China alarmed by Clinton’s comments on West Philippine Sea

  By Jerry E. Esplanada / Philippine Daily Inquirer

12:51 am | Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. AFP FILE PHOTO

China has expressed concern about remarks made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said that Beijing’s claim in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) exceeded what was permitted by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
In a report posted Monday on its website, the Chinese Embassy in Makati City quoted Hong Lei, spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, as saying that China had raised concerns about Clinton’s opinion when other countries had chosen to adopt a hands-off policy on the issue.
“On the issue of the South China Sea, nonclaimant (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries and countries outside the region have adopted a position of not getting involved in territorial disputes,” Hong said.
“On this important prerequisite and foundation, the Chinese side has consistently committed to safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea, region by means, such as negotiating and signing with Asean countries the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in parallel with our efforts to pursue dispute settlement through negotiations with countries directly concerned,” she said.
Two Democratic senators—John Kerry and Barbara Boxer—also criticized China’s claim in  the West Philippine Sea at last week’s hearing of the US Senate committee on foreign relations.
Illegal claims
Kerry, the panel chair, said “China and other countries are staking out illegal claims to the South China Sea and elsewhere.”
Boxer produced a map that  showed that China’s claims exceeded far beyond its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone provided for in Unclos and amounted to a “significant territorial grab that comes very close to the land borders of countries in the region.”
China, which is among the 160-plus nations that are party to Unclos that was concluded in 1982 and has been in force since 1994, has made expansive claims in the West Philippine Sea based mainly on ancient maps.
A map that China submitted to the UN in 2009 virtually claimed the entire West Philippine Sea. However, it failed to clarify the exact extent of its claims that overlap those of Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines.
According to the Chinese embassy, Hong also expressed concern about Manila’s supposed attempts to involve third parties in its conflict with Beijing over the Panatag (Scarborough)  Shoal also Bajo de Masinloc  to the Philippines and Huangyan Island to China.
“Attempts by the Philippine side to draw a third party into interfering or intervening through whatever means in Huangyan Island will surely escalate the situation and meet with firm opposition from the Chinese side,” Hong said.
Provocative actions
She also claimed that “the Philippine side has taken some provocative actions recently in the Huangyan Island waters, and the Chinese side has correspondingly strengthened management and control measures.”
“It was learned that the Huangyan Island waters is now stable on the whole. About 20 Chinese fishing boats are working in that area and the number is basically the same with that in the same period of previous years. The so-called around 100 boats are mostly one-person dinghies from the fishing boats,” she said.
Hong pointed out the operations of these fishing boats are  in line with related Chinese laws and China’s fishing moratorium.
“China’s public service ships are exercising strict supervision over these fishing boats to prevent any law-breaching operation,” she said.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario expressed confidence that the Philippines could settle the Panatag Shoal dispute with China, as well as other West Philippine Sea-related issues, citing what he called the Department of Foreign Affairs’ comprehensive “overall plan.”
Del Rosario pointed out that the Chinese were “in violation of the Asean Declaration on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea when they are preventing us from enforcing our laws in our EEZ.”
According to the DFA head, they had “broken up the overall plan into diplomatic or political, legal and defense tracks.”
Political track
For the political track, he said the country would continue to push for the transformation of the West Philippine Sea into a zone of peace, freedom, friendship and cooperation, where Manila would observe a rules-based approach to all disputes in accordance with Unclos.
For the legal track, the DFA plans to continue coordinating with other government agencies concerned as it resorts to a dispute settlement mechanism under Unclos.
For the defense track, Del Rosario said the foreign office had committed to help improve national defense by building a minimum credible defense posture to protect the country’s territorial integrity.
Del Rosario told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that aside from the United States, at least three other countries—Japan, South Korea and Australia—were also helping the Philippines establish that defense posture.

A suggested tactic for Vietnam in case of a sea battle with China

Those who monitoring recent development in the East Sea (South China Sea) can not avoid from worrying about approaching military conflicts . And  if a military conflict breaks out it would be definitely triggered by the Chinese side, not by a much smaller country in the region. There are at least four reasons to say so: 1) After the "detection period"  (from 2009 to late 2011) China now seems to have known that the extent of reaction by the international community is limited while  and the ASEAN alone has been divided  and neutralized to a necessary extent by Beijing's various tactics of  using economic and diplomatic measures ; 2) Beijing can now assure that no third power, including the U.S.A., Russia, will directly involve in a war between China and one of the  ASEAN states, even the case of the Philippines as an ally of the U.S., especially when it is just a small and quick battle (as analyzed by the Chinese themselves); 3) By this time, China has basically regrouped enough overwhelming forces comprising more than 1,000 ships of all types  beside a huge military base in Hainan Island and a logistical base in the Paracel Islands,  a giant oil rig just put in operation.  According to various intelligent sources, the Chinese sea-air forces have completed rehearsals for conflict situations, particularly for invasion of offshore islands; 4) Through the "collision" at this time around the Scarborouph island  Beijing seems to have chosen the "human wave" tactic alongside with the "hot war" one if necessary. A victory here will encourage the Chinese  to apply for other locations and with other countries. In short, after a period of preparation, the Chinese are now ready and determined to go ahead with  their scheme for the full control of the East Sea (you can refer to chinese deployed forces by this link http://dantri.com.vn/c36/s36-595785/cac-can-cu-quan-su-cua-trung-quoc-tren-bien-dong.htm).

Looking at the context and relationships and power balance in the East Sea at the moment, we can  figure out a new posture have been established, in which Chinese forces are totally overwhelming in this region. The only source of strength of Vietnam, the Philippines and ASEAN in general is located in the righteousness based on international  law and justice,but this has been blatantly denied by China while international organizations, including the UN, seems "powerless"; the more expected role of the United States has now shown unpredictable; and the "ASEAN unity" is revealing  rigging and disabled by wicked schemes of China during the past years. So, perhaps only in case such conflicts  prolongs and escalates into big wars then the Chinese may find themselves bogged down and denounced the international opinion. In other word, the Chinese only find obstacles when wars prolong. This is the situation Vietnam or any other weaker sides of conflict should force the Chinese forces into, at least during the transition time when the  theory force overwhelms the power of truth. 

As for the case of Vietnam, from long past experience the Vietnamese must rely on their internal forces or "force of self-reliance", in which  the positions of land, mountains, rivers and sea contribute important elements to defeat various invaders no matter where they come from . One key factor to make up the internal forces in case defending  sovereignty  and territory  in the East Sea can be found  with the S-shape running from  north to south of the East Sea. This is a dominant strategic position that no other regional countries posses.  

As widely known, given all efforts to be made Vietnam could only reach the balance of "one fighting 100" with the Chinese side if a war breaks out . However,  if we can break the conspiracy of quick wars or "blitzkrieg" as wanted by the enemy and  force them to fall into the quagmire, then we can  certainly win supports from the world and finally win the enemy. To do this, we need to workout a specific strategy which rely mainly on the support of firepower from the mainland, particularly by sophisticated missile pads located along the seacoast and from the bombers taking off from land bases. By this way, the entire western part of the East Sea, including  the Paracel and Spratly  and the exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles are in the range of direct fire from the main land . Most of the enemy's  forces including warships and submarines and stationed forces on off-shore islands are within the effective range of our missiles. This can provide necessary power attacks and also effective deterrent measures.

Above is just a suggestion idea aiming at defending strategy, not invading strategy.  It is even more worthy for Vietnam that is always the defending side of  wars./. 

Frictions in the South China Sea - Chinese strategic mistake

Pravda,ur21.05.2012

 

By Anis H. Bajrektarevic

On the eastern, ascendant flank of Eurasian continent, the Chinese vertigo economy is overheated and too-well integrated in the petrodollar system. Beijing, presently, cannot contemplate or afford to allocate any resources in a search for an alternative. (The Sino economy is low-wage- and labor intensive- centered. Chinese revenues are heavily dependent on exports and Chinese reserves are predominantly a mix of the USD and US Treasury bonds.) To sustain itself as a single socio-political and formidably performing economic entity, the People's Republic requires more energy and less external dependency.

Domestically, the demographic-migratory pressures are huge, regional demands are high, and expectations are brewing. Considering its best external energy dependency equalizer (and inner cohesion solidifier), China seems to be turning to its military upgrade rather than towards the resolute alternative energy/Green Tech investments - as it has no time, plan and resources to do both at once. Inattentive of a broader picture, Beijing (probably falsely) believes that lasting containment, especially in the South China Sea, is unbearable, and that - at the same time - fossil-fuels are available (e.g., in Africa and the Gulf), and even cheaper with the help of warships.

In effect, the forthcoming Chinese military buildup will only strengthen the existing and open up new bilateral security deals of neighboring countries, primarily with the US - as nowadays in Asia, none wants to be a passive downloader. Ultimately, it may create a politico-military isolation (and financial burden) for China that would just consequently justify and (politically and financially) cheapen the bolder American military presence in Asia-Pacific, especially in the South China Sea. It perfectly adds up to the intensified demonization of China in parts of influential Western media.

Hence, the Chinese grab for fossil fuels or its military competition for naval control is not a challenge but rather a boost for the US Asia-Pacific - even an overall - posture. (Managing the contraction of its overseas projection and commitments - some would call it managing the decline of an empire - the US does not fail to note that nowadays half of the world's merchant tonnage passes though the South China Sea.

Therefore, the US will exploit any regional territorial dispute and other frictions to its own security benefit, including the costs sharing of its military presence by the local partners, as to maintain pivotal on the maritime edge of Asia that arches from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, Malacca and South China Sea up to the northwest-central Pacific.) A real challenge is always to optimize the (moral political and financial) costs in meeting the national strategic objectives. In this case, it would be a resolute turn of China towards green technology, coupled with the firm buildup of the Asian multilateralism. Without a grand rapprochement to the champions of multilateralism in Asia, which are Indonesia, India and Japan, there is no environment for China to seriously evolve and emerge as a formidable, lasting and trusted global leader warships.

Opting for either strategic choice will reverberate in the dynamic Asia-Pacific theatre. However, the messages are diametrical: An assertive military - alienates, new technology - attracts neighbors. Finally, armies conquer (and spend) while technology builds (and accumulates)! At this point, any eventual accelerated armament in the Asia-Pacific theatre would only strengthen the hydrocarbon status quo. With its present configuration, it is hard to imagine that anybody can outplay the US in the petro-security, petro-financial and petro-military global playground in the following few decades. Given the planetary petro-financial-tech-military causal constellations, this type of confrontation is so well mastered by and would further only benefit the US and the closest of its allies.                                                    

Within the OECD/IEA grouping, or closely; the G-8 (the states with resources, infrastructure, tradition of and know-how to advance the fundamental technological breakthroughs), it is only Japan that may seriously consider a Green/Renewable-tech U-turn. Tokyo's external energy dependencies are stark and long-lasting. After the recent nuclear trauma, Japan will need a few years to (psychologically and economically) absorb the shock - but it will learn a lesson. For such a huge formidable economy and considerable demography, situated on a small land-mass which is repeatedly brutalized by devastating natural catastrophes (and dependent on yet another disruptive external influence - Arab oil), it might be that a decisive shift towards green energy is the only way to survive, revive, and eventually to emancipate.

An important part of the US-Japan security treaty is the US energy supply lines security guaranty given to (the post-WWII demilitarized) Tokyo. After the recent earthquake-tsunami-radiation armageddon, as well as witnessing the current Chinese military/naval noise, Japan will inevitably rethink and revisit its energy policy, as well as the composition of its primary energy mix.

Tokyo is well aware that the Asian geostrategic myopias are strong and lasting, as many Asian states are either locked up in their narrow regionalisms or/and entrenched in their economic egoisms. Finally, Japan is the only Asian country that has clearly learned from its own modern history, all about the limits of hard power projection and the strong repulsive forces that come in aftermath from the neighbors. Their own pre-modern and modern history does not offer a similar experience to other two Asian heavyweights, China and India.  That indicates the Far East as a probable zone of the Green-tech excellence and a place of attraction for many Asians in the decade to come.

Anis H. Bajrektarevic, Geopolitics of Energy Editorial Member

Chairperson for Intl. Law & Global Pol. Studies

Vienna, 20 MAY 2012

Beware of Chinese Jingoism

By Harry Kazianis is assistant editor of The Diplomat. 
The Diplomat ,15Myay 2012

Over the last several weeks, as Western media has followed the unfolding of events of Chen Guangcheng’s dash  to the U.S. embassy in Beijing, which came on the heels of the Bo Xilai scandal, Chinese media has shifted its gaze elsewhere. In the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea, depending on which party you ask, tensions are being stoked in the form of provocative editorials, reporting, and the actions of Chinese journalists. Such reporting – nothing more than old fashioned jingoism – sets a dangerous precedent in an area of the world that is already rife with tensions. And, while such coverage is useful for turning the page on China’s internal political soap operas, fueling the fires of Chinese nationalism can only inject a dangerous element that, if left unchecked, could make it harder for either side to compromise. 

To be fair, sensationalist Chinese reporting is nothing new, nor exclusively Chinese. Yet, as events in the recent spat between China and the Philippines have unfolded, Chinese reporting has becoming increasingly aggressive.

Nothing demonstrates the recent tilt towards jingoism more than the example of a journalist from Dragon TV who decided to plant his nation’s flag on the Scarborough Shoal/Huangyan Island/Panatag Shoal. Such symbolism couldn’t be any stronger, short of taking up defiant residence.  There was, however, a strange oddity to the footage, namely that the rock both sides are squabbling over was barely large enough for the journalist to stand on. In fact, part of the shoal submerges during high tide.  Yet with large deposits of natural resources, fisheries, and important trade routes close by, it’s no wonder both parties are so interested. The issue is complicated by the fact that the South China Sea is claimed in some part by not just China and the Philippines, but Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and others as well.

To make matters worse is what can be described as one of the worst timed slips of the tongue in modern journalism.  Chinese journalist He Jia of mainstream CCTV declared during a news broadcast that “We all know that the Philippines is China’s inherent territory and the Philippines belongs to Chinese sovereignty; this is an indisputable fact.” While the broadcast has disappeared from the CCTV website, to make the gaff not once but twice in the same sentence seems odd to say the least. While He did apologize on Weibo for the slip, the comments below her apology speak volumes to the nationalistic sentiment that has built up around the issue.

Social media is also ablaze with nationalistic and fire-spitting commentary. While Chinese censors are quick to repress any of the latest news or rumors concerning Bo or Chen, matters in the South China Sea seem like fair game. One microblogger named kongdehua declared, “the Philippines have basically been making irrational trouble, if they want to start a war then we will strike, no one fears them.” He went on to say in a widely quoted remark that, “If every Chinese spat once, we could drown (the Philippines).”

To be fair, Chinese media is also capable of creating discourse that prefers compromise and diplomacy when conflict between nations is possible. The Global Times, for example, has published content with a less harsh tone. Jeffrey Bader, U.S. President Barack Obama’s senior advisor on China and Asia at the National Security Council from 2009 to 2011, described in an article the U.S.-China relationship  as being “in reasonably good shape. The Chinese are working well with us on North Korea and Iran. Taiwan has not been a source of tension, and does not promise to be for years. Since that is the one issue on which we theoretically could have a conflict, the positive state and trend of cross-Straits relations is very important, and gets undeservedly little attention.” 

The Chinese Communist Party has a great deal of influence over what is said in its mainstream media in print, over the radio, on TV and in social media. If Chinese authorities were so inclined, they could rein in jingoism. Yet there seems little inclination so far to do so. Chinese editors and leaders should be wary./.

DFA chief: Unclos is way to go to settle Spratlys dispute

By Jerry Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer

2:32 am | Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

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Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has asserted anew that abiding by the rules set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) is the legitimate way of resolving conflicting and overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Del Rosario reiterated this Tuesday during a conference at Montego Bay, Jamaica, to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Unclos by 159 UN member-states, including the Philippines.
On May 8, 1984, the country became the 11th state to ratify the international agreement, which entered into force on Nov. 16, 1994.
In a statement, Del Rosario said Unclos “has never been more important to the Philippines than today when overlapping maritime claims threaten as never before the peace and prosperity in our part of the world.”
“The Philippines believes that the rules-based approach in Unclos, together with the norms in the UN Charter and international law, are the way forward in addressing in a just, peaceful and lasting manner the maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
The DFA chief noted that Unclos is the “international law governing the rights and responsibilities of nations—big, as well as small, rich or poor, coastal and landlocked—in their use of the world’s oceans.”
“It enshrines the norms that determine the rights of states over maritime areas and contains important mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes on matters relating to the oceans,” he emphasized.
According to Del Rosario, “together with our commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Unclos this year, we are also commemorating this year the 30th anniversary of the UN Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1982.”
“This is another historic and important document, particularly at this time when the Philippines is exerting every effort to address and resolve conflicting claims in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
For over four weeks now, Manila and Beijing have been engaged in a standoff over the Scarborough Shoal, located some 220 kilometers west of Zambales province.
The Philippines calls the shoal Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal while China refers to the rock formation as Huangyan Island.
Del Rosario pointed out that Chinese ships were “currently engaged in illegal activities in Bajo de Masinloc.”

An unverified news

Beijing Leaders Considering End of Communist Rule

By Li Heming
Epoch Times Staff Created: May 1, 2012 Last Updated: May 2, 2012

Related articles: China » Regime

Chinese delegates applaud the result of a vote during the Chinese Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People on October 21, 2007, in Beijing. (Andrew Wong/Getty Images)

According to a high-level source in Beijing, key leaders in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Politburo have reached four points of consensus that will be announced on or around the 18th Party Congress. The tenor of the decision is that China will take the path of democracy. The news has been circulated hurriedly in Beijing.
According to the source, the four points of consensus are:
1. People from all walks of life, political parties, and social organizations should send representatives to form a preparatory committee for a new constitution. They will draft a new constitution that protects the rights of citizens to freely form associations and political parties.
2. It will be announced that the Chinese Communist Party has finished its historical mission as the ruling party. Party membership will need to be re-registered, with the free choice to re-enter the Party or leave it.
3. “June 4,” Falun Gong, and all groups who have been wrongly persecuted in the process of devoting themselves to China’s realization of democracy will be redressed and receive compensation.
4. The military will be nationalized.

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The claim from the source cannot be verified, but it is said to be a matter of discussion among high-level leaders. The source also said that a democratic party has already been formed in the Beijing Academy of Sciences, and that over 30 scholars in the Academy have gotten involved in the movement, forming a “Chinese Scientists’ Liberal Democratic Party.”
The four points of consensus are supposed to be announced on or around the 18th Party Congress, according to the source. The congress is supposed to be held this fall, in October or November, though there have been rumors that it will be postponed amidst the current political uncertainty associated with Bo Xilai’s downfall.
Shi Cangshan, an independent China analyst in Washington responded to the news: “The domino effect set off by the Wang Lijun incident is still going on, and the Party’s behind-the-scenes operations are being exposed.”
Shi said that the reason Party leaders would want to announce four consensuses such as the above is to take the initiative on its inevitable decline. “The group that has engaged in these massive persecutions of the Chinese people, including the persecution of Falun Gong, is being exposed, and this is deeply implicated with the demise of the CCP. Better that they take the initiative, which will benefit themselves and the world.”
Read original Chinese article.
chinareports@epochtimes.com

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