Philippines to ‘secure sovereignty’ if challenged by China

[lastlid]

"MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will defend its sovereignty if challenged by China, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday as a Philippine warship was locked in a standoff with two Chinese vessels.
“If the Philippines is challenged, we are prepared to secure our sovereignty,” Del Rosario told reporters in a briefing at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, Del Rosario said the Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest.
Del Rosario said he and Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing met at the DFA earlier in the day to discuss the situation.
A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said the confrontation happened two days after a Philippine Navy surveillance plane found the eight Chinese fishing boats anchored inside the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on April 8."

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/32387/philippines-to-secure-sovereignty-if-challenged-by-china

[Terpe]

Google map of Scarborough Shoal where Philippine and Chinese Navy vessels are currently in a standoff after the alleged intrusion into the disputed territory by Chinese fishing boats

http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/globalnation.inquirer.net/files/2012/04/480x360xScarborough-Reef2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.29Yb0zZ2hy.jpg

[Terpe]

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/54145000/gif/_54145268__48951920_south_china-sea_1_466-1.gif


From the BBC Newsroom


A Philippines delegation visited Washington in January to talk about enhanced US military support in the South China Sea.

"This area is vital to the United States," Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said recently. "It's been an area vital to our navy and our focus for decades, because of… the trade routes, the large economies."

Adm Greenert said the challenge was to keep trade routes open - and peaceful - while keeping belligerence to a minimum.

China's view is that the US should mind its own business.

"Any interference from outside forces or a multilateral discussion will only complicate matters, rather than resolving them," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin said in November.

China points out that the $30bn in trade the Philippines has with China could double in a couple of years. Or China could punish the country, as the Communist Party-owned newspaper The Global Times suggested, for turning to the US for more military muscle.

Another Global Times editorial warned that "small countries" like the Philippines and Vietnam should stop challenging China's interests or "they will need to prepare for the sound of cannons".

Not surprisingly, this kind of talk irritates Gen Sabban. He says he has doubled patrols of nearby waters over the past 18 months, but has not increased armed presence. He would prefer a peaceful solution. Still, he says, China should think before getting any more aggressive in these waters.

"Remember the Vietnam war, where a smaller country defeated a superpower," he says. "It's about the determination of a people to defend themselves."

And it does not hurt that another superpower stands ready to come to their aid.


I think the US is being pushed into a corner in the US presidential election year.

[lastlid]

Yes. A quick discussion was had a few days ago about pessimism, optimism and realism and realistically this problem doesn't seem to be going away. I myself have thought a little bit about retiring in the Philippines but this sort of thing is making me think twice. China seems to have the audacity to make claims to waters that geographically they have no right to and the fact that they won't let it drop like a dog with a bone seems to suggest that they mean business. This is happening at a time when US resources are stretched etc etc. Of course we have no crystal ball and don't really know the outcome but greasing the paranoia is our old friend oil aswell as fishing rights adding fuel to the flames.

Maybe not what folk want to hear but needs to be taken into consideration.

Then we also have North Korea flexing their nuclear muscle....



"Kate McGeown
BBC News, Philippines
The Philippines and China have overlapping claims to various islands in the South China Sea - and more importantly, the large oil and gas deposits thought to lie near these islands.

The Philippines has often accused China of incursions into its territory, but in recent months there have been fewer of these complaints, with some analysts suggesting that China had decided to try a more conciliatory approach.

But this incident will raise tensions again and Beijing is likely to be antagonised further next week, when US-Philippine military exercises take place close to the contested Spratly Islands."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17673426

[grahamw48]

Firstly...tickled by the Scarborough connection. :icon_lol:

Seriously though, it does seem a bit cheeky, the Chinese being virtually in the Phil's back yard there.:NoNo:

Naturally the the Filipinos haven't a chance in hell at seeing off the Chinese, so have to appeal to their old colonial masters (the ones they threw off the bases in 1991 :rolleyes:).

This is how world conflicts start.

'Gunboat Diplomacy' is not going to subdue the Chinese this time. They're just too big financially, if not yet militarily.

They could easily cause an even bigger financial calamity in the world than the recent one if they pull the plug on the countries they're currently supporting....including the US.

An interesting situation, but not yet frightening. :Erm:

[lastlid]

Yes. "Off to Scarborough" for the weekend can have a different ring about it....:icon_lol:

[subseastu]

I think this is about the possible oil / gas fields that may exsist in the area from the Spratlys in the south up to the scarbrough shoals

[lastlid]

"Optimistic Chinese estimates of the South China Sea region's oil potential, however, have helped encourage interest in the area. The most optimistic estimate suggests that potential oil resources (not proved reserves) of the Spratly and Paracel Islands could be as high as 105 billion barrels of oil, and that the total for the South China Sea could be as high as 213 billion barrels. A common rule-of-thumb for such frontier areas as the Spratly Islands Sea is that perhaps 10% of the potential resources can be economically recovered. Even using this rule, Chinese estimates imply potential production levels for the Spratly Islands of 1.9 million barrels/day".

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/spratly-oil.htm

[lastlid]

Basically, 1.9 million barrels of oil/day is not far removed from the UK North Sea output. There are proven oil and gas reserves in all of the adjacent countries in the region. In the East South China Sea there are proven reserves and thus there is optimism for reserves in the more southerly and westerly sections.

[Jimbojac]

I think it all goes very quiet in the Western World whenever China:xxaction-smiley-047 seems to have a vested interest in a particular area. "Wonder why!!??"
Poor little Philippines doesn't stand a snowball in hells chance:Help1: and no way the chest beating Yanks will stand up to the Chinese if it came down to the wire:yikes:

[lastlid]

Proven reserves in the IOM = zero. :icon_lol:

[grahamw48]

Must have been quite a bit dropped on the TT track over the years. :Erm:

Did you warn the Mrs that the Trikes are a bit faster there. :icon_lol:


.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0DJlaky0Tc

[lastlid]

Did you warn the Mrs that the Trikes are a bit faster there. :icon_lol:

:xxgrinning--00xx3:




I have done exactly that. :xxgrinning--00xx3: I will take her to see them racing during TT week.

[lastlid]

You might have gathered, Graham, that they dont have a designated track. The islands roads are the circuit.

[lastlid]

Philippines sends second ship amid China stand-of....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17686107

[grahamw48]

Would have been less of a problem for the Phils if they hadn't chucked the Yanks out of Subic. :rolleyes:

Very short-sighted. :NoNo:

Even our proud nation has several American bases.

[Terpe]

PHL's biggest warship leaves Panatag Shoal, replaced by smaller boat (http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/254713/news/nation/phl-s-biggest-warship-leaves-panatag-shoal-replaced-by-smaller-boat)

[lastlid]

"MANILA, Philippines—Most of the Chinese vessels may have left the disputed Scarborough Shoal, but Senator Gregorio Honasan does not consider it a victory for the Philippines.
Instead, the senator on Saturday said that the latest turn of events showed the country’s failure “to protect our territorial integrity.”
“We failed to enforce our laws,” he told the Inquirer, noting that most of the Chinese fishing vessels were able to leave the shoal and get away with poached corals, live sharks and other forms of marine life."

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/33179/scarborough-incident-shows-ph-can%E2%80%99t-defend-itself-honasan?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

However the yanks are due in a day or two.....

[fred]

Firstly...tickled by the Scarborough connection. :icon_lol:

The shoal was named after a tea clipper Scarborough which was wrecked on the rock with everyone perishing on board in the late 18th century.
Here`s another... It is located between the Macclesfield Bank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macclesfield_Bank)(Zhongsha Islands) and Luzon Island. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzon_Island)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Shoal

[fred]

Now this is a bit strange!! I thought Id found the ship in question .. http://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/ships/hms-scarborough/

China
Charlotte and Scarborough provisioned at the island of Tiniuan in the Marianas, and reached Canton in early September. The route they had pioneered was known for many years as The Easternmost Route to China. While the ships were under contract to the East India Company and their main cargo was tea, the ship’s officers were also allowed to engage in their own private trade.
http://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/First-Fleet-Ship-Scarborough-300x225.jpghttp://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/FIRST-FLEET-GARDENS-SCARBOROUGH-fixed-300x225.jpg

It then goes on to say..

Fate of Scarborough
Under a new master and with major repairs Scarborough was employed on the London to St Petersburg route. With changes in ownership and masters, Scarborough was employed on the London to St Vincent (Caribbean) run and the London-West Indies /St Vincent run. The last entry for the vessel can be found in Lloyd’s Register for 1805, twenty-three years after it was built. The fate of the vessel, whether it was broken up or lost at sea cannot be ascertained.


So was there another Scarborough?:Erm:

[grahamw48]

Now this is a bit strange!! I thought Id found the ship in question .. http://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/ships/hms-scarborough/

http://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/First-Fleet-Ship-Scarborough-300x225.jpghttp://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/FIRST-FLEET-GARDENS-SCARBOROUGH-fixed-300x225.jpg

It then goes on to say..

Fate of Scarborough
Under a new master and with major repairs Scarborough was employed on the London to St Petersburg route. With changes in ownership and masters, Scarborough was employed on the London to St Vincent (Caribbean) run and the London-West Indies /St Vincent run. The last entry for the vessel can be found in Lloyd’s Register for 1805, twenty-three years after it was built. The fate of the vessel, whether it was broken up or lost at sea cannot be ascertained.


So was there another Scarborough?:Erm:

.What about the 'Macclesfield' Bank ? :D

The Brits get everywhere. :)

Good thing they didn't name a ship after this place: :icon_lol:
.
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8206/tivandbrakes005.jpg

[lastlid]

.What about the 'Macclesfield' Bank ? :D

The Brits get everywhere. :)

Good thing they didn't name a ship after this place: :icon_lol:
.
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8206/tivandbrakes005.jpg

Is that where you live Graham? :icon_lol:

[lastlid]

Candidate for the funny sign section...:icon_lol:

[lastlid]

Oil and Gas Exploration Bids for South China Sea Acreage

"China should not be worried about Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises," he said. Sabban has jurisdiction over the disputed Spratly Islands and Reed Bank, where the Philippines is due to open oil-and-gas exploration bids on Friday"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/24/philippines-usa-idUSL3E8FO8ZP20120424