Philippine report spies more 'assertive, aggressive' China in West Philippine Sea

A more assertive and aggressive Chinese military presence has been monitored near the Philippine garrison on Ayungin Shoal, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). 

A confidential government report, obtained by TV5, indicates the "assertive and aggressive" stance of China could be part a renewed and possibly a more determined effort to remove Philippine military presence on Ayungin Shoal and from the whole Spratly Islands group. A dilapidated Philippine Navy Ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, was grounded on the shoal in 1999 and now serves as the barracks and command facility of Philippine Marines deployed there.

China had accused the Philippines of intentionally grounding the BRP Sierra Madre as part of what it claimed was an occupation strategy. Since then, China has made repeated demands that the ship and soldiers be removed. In 2013, Beijing offered to remove the BRP Sierra Madre at no cost to the Philippines.



Consistent demand 

Ayungin Shoal, internationally known as Second Thomas Shoal, is located 108 nautical miles from Palawan and is only 13 nautical miles southeast of Mischief Reef, where China has built a formidable garrison.

The confidential report states that China has been consistent with its demand that Manila remove the BRP Sierra Madre. It points out that in 2013, Beijing began stepping up the pressure.

On April 19, 2013, China sent a strongly worded communication demanding that the Philippine government remove the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal “but this time, they are also insinuating the removal and/or dismantling of all Philippine structures in the entire West Philippine Sea – citing the area as Chinese territory.”



“It must be noted that China has heightened its presence in the area as evidenced by the continuous sightings of Chinese Maritime Surveillance (CMS) and People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLAN) vessels immediately after it conveyed its intentions to the Philippine government,” the report stated.

The increased presence of Chinese patrols in the disputed territory is particularly worrisome for Manila as the report points out the vessels may block supply routes to starve out the Philippine garrison.

"Although it is expected that the presence of CMS and PLA Navy ships will be regularly sighted in the area, the positioning or encircling of the Philippine Navy vessel by the Chinese could be an indication that China might block Philippine troops of their much needed supply and thus force the deployed soldiers to eventually withdraw in the area,” the report noted.

Aerial Surveillance photos taken in August 2013 show a Chinese Coast Guard ship, with bow number 3164, anchored off Ayungin Shoal and in full view of the BRP Sierra Madre.

Other photos show the presence of Chinese naval warships, including a frigate, and Chinese Coast Guard ships anchored off Mischief Reef.

Last May 2013, the Philippine government report said a Chinese missile armed frigate, Janghu–V class with bow number 563, was stationed close to Ayungin Shoal.

China has also maintained two to three ships near the shoal for the whole of 2013 and sent aircraft to fly over the Philippine garrison on Ayungin Shoal.




No plan to withdraw 

According to the report, the Philippine Navy has made it clear it “has no plan of withdrawing/removing the ship from the shoal.”

The Chinese garrison on Mischief Reef is capable of sustaining and supporting naval patrols in the Spratlys for extended periods and PLA Navy ships are “rotationally deployed” there.

The Spratly Island Group is a cluster of small islands, reefs and shoal covering 150,000 square miles in the South China Sea. The Philippines, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei are claiming either in whole or in part as their territory.

China has built heavily fortified garrisons, complete with radar, helipads and piers, in several areas well inside the Philippine claimed territory.

Chinese media recently reported that the People’s Liberation Army had prepared an combat plan to “re – take” Pag–asa Island in the Kalayaan Island Group, which is part of Palawan.

Pag–asa Island is where the main Filipino community in the Kalayaan Island Group is located.

Chinese media reports added that the Chinese plan limits military activity to the Spratlys and that Beijing would not invade Philippine territories.

The Philippine government acknowledges the presence of the BRP Sierra Madre, although dilapidated, serves as deterrent to China. “The presence of the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal prevents China from controlling and ultimately taking back ownership,” the report said.

It went on to say that China is also sensitive to world opinion and if it forcibly asserts its sovereignty in the disputed areas, “it may negatively project them as invaders or predators...in the international community as it will violate the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.”

The Code of Conduct, signed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China in 2002, binds claimant countries to avoid any action that may worsen tensions over territorial disputes.



 Article Source: InterAksyon

China planning permanent structures on Bajo de Masinloc?

China has maintained a continued naval presence on Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, which is widely seen as a preparation for the establishment of a permanent structure well within Philippine territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). 

A confidential Philippine government report acknowledged that Beijing will use its growing military capability to assert its sovereignty and control in the disputed territories despite Manila’s assertions and continued diplomatic efforts to resolve the disputes.

Documents obtained by News5 showed that Chinese Coast Guard and Marine Surveillance vessels have been constantly present on the shoal as far back as April 2012.

Apart from the ships, it appears China has also been placing buoys as a “prelude” to the establishment of a permanent presence on the shoal. 

Bajo de Masinloc, the largest atoll in the West Philippine Sea, which China calls Huangyan Island, sits on an area believed to hold vast mineral, oil, and gas reserves. 

China's presence 

The Philippine government report of China’s continued naval presence comes after major developments involving the South China Sea disputes: China’s enforcement of a fisheries law and China state media reports that Beijing has readied a “detailed combat plan” to seize control of Pag–asa Island in the Kalayaan Island Group, located in the Philippine zone of the disputed Spratly islands.

“The Philippines is so arrogant as to announce in the New Year that it will increase its navy and air force deployment at Zhongye (Pag–Asa)  Island, a Chinese island that it has illegally occupied for years,” the Qianzhan report said, emphasizing further: “The battle is aimed at recovery of the island stolen by the Philippines from China.”

But the report assured that, “There will be no invasion into Filipino territories.”

Government documents showed that for whole 2013, China has maintained at least one ship in the Bajo de Masinloc/Scarborough Shoal area. The only times the Chinese ships withdrew from the area was in July and November due to bad weather “but returned a few days after.”

In April 2012, the Philippines intercepted eight Chinese fishing vessels on Bajo de Masinloc and seized large amounts of illegal collected corals, giant clams, and live sharks. China protested the seizures, insisting Bajo de Masinloc is within Chinese territory.

Manila strongly argued that Bajo de Masinloc is not part of the disputed territories wit China and that it is 124 nautical miles from the coast of Luzon – well within the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

Similar to Mischief Reef? 

Since the start of the standoff in April 2012, Chinese Maritime Surveillance and PLA Navy ships were present on Bajo de Masinloc. The government report stated the presence of the ships there is part of a China’s pattern to establish a permanent presence – similar to what they did in Mischief Reef.

“China has a history of occupying islands or territory that does not belong to her, just like the case of Mischief Reef. We should not discount the possibility that it will exert its full influence and capacity in order to occupy disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea and Scarborough Shoal as evidence by the prepositioning of naval frigates and destroyers,” the confidential government report stated.

Surveillance photos, taken in August 2013, show three Chinese coast guard vessels were seen at the shoal’s entrance. The photos also showed that China has placed a white buoy and built a concrete platform near the shoal’s entrance.

The Chinese Coast Guard vessels were identified by their hull numbers: BN 1127, BN 1117, and BN 3412.

“The sighting of buoys at Scarborough Shoal is seen as a prelude to occupation as patterned from the occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995,” the documents stated, adding that the Chinese ships allows them to respond “quickly to a contingency at Scarborough Shoal.”

The buoy and concrete platform are different from the 75 concrete blocks found in the area, which Manila had earlier claimed was placed by China. It was later found out the blocks were placed by the US since the area was once used as a gunnery range.

In the Mischief Reef case, the Philippine discovered buoys and concrete platforms placed by China but Beijing at that time insisted they wouldl just build shelters on stilts for its fishermen.

However, over the years, Beijing gradually built a massive garrison made up of four complexes with 13 multi–storey buildings that can house up to 50 soldiers. The Mischief Reef complex is also equipped with satellite communications and radar facilities, a windmill to provide power, helicopter landing pads, and docks for patrol ships.

The report likewise warned that China is expected to show “more assertive actions” should Manila confront them anew over Bajo de Masinloc.

According to the report, among the expected Chinese reponses to Manila are: a show of force to demonstrate effective control of Scarborough Shoal; deploy more maritime law enforcement ships to prevent the Philippines’ from patrolling the area and the construction / placement of more buoys around Scarborough Shoal.

Philippine Coast Guard has maintained patrols in the area, shadowing the Chinese ships.

The report concluded by stressing that “the situation at Scarborough Shoal requires the Philippines to remain vigilant and ready in any eventuality should tensions escalate between the two claimants.”

Bajo de Masinloc's importance to China

French geographer Francois-Xavier Bonnet, research associate of the Bangkok-based Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia, explains the importance of Bajo de Masinloc to China in his November 2012 paper titledGeopolitics of Scarborough Shoal. 

He says the shoal is part of a larger archipelago called Zhongsha Qundao, whose only features above sea level are the few rocks on Bajo de Masinloc. 

“The stakes are high... If China loses these rocks, it would not only lose the natural resources around the shoal (fishing grounds and the potential deposits of polymetallic nodules4) but also the possibility of claiming Zhongsha Qundao and, by consequence, the whole of the South China Sea,” says Bonnet. 

Article Source: InterAksyon

China preparing to seize Pag-asa Island

The Chinese Navy has drawn up a detailed plan to seize this year the Philippines’ Pag-asa Island in a battle that will be restricted in the South China Sea, according to a Chinese news network.

A report of business and strategy news platform Qianzhan (Prospects) in Mandarin was translated by English news site China Daily Mail and titled “Chinese troops will seize Pag-asa Island, which is called by China Zhongye, back from the Philippines in 2014.”

The report said the Philippines is so arrogant as to announce in the New Year that it will increase its navy and air force deployment at Pag-asa Island which is part of the disputed Spratly Islands.

“According to experts, the Chinese Navy has drawn a detailed combat plan to seize the island and the battle will be restricted within the South China Sea. The battle is aimed at recovery of the island stolen by the Philippines from China,” the report said.

The Philippines’ arrogance, the report said, is an intolerable insult to China.

“There will be no invasion into Filipino territories,” the report said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) declined to comment on the report.

“We don’t comment on news articles that have unnamed and unofficial sources,” said DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez.

The Department of National Defense would have to validate the report about China’s supposed plan to seize Pag-asa Island, defense department spokesman Peter Galvez said.

Military officials declined to comment, saying the DFA is the agency authorized to speak on the matter.

China’s plan to invade Pag-asa Island could be part of Beijing’s 20-year expansion plan for its navy to have total dominance of the disputed Spratlys archipelago, security documents showed.

The document also showed that China’s plan was conceived 14 years ago following Beijing’s illegal occupation of Panganiban (Mishchief) Reef, some 130 nautical miles off Hulugan Bay in mainland Palawan and only 97 nautical miles east of Pag-asa Island.

“China has four to five years left to complete the plan,” an informed security official said, adding that it is already an open secret among Spratly claimant countries – the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan – that China has established a forward naval station at Panganiban Reef.

International defense analyst Greg Polling of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, had warned two years ago that China has been rushing the construction of several warships specifically designed for its Spratlys naval operations.

Some of these warships that China has been building include hovercrafts capable of carrying one battalion of Marines and four tanks.

Several hovercraft units have already been completed and are just awaiting deployment after several sea trials.

China’s hovercraft project has reportedly solved the People Liberation Army’s problem of transporting warships directly into shallow waters surrounded by coral reefs, shoals and islets occupied by troops of other Spratly claimant countries.

Aside from Panganiban Reef, China has built another naval facility at Subi Reef where its transport ship has regularly been sighted. 

Article Source: The Philippine Star

US: Palawan may be target of Chinese navy

WASHINGTON – China may target Palawan for a military attack to punish the Philippines for challenging its maritime claims in the South China Sea, Richard Fisher Jr., a US think tank military affairs analyst, said.

He said the presence of the Chinese frigate Dongguan which ran aground last month near disputed Half Moon Shoal off Palawan, and the five or six Chinese ships that sailed to its aid were believed to be part of stepped-up efforts to enforce what Beijing calls its “Nine-dash Line” that outlines almost all of the South China Sea, which it claims as sovereign waters.

Fisher, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, was quoted extensively by Washington Times columnist Bill Gertz on Thursday.

Accompanying Gertz’s article was what he said was the first photo of Dongguan taken by a Filipino military photographer during a flight over the disputed Half Moon Shoal that both Beijing and Manila claim as their maritime territory. The shoal sits astride a key strategic waterway about 70 miles from the Philippine island province of Palawan.

Gertz quoted a Philippine official as saying the photo showed “the bully that ran aground.”

Fisher said the Dongguan recently was upgraded with YJ-83 anti-ship cruise missiles, which have a range of 155 miles. It also has a new stealthy, infrared-suppressing exhaust stack.

Philippine officials do not know why the Chinese warship sailed so close to Half Moon Shoal and ended up stuck in the sand, Gertz said. But some believe its presence is part of stepped-up efforts to enforce Beijing’s “Nine-dash Line.”

Another theory is that the Chinese sought to survey the region ahead of an expected Philippines-sponsored, oil-prospecting venture that will begin this year or early next year.

“The fact that several ships were in the vicinity of Half Moon Shoal able to render assistance to the Dongguan is a testament to the overall increased Chinese naval presence in this region, but also a testament to the (People’s Liberation Army’s) command and control capabilities,” Fisher said.

“While the grounding was a major embarrassment for China that provided a perhaps unintended military reinforcement to its diplomatic bullying at (a recent regional) summit, this incident also served to highlight the increasing strategic importance of Palawan,” he said.

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Jose Katigbak Star  | The Philippine Star | August 11,2012 | Article Link

Philippine Navy to drive off 20 Chinese vessels from Spratlys

Naval Forces West chief Commodore Rustom Peña said Thursday that Navy ships are on standby, ready to sail to the Spratly Islands to inform the Chinese fishing vessels in the area that they are within Philippine territory and that they should leave.

 

In a phone interview, Peña said the 20 Chinese fishing vessels were monitored to be around five nautical miles from Pagasa island or about 240 nautical miles from Puerto Princesa City which is the seat of government of Kalayaan town, Palawan.

 

“We will just investigate and then if situation warrants, we will advise them (20 Chinese fishing boats) that that’s our territory and they should leave," said Peña. 

 

The official said the Navy ships cannot presently sail to the location of the Chinese fishing boats because of rough seas. He said the Navy ships will sail out the West Philippine Sea as soon as the weather condition improves.

 

“We are monitoring them. They are not actually fishing, they are just seeking shelter…There were instances in the past where Vietnamese [vessels] also took shelter in the area because there are portions there that can [provide] cover for waves,” said Peña.

 

Peña added that two Chinese ships were also monitored at Mischief Reef, a Chinese-occupied area which is about 130 nautical miles from Puerto Princesa City.

 

Pagasa island is largest among the nine areas that are occupied by Filipino forces in the Spratly Islands. A number of civilians live in the Pagasa Island.

 

Believed to be rich in oil and minerals deposits, the Spratlys is being claimed in part or in whole by the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei.

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GMA News Online | July 26, 2012 | Article Link

Chinese fishing fleet closes in on Pag-asa Island

‘Mischief Reef being used as staging ground’

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—A fleet of 20 Chinese fishing vessels believed to be escorted by at least two naval frigates  of the People’s Liberation Army has been deployed around Pag-asa Island in a move likely to escalate tensions over disputed territories in the Spratly archipelago between the Philippines and China.

Highly placed sources in the Philippine military reported that at least 20 Chinese fishing vessels had congregated about 9 kilometers (5 nautical miles) from Pag-asa beginning late Tuesday.

The fishing vessels were accompanied by two naval frigates of China’s People’s Liberation Army, according to one source who asked not to be identified for lack of authority to speak on the matter.

Colonel Neil Estrella, spokesperson of the Western Command, confirmed the Chinese presence near Pag-asa but declined to give details. He said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) would address the latest development in the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

“We will let the DFA address that. But yes, Chinese vessels are there around the island,” Estrella told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone on Wednesday.

A source at the Naval Forces West based here said that at least four Philippine Navy and Coast Guard vessels were patrolling the Philippine-claimed territories in the Spratlys.

But like Estrella, the source declined to say how the Navy would respond to a Chinese intrusion into Philippine waters.

Pag-asa Island, which measures 32.7 hectares, is located 480 km off southwestern Palawan. 

The largest of five islands and islets in the Spratlys being claimed by the Philippines, Pag-asa has a 1.3-km airstrip used by the Philippine military to transport troops and supply.

Declared in the late 1970s as a municipality, Pag-asa has a census population of 150 and a kindergarten school for children of some 50 families residing there.

Staging ground

The Chinese presence was also confirmed by Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon of Kalayaan municipality, which includes Pag-asa.

A military source said the Armed Forces of the Philippines believed that the Chinese-occupied Mischief Reef was being used as the staging ground for the stepped-up presence of China inside Philippine territory.

China occupied Mischief Reef in 1995, amid protests from the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Beijing then said that it was constructing a shelter there for fishermen.

Recent photos taken by Philippine naval surveillance planes showed Mischief Reef had been turned into a highly fortified garrison, with gun embankments on elevated towers.

Bito-onon said that Filipino fishermen who had approached Mischief Reef recently by bartering sea turtles for Chinese goods reported that the Chinese had dredged portions of the reef ostensibly to allow larger ships into the lagoon within the reef system.

“That entire area measures around 9 by 6 km with a wide east to west clearance suitable for entry of large vessels,” he said.

Harvesting corals

Bito-onon, interviewed while in Puerto Princesa City, reported  “frequent sightings since last week of  the Chinese fishing party on the eastern side of the island.”

The mayor said it was unclear from the report he received yesterday from administrative personnel on the island  whether the fishing fleet was part of the armed fishing party dispatched by Beijing last week to the Paracels, an area disputed by China and Vietnam.

“We don’t know if they are accompanied by warships but for us, it appears to be a coral-gathering expedition by Chinese commercial fishers,” he said.

Bito-onon explained that Chinese fishers were frequently observed collecting large amounts of corals in the unprotected areas of the Philippines.

The corals, he said, were more valuable than fish “as they are sold in Hainan as some kind of raw material for the manufacture of a type of marine glue.”

Bito-onon said the Chinese were also developing Subi Reef near Pag-asa into another fortress. He said that the Chinese completed in May the construction on a half-submerged reef of a four-story building with a dome-shaped radar on its deck.

Recent aerial photos of Subi taken by the Western Command, copies of which were obtained by the Inquirer, showed a “landing ship” type vessel anchored in the inner portion of the reef.

Bito-onon said the Pag-asa residents did not feel physically threatened by the reported Chinese presence. He said he expected the vessels to depart after fishing and harvesting corals.

“Our staff have been observing their movements since last week. What we know is that the Chinese armed vessels were merely passing through on their way to Subi Reef. I don’t think they are staying put there,” he said.

Opposite side is Vietnam’s

Bito-onon, however, expressed concern about the “coral mining” activities. “They are there not primarily to fish. We think they are mainly engaged in gathering corals which is a more lucrative business in Hainan,” he said.

He explained that the corals were used by the Chinese as base ingredient for some type of marine glue used in shipbuilding. In the last two weeks, he said several Chinese boats had been gathering corals around the area.

Bito-onon also claimed that the Chinese vessels were congregating near Pag-asa “because on the opposite side are the Vietnamese in Southwest Cay and they have gun emplacements there.”

“They prefer to anchor near Pag-asa because they are not safe on the Vietnamese side of the passage where there are large cannons pointed toward the sea,” he added.

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Redempto D. Anda | Inquirer Southern Luzon | July 26, 2012 | Article Link

 

Philippines says no protest as Chinese ship leaves

MANILA - The Philippines said Sunday it would not lodge a diplomatic protest after China extricated a naval frigate from a disputed South China Sea shoal where it had been stranded for four days.

Last week's stranding of the ship on Half Moon shoal, which Manila calls Hasa Hasa, was likely an accident, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

"We don't believe that there were ill-intentions that accompanied the presence of that ship in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone)," del Rosario said.

"As far as filing a diplomatic protest is concerned, my stance is that we will probably not do that," he said.

The ship was reportedly on "routine patrol" when it got stranded Wednesday on the shoal, which sits just 60 nautical miles from the western Philippine island of Palawan, within the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

International law defines a country's exclusive economic zone as being up to 200-nautical-miles from its shores.

The Chinese embassy in Manila said the frigate was "refloated successfully" before daybreak Sunday, and del Rosario said he was informed it was already en route back to China.

"We wish its crew a safe voyage back to China," he said.

The shoal is part of the the Spratly Islands -- which the Chinese call Nansha -- a string of atolls and islands straddling vital shipping lanes in the South China Sea believed sitting atop vast mineral deposits.

Apart from the Philippines and China, the Spratlys are claimed in whole or in part by Taiwan and the other Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Overlapping claims to the islands have perennially caused tensions among the claimants, with the Philippines and Vietnam recently accusing China of increasingly becoming aggressive in staking its claims.

The dispute also marred an annual meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers held in Cambodia last week, where Manila's chief diplomat accused China of "duplicity" and intimidation.

The dispute divided the grouping, with host Cambodia siding with China, thus preventing them from issuing a customary joint statement that summarises achievements and concerns.

But in a marked turn-around of rhetoric Sunday, Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Chinese frigate apparently made a navigational mistake that caused it to run aground.

He said there appeared to be no signs that it was on a mission to intrude in a Philippine claimed area, noting the absence of structures on the shoal.

"It may have been human error. The CO (commanding officer) may have not seen the rocks," he said.

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Agence France-Presse/InterAksyon.Com | July 15, 2012 | Article Link

China frigate heads home, averts South China Sea standoff

(Reuters) - A Chinese frigate grounded in disputed waters close to the Philippines was refloated on Sunday and headed back home, averting a possible standoff with the Philippines navy amid rising tensions in the strategically key South China Sea.

The South China Sea has become Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint as Beijing's sovereignty claim over the huge area has set it against Vietnam and the Philippines as the three countries race to tap possibly huge oil reserves.

In all, six parties have rival claims to the waters, which were a central issue at an acrimonious ASEAN regional summit last week that ended with its members failing to agree on a concluding statement for the first time in 45 years.

On Friday, the Chinese navy said one of its vessels had run aground on Half Moon Shoal, about 90 nautical miles off the western Philippine island of Palawan, prompting Manila to send two of its vessels and reconnaissance aircraft to the area.

Beijing said its vessel had been on a routine patrol.

"At about 5 a.m. on July 15, the frigate which had run aground in waters near Half Moon Shoal successfully extricated itself with the help of a rescue team," China's defense ministry said in a statement.

"The bow has sustained light damage and everybody on board is safe. Its return to port is being organized. The incident caused no maritime pollution," the statement added, without providing further details.

The Philippines defense ministry confirmed the grounded vessel and about six other Chinese ships spotted in the area had left.

Manila says Half Moon Shoal falls well within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, as recognized by international law.

"The incident in Hasa-Hasa shoal makes us nervous," Rommel Banlaoii, executive director of Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, told Reuters, referring to Half Moon shoal in the Spratlys.

"I think what happened there was an accident, but we don't want such accident happening again because it could trigger something that all claimant states do not want to happen there."

"CREEPING" CHINA CONCERNS

Philippine defense and military officials say they are worried by China's "creeping" in disputed areas in the South China Sea, a violation of an informal code of conduct adopted in Cambodia in 2002.

The two countries have faced-off on a number of occasions in the disputed waters, and earlier in the year they were involved in a month-long standoff at Scarborough Shoal, about 500 km north of Half Moon Shoal.

Last year, the Philippines scrambled aircraft and ships to the Reed Bank area after Chinese navy ships threatened to ram a Philippine survey ship.

Beijing said last month it had begun "combat-ready" patrols in waters it said were under its control in the South China Sea, after saying it "vehemently opposed" a Vietnamese law asserting sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands.

The stakes have risen in the area as the U.S. military shifts its attention and resources back to Asia, emboldening its long-time ally the Philippines and former foe Vietnam to take a bolder stance against Beijing.

The United States has stressed it is neutral in the long-running maritime dispute, despite offering to help boost the Philippines' decrepit military forces. It says freedom of navigation is its main concern about a waterway that carries $5 trillion in trade -- half the world's shipping tonnage.

At last week's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting, Cambodia sided with China and prevented the 10-nation bloc from issuing a customary concluding statement that covers achievements and concerns -- this year, that primarily involved the South China Sea.

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Manuel Mogato/Ben Blanchard | Reuters | July 15, 2012 | Article Link

PAF plane spots Chinese frigate stuck on shoal

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines—A Philippine Air Force plane spotted Saturday afternoon the Chinese war frigate that ran aground on a coral reef at Half Moon Shoal in the Spratlys.

A report made by the pilot of the PAF Islander plane, the distressed ship was being rescued by around five Chinese vessels, according to a source at the AFP Western Command.

A Philippine Navy vessel was closing in on the area and ready to provide assistance but was staying at a safe distance while awaiting orders from the AFP, added the source.

Regional military spokesman Colonel Neil Anthony Estrella confirmed the presence of the stranded Chinese naval frigate in the disputed waters.

“During the aerial reconnaissance mission, they were able to confirm, based on photographs, that there is indeed a ship with bow number 560 aground at Half Moon Shoal,” he told Agence France-Presse.

He said five more vessels and a number of smaller boats were assisting the grounded ship.

A navy ship and a coast guard vessel had been dispatched to the area to monitor the Chinese operations, he added.

He stressed that the shoal was just 60 nautical miles from the western Philippine island of Palawan, well within the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, as recognized by international law.

Estrella said they were awaiting further orders from Malacañang “but already in a position to extend assistance to the Chinese frigate.”

Foreign Department spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a statement, “we need to find out what really happened with the Chinese frigate in our territory”.

He reiterated that the Philippines would provide assistance to move the ship if China requested it.

The Chinese government earlier confirmed that the ship was on “routine patrol” when it became stranded near Half Moon Shoal in the Spratly Islands on Wednesday evening.

The stranding highlights the territorial conflicts between the two countries which marred the ASEAN Regional Forum in Cambodia this week.

At the forum, the Philippines’ foreign minister denounced Chinese “duplicity” and “intimidation” in the South China Sea and conflicting positions on the issue prevented the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from issuing its customary joint statement.

The Philippines and China have been in a standoff since Chinese ships blocked the Philippine navy from arresting Chinese fishermen at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in April.

The Philippines says the shoal is also within its EEZ but China claims the entire South China Sea as its historical territory, even up to the coasts of other Southeast Asian countries. 

The sea is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.

In Manila, a group of Filipino-Americans on Saturday called for a boycott of Chinese products and a day of prayer to rally support against China’s actions.

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Redempto Anda |Agence France-Presse/ Inquirer Southern Luzon |

 July 14, 2012| Article Link

Philippine navy ready to assist grounded Chinese frigate

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine naval forces began readying vessels to assist the Chinese warship that ran aground on a reef in disputed waters of the Philippine Sea (South China Sea) off Palawan, officials said Saturday.

Even though China has not made any requests for help, “our assets are prepared in case there is a distress call. We will try to provide assistance. That will be our task there,” said Commodore Rustom Peña, commander of the military’s Naval Forces West.

The Department of National Defense, on the other hand, declined to comment on whether the presence of the Chinese frigate within what the Philippines considers its territory could be considered an intrusion.

“We cannot comment on that as we are still investigating and gathering details,” defense department spokesperson Peter Paul Galvez said. “As of this time, we are still awaiting reports. I believe bad weather is hampering our monitoring,” he added.

A military official who did not want to be identified by name because of the sensitivity of the matter said “some consider it innocent passage,” possibly belying reports that the Chinese warship had been patrolling Philippine-claimed waters.

But the Chinese Embassy in Manila said Friday the Chinese Navy vessel was doing “routine patrol mission” when it ran aground on Half Moon Shoal, which the Philippines calls “Hasa-Hasa Shoal.”

Peña said the Navy still had no visual confirmation of the grounded frigate, and that it had sent assets to the area for that purpose.

The Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald, which broke the story, said the grounded People’s Liberation Army’s naval ship No. 560 was a Jianghu-class frigate “that has in the past been involved in aggressively discouraging Filipino fishing boats from the area.”

The shoal, according to military sources, is located about 111 kilometers (60 nautical miles) from the municipality of Rizal on the main island of Palawan province, within the country’s 370-km (200-nautical-mile) exclusive economic zone.

China, however, considers it part of its territory in the Nansha Islands, its name for the Spratly group of islands, which it claims wholly.

The Spratlys, a reputedly oil-rich chain of tiny islands and reefs, is located near Palawan and claimed wholly or in part by the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.

The Philippines, supported by its strongest defense ally, the United States, has sought a multilateral solution to end the territorial disputes, but China wants to deal with individual countries separately.

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DJ Yap |Philippine Daily Inquirer | July 14, 2012 | Article Link

Palace monitoring ‘rescue’ of Chinese ship stuck at Hasahasa Shoal

The Philippines will be monitoring the “rescue” of a Chinese warship stuck at Half Moon Shoal off Palawan, and may even render assistance if needed, Malacañang said Saturday.

But deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte declined to comment further on the matter, saying the element of a territorial “dispute” is still there.

“We will be monitoring that... the progress of the rescue.... If assistance is required we are duty-bound to help them,” she said on government-run dzRB radio.

She added the assistance to the Chinese warship will be made if required, regardless of whether there is a “dispute or no dispute.”

But for now, she noted the Chinese Embassy in Manila already said a rescue on their side is underway.

As for the diplomatic side of the incident, she said the Palace will let the Department of Foreign Affairs take the lead on the matter.

“The rest is something that will fall to the doorstep of the DFA,” she said.

Asked if the Philippines will protest the presence of the Chinese warship in an area the Philippines claimed as its territory, she said the matter is being “dealt with.”

“That is something that will have to be considered by the DFA. It is being dealt with at the moment. (But) there are things we are not at liberty to share,” she said.

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GMA News Online | July 14, 2012 | Article Link

Chinese gunboat stuck in shoal near Palawan

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of National Defense (DND) on Friday confirmed that a Chinese warship has run aground on a shoal located well within Philippine waters, about 60 nautical miles from Rizal, Palawan.

The DND said the ship that ran aground was a Jianghu Class, a Chinese guided missile frigate with bow number 560.

“We have dispatched our own assets from the Western Command to investigate kung bakit siya andyan. Naaksidente ba? Kung kailangan nila ng tulong, tutulong tayo,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said.

Australian paper Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Chinese warship ran aground while patrolling the contested waters adjacent to the Philippines in the hotly-contested West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The report quoting Western Diplomatic sources added that the frigate pinned itself to a reef the other night at Half Moon (Hasa Hasa) Shoal, on the southeastern edge of the Spratlys Islands and remains “thoroughly struck”.

“Salvage operations could be diplomatically challenging, given the vessel appears to have run around within 200 kilometers of the Philippines Coast, which is squarely within what Manila claims to be its Exclusive Economic Zone,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Sources in the Armed Forces' Western Command (Wescom) said the ill-fated Chinese warship is one of several Chinese naval gunboats that have been conducting regular patrols in the West Philippine Sea and have been aggressively harassing Filipino fishermen in the hotly-contested waters.

Another source said the sea mishap occurred several days ago without any sign that the Chinese warship being salvaged from the area.

“It’s been there since it (warship) struck the reef several days ago,” said a source, adding that the Chinese vessel is based at the Chinese's highly-fortified Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef).

Mischief Reef, he said, is only 76 nautical miles from Hasa Hasa Shoal.

While the sealane in Hasa-Hasa is an international passage way for commercial vessels, the source said the presence of the Chinese warship in the area only bolstered China’s creeping invasion in the South China Sea, which is also being claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunie.

“Hasa Hasa Shoal is only 60 nautical miles from Rizal, Palawan. They have no right to be there in the first place,” the source stressed.

For several months now, China has become very aggressive in laying its territorial claim over the entire South China Sea based only on historical claim.

Aside from Mischief Reef, China has also installed a powerful radar atop a four-story building they have constructed at their occupied Subi Reef, which is only 12 nautical miles from Pag-Asa Island, seat of the municipal government of Kalayaan town in Palawan province.

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Jaime Laude | The Philippine Star | July 13, 2012 | Article Link

China installs powerful radar in reef near Palawan

MANILA, Philippines - Aside from Panganiban Reef (Mischief reef), China has installed another powerful radar in its occupied Subi Reef, an islet 12 nautical miles from Kalayaan municipality in Palawan province's Pag-Asa Island in the Spratly region, the mayor of the island town said Thursday.

Kalayaan town Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon said the silver colored dome radar is located atop a four-storey building which the Chinese have started to build six years ago at the reef southwest of Pag-Asa.

“While the radar could be only for weather monitoring and weather forecasting, one can also surmise that it can also monitor wide areas in the region of any moving and floating objects,” Bito-onon said.

At the other side of the building is a lighthouse that on calm waters Bito-onon said, which can be seen from Pag-Asa Island at night time.

Aside from Subi Reef, China has also constructed a military garrison in Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef), an area only 70 nautical miles from Palawan.

Located within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Panganiban Reef, which located halfway towards the hotly-contested Spratlys Group of Islands, was occupied by China in 1994.

Despite a strong protest from the Philippines, China put up stilts and then transformed Panganiban Reef into a highly fortified military garrison equipped with powerful radars and other air and maritime monitoring equipment.

China is laying almost the entire West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), which is also being claimed in whole or in part by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, as an integral part of its maritime domain.

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Jaime Laude | The Philippine Star | July 12, 2012 | Article Link

Embarrassment as Chinese frigate runs aground

A Chinese warship has run aground while patrolling contested waters adjacent to the Philippines in the South China Sea.

The frigate pinned itself to a reef last night at Half Moon Shoal, on the south-eastern edge of the Spratly Islands, and remains "thoroughly stuck", according to Western diplomatic sources shortly after midday local time, or 2pm AEST.

Salvage operations could be diplomatically challenging, given the vessel appears to have run aground within 200 kilometres of the Philippines coast, which is squarely within what Manila claims to be its Exclusive Economic Zone.

The stricken People's Liberation Army Navy vessel, believed to be No. 560, a Jianghu-class frigate, has in the past been involved in aggressively discouraging Filipino fishing boats from the area.

The accident could not have come at a more embarrassing moment for the Chinese leadership, who have been pressing territorial claims and flexing the country's muscle ahead of a leadership transition later this year.

Today's meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in Cambodia ended in disarray, without a code of conduct for resolving conflicts in the South China Sea, following robust intervention from China.

Also this week, China yesterday dispatched one of its largest-ever fishing expeditions from Hainan Island to another disputed archipelago in the South China Sea.

Earlier in the week, PLA generals and top foreign policy advisers urged China to do more to press its claims.

Cui Liru, president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, a leading think tank that reports to the main intelligence department, said Beijing had previously focused too much on seeking common ground with its neighbours and putting disputes on the shelf.

"In the foreseeable future, say at least in five years, the Asia-Pacific region will still be showing every feature of a transitional period, which is characterised by a certain level of chaos," he said.

China's ministry of foreign affairs was not immediately available for comment.

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John Garnaut | SMH.Com.Au | July 13, 2012 | Article Link

 

 

**Was this intentional?

South China Sea represents 'a new Persian Gulf'?

The stalemate over the Scarborough shoal is the latest in a series of recent incidents in the diplomatic tug-of-war between the Philippines and China over a number of islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

From a Filipino perspective, the root of the problem lies in Beijing's assertion of its historical claim to the islands and waters of the South China Sea, or what Manila now calls the West Philippines Sea.

With its long civilization, China claims that the Scarborough shoal was first discovered in the 13th century when the Yuan dynasty emperor, Kublai Khan, ordered a survey of the South China Sea.

In the case of the Spratlys, the Chinese claim goes further back more than two thousand years ago when a Han dynasty navigator discovered the islands during a journey through the South China Sea.

So does it mean that China claims the whole South China Sea?

A Chinese spokesman officially denied this during a Foreign Ministry press briefing last February 29. According to the spokesman, "Neither China nor any other country lays claim to the entire South China Sea."

But he went on to point out that China has "indisputable sovereignty" over all the islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

What is not yet clear, however, is the exact extent of this claim or whether China will ever agree to validate the legality of its historical claim in an international tribunal.

One can get an idea of China's expansive claim from its official map, a copy of which was attached to a document it submitted in 2009 to a United Nations commission which handles cases related to the limits of the continental shelf, as provided by the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This map, first drawn up in 1947, contains the "nine-dash line" that is supposed to delineate China's maritime borders. But due to the obvious conflict between the "nine-dash line" and the exclusive economic zones and continental shelves defined by UNCLOS, the Philippines and other countries have questioned the legal validity of this line.

A prominent international law expert described the "nine-dash line" map as “puzzling and disturbing” because it has no basis under UNCLOS.

New 'Persian Gulf'?

Facing growing pressure, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi gave a brief comment about it at the Asean regional forum last July.  He said, “The dotted line was formally announced by the Chinese government in 1948. China's sovereignty, rights and claims in the South China Sea were established and developed in the long course of history. They have been consistently upheld by the Chinese government.”

Though there is no sign that China will ever give up this burden of history, its recent denial about claiming the entire South China Sea appears to indicate some movement at clarifying the extent of China's historical claim.

As China is finding out, its stated policy of developing good-neighborly relations with Southeast Asian countries is being undercut, if not undermined, by its own efforts to increasingly assert its historical claim.

Whatever reservoir of goodwill it has built up in the region is being drained by the accumulation of maritime incidents and standoffs, leading to increasing suspicion of China’s intentions.

But underlying these disputes over these islands and reefs are real concerns over marine resources. The waters around Scarborough shoal abound in fishery resources, while the Reed bank is believed to have oil and gas deposits.

There is a growing perception that the South China Sea represents “a new Persian Gulf."

Thus, aside from the issue of sovereignty, energy security is also a major factor behind these competing claims.

Imported oil accounted for 55% of China's total oil use in 2010 and this share is expected to increase. The natural gas field in Malampaya, which is located off Palawan, already supplies 40% of Luzon's electricity. The Philippines is hoping an even bigger gas field can be developed in the Reed Bank.

China's anxiety

Finally, the growing rivalry between China and the United States in Asia provides a strategic context that complicates the regional situation.

To China’s dismay, the US pivot to Asia symbolizes a move to balance, if not contain, the growth of Chinese power with US military presence as Asian countries seek to hedge against any potential miscalculation or conflict.

China’s anxiety is reflected in its state media, particularly the Global Times, which is considered a bellwether of extreme nationalist sentiment. In a commentary last January, the Global Times called for punishing the Philippines and Vietnam for “balancing China by siding with the US.”

With the strengthening of the military alliance between the US and the Philippines, the Global Times issued a stern warning to Manila against acting as “a pawn in the US geopolitical game against China.”

Amid such a complex background of overlapping claims over sovereignty, competition over marine resources and intensifying strategic rivalry, it is difficult to expect an end to this diplomatic tug-of-war in the near future.

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Chito Sta. Romana | Rappler.Com | April 16, 2012 | Article Link