considers recent measures taken by China as unacceptable.
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Luong Thanh Nghi, said Vietnam had protested to the Chinese foreign ministry as well.
A statement said: 'China's establishment of the so-called Sansha City violated international law, seriously violating Vietnam sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.'
And U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: 'We remain concerned should there be any unilateral moves of this kind that would seem to prejudge an issue that we have said repeatedly can only be solved by negotiations, by dialogue and by a collaborative diplomatic process among all the claimants.'
As China was celebrating its new city, the International Crisis Group think tank released a report saying that the south China Sea was becoming an arena that could easily see armed conflict.
Its report stated: 'South East Asian claimants, with Vietnam and the Philippines in the forefront, are now more forcefully defending their claims - and enlisting outside allies - with considerable energy.'
The 'outside allies' is a clear reference to Washington's move to influence the Asian balance of power by supporting China's neighbours.
The report ominously concluded that 'tensions in the South China Sea


Read more: China celebrates 'birthday' of Sansha, a new city at the heart of disputed South China Sea (of course, the neighbours weren't invited) | Mail Online

So beautiful and happy birthday to our new city

 

[ahfatzia]

The Philippines said it does not recognise the city or its jurisdiction, and Vietnam said China's actions violated international law. The U.S. has also voiced its concern over 'unilateral moves' in the South China Sea, where it says collective diplomacy is needed to resolve competing claims.


Congratulations to the new city of Sansha and wish you peace and prosperous.

A good move by China to tell the crybabies above they can not always get what they want. There's no need for international recognitions to build your own city, I don't think.

 

[faithfulguy]

BEIJING (AP) — China's newest city is a tiny and remote island in the South China Sea, barely large enough to host a single airstrip. There is a post office, bank, supermarket and a hospital, but little else. Fresh water comes by freighter on a 13-hour journey from China's southernmost province.
Welcome to Sansha, China's expanding toehold in the world's most disputed waters, portions of which are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other neighbors. On Tuesday, as blustery island winds buffeted palm trees, a new mayor declared Sansha with a population of just 1,000 China's newest municipality.
Beijing has created the city administration to oversee not only the rugged outpost but hundreds of thousands of square kilometers (miles) of water, aiming to strengthen its control over disputed — and potentially oil-rich — islands.
A spokesman for the Philippines Foreign Ministry said Manila did not recognize the city or its jurisdiction. Vietnam said China's actions violated international law.
The city administration is on tiny Yongxing island, 350 kilometers (220 miles) southeast from China's tropical Hainan Island. The Cabinet approved Sansha last month to "consolidate administration" over the Paracel and Spratly island chains and the Macclesfield Bank, a large, completely submerged atoll that boasts rich fishing grounds that is also claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines.
Vietnam and China both claim the Paracels, of which Yongxing, little more than half the size of Manhattan's Central Park, is part. The two countries along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim all or parts of the Spratlys.
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and its island groups, and its disputes occasionally erupt into open confrontation. The islands, many of them occupied by garrisons from the various claimants, sit amid some of the world's busiest commercial sea lanes, along with rich fishing grounds and potential oil and gas deposits. China has approved the formal establishment of a military garrison for Sansha, though specific details have yet to be released.
Official broadcaster China Central Television aired Tuesday morning's formal establishment ceremony live from Sansha, with speeches from the city's new mayor and other officials.
The Chinese flag was raised and national anthem played before plaques for the Sansha Municipal Government and the Sansha Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China were unveiled on a white-columned government building.
Mayor Xiao Jie trumpeted Sansha's important role in protecting China's sovereignty. He said the designation of Sansha as a new city was "a wise decision made by the party and the government of China to protect the sovereign rights of China, and to strengthen the protection and the development of natural resources."
The official Xinhua News Agency reported earlier that Sansha's jurisdiction covers just 13 sq. kilometers (5 sq. miles) of land, including other islands and atolls in the South China Sea around Yongxing, but 2 million sq. kilometers (770,000 sq. miles) of surrounding waters.
Sansha means "three sandbanks" in Mandarin and appears to refer to the Chinese names for the disputed island chains and atoll, known in Chinese as the West, South and Middle Banks, or Xisha, Nansha and Zhongsha.
A description from a former People's Liberation Army officer who was among the officials overseeing the island before Sansha was established paints a picture of a harsh and isolated post where officials took turns staffing for a month at a time. Though, he said fishermen live there all year round.
"The living conditions are pretty simple," Tan Xiankun, director of the office in Hainan overseeing Xisha and other South China Sea territories, told The Associated Press in 2010. "It's very humid and hot, more than 30 degrees, and there's salt everywhere. There's no fresh water, except for what's shipped in and what's collected from rain water."
Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said Manila has expressed its concern and registered a strong protest with Beijing over the decision to set up a military garrison on Sansha.
"The Philippines does not recognize the Sansha city and the extent of its jurisdiction and considers recent measures taken by China as unacceptable," Hernandez told a news conference.
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said in a statement that Vietnam had protested to the Chinese foreign ministry.
"China's establishment of the so-called 'Sansha City' ... violated international law, seriously violating Vietnam sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes," Nghi said.
A report released Tuesday by the International Crisis Group think tank said that although China's large claim to the South China Sea and its assertive approach has rattled other claimants, Beijing is "not stoking tensions on its own."
"South East Asian claimants, with Vietnam and the Philippines in the forefront, are now more forcefully defending their claims — and enlisting outside allies — with considerable energy," it said, a reference to Washington's move to influence the Asian balance of power by supporting China's neighbors.
The report also warned that the risk of escalation was high and urged claimants to find ways to jointly manage energy resources and fishing areas while also agreeing on a mechanism for handling incidents.
"In the absence of such a mechanism, tensions in the South China Sea could all too easily be driven to irreversible levels," it said.



China dubs tiny island new city in sea claim bid - Yahoo! News

 

[Battle of Bach Dang River]

China’s establishment of the so-called Sansha city is worthless
15:38 | 24/07/2012

VGP - Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi has stated that China’s establishment of the so-called Sansha city seriously violated international law, and Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly), and is worthless.

China’s Central Military Commission on July 19 approved the formation and deployment of a military garrison command of the so-called Sansha in the Phu Lam Island in the Paracel. On July 21, the Chinese side held the election of deputies of the first People’s Congress of the so-called Sansha.

On July 24, the Vietnamese spokesman said China’s above-mentioned activities seriously violated international laws and Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagoes of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, and are worthless.

China’s activities run counter to the consensus reached by high-ranking leaders of the two countries, violate the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Vietnam and China signed in October 2011, go against the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) signed in 2002 by the ASEAN and China, and make the East Sea situations more complicated.

Vietnam resolutely opposes the above-mentioned activities of China, and demands China respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, and immediately stop and cancel the wrongful activities, making practical contribution to developing the Vietnam-China friendship and cooperation as well as maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 24sent a dispatch of protest to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the same day, Chairman of Da Nang People’s Committee Van Huu Chien and Chairman of Khanh Hoa People’s Committee Nguyen Chien Thang issued statements on the issue.

The statements say that authorities and people of Da Nang City and Khanh Hoa Province deeply concerned and dissatisfied at the Chinese Central Military Commission’s official decision to form a garrison command of the so-called Sansha city on July 19 and China’s organisation of the election of the first Municipal People’s Congress of the so-called Sansha city on July 21, they said.

Da Nang city and Khanh Hoa Province strongly oppose and request China immediately stop activities violating international law and Vietnam’s law, blocking joint efforts to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea and damaging the two peoples’ friendship

VGP News | China

 

[beijingwalker]

founding ceremony of Sansha city

 

[faithfulguy]

China’s establishment of the so-called Sansha city is worthless
15:38 | 24/07/2012

VGP - Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi has stated that China’s establishment of the so-called Sansha city seriously violated international law, and Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly), and is worthless.

China’s Central Military Commission on July 19 approved the formation and deployment of a military garrison command of the so-called Sansha in the Phu Lam Island in the Paracel. On July 21, the Chinese side held the election of deputies of the first People’s Congress of the so-called Sansha.

On July 24, the Vietnamese spokesman said China’s above-mentioned activities seriously violated international laws and Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagoes of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, and are worthless.

China’s activities run counter to the consensus reached by high-ranking leaders of the two countries, violate the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Vietnam and China signed in October 2011, go against the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) signed in 2002 by the ASEAN and China, and make the East Sea situations more complicated.

Vietnam resolutely opposes the above-mentioned activities of China, and demands China respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, and immediately stop and cancel the wrongful activities, making practical contribution to developing the Vietnam-China friendship and cooperation as well as maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 24sent a dispatch of protest to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the same day, Chairman of Da Nang People’s Committee Van Huu Chien and Chairman of Khanh Hoa People’s Committee Nguyen Chien Thang issued statements on the issue.

The statements say that authorities and people of Da Nang City and Khanh Hoa Province deeply concerned and dissatisfied at the Chinese Central Military Commission’s official decision to form a garrison command of the so-called Sansha city on July 19 and China’s organisation of the election of the first Municipal People’s Congress of the so-called Sansha city on July 21, they said.

Da Nang city and Khanh Hoa Province strongly oppose and request China immediately stop activities violating international law and Vietnam’s law, blocking joint efforts to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea and damaging the two peoples’ friendship

VGP News | China

I posted something from AP. All your have in response is a mouth piece article of the Vietcong government. Are all you Vietnamese here working for the government of Vietnam? Its ok if you are. This is common in communist countries.

 

[Battle of Bach Dang River]

Vietnam, Philippines slam China's Sea garrison plan
By Tran Thi Minh Ha (AFP) – 22 hours ago

HANOI — Vietnam and the Philippines on Tuesday lashed out at China's moves to establish a military garrison in the South China Sea, amid escalating tensions in the disputed waters.
Hanoi filed a formal protest with Beijing against the plan outlined by China this week to station troops in Sansha in the disputed Paracel Islands, saying it "violates international law".
Manila, which is involved in a dispute over another archipelago, the Spratly Islands, also weighed into the row, summoning the Chinese ambassador to lodge a complaint against the garrison announcement.
An intensifying spat over the South China Sea -- the site of key shipping routes and thought to have vast oil and gas reserves -- has seen a barrage of diplomatic moves between the countries with competing territorial claims.
Taiwan, one of several claimants to portions of the Spratly chain, plans to boost firepower at its base on that archipelago's biggest island Taiping from next month, Taipei's coastguard said on Tuesday.
Longer-range artillery and mortars are to be added to existing weaponry at the site, in a move that could further stoke tensions in the region.
China says it owns much of the South China Sea, while Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia each claim portions.
The disputes have become particularly acrimonious in recent weeks, with Vietnam and the Philippines criticising what they call Chinese encroachment.
Beijing's garrison plan "violates international law, seriously violates Vietnam's sovereignty... and is invalid," Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi told AFP.
China attracted Hanoi's ire -- and sparked a series of rare protests in the Vietnamese capital -- when it last month designated Sansha as its administrative centre for the Paracels and the Spratly Islands.
The state-backed China National Offshore Oil Corporation also announced it was welcoming bids to explore oil blocks in the disputed waters, a week after Vietnam adopted a law placing the Spratlys under its sovereignty.
Nghi told AFP Tuesday that China must revoke its "wrongdoings" and urged "friendly and cooperative" relations in order to "maintain peace and stability" in the South China Sea.
China and South Vietnam once administered different parts of the Paracels but after a brief conflict in 1974 Beijing took control of the entire group of islands. Vietnam still holds several of the larger Spratlys.
A July 13 meeting of the Association of Southeast Nations broke up without a joint statement for the first time in 45 years because members could not agree on how to refer to China's behaviour in the disputed waters.
The countries are drafting a "code of conduct" to try to prevent flare-ups in the area.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved