SOLYMONE BLOG: south china sea disputes

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VIETNAM VESSEL RAMS CHINA SHIP 1,400 TIMES

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

China has accused Vietnam of ramming its ships more than 1,400 times in a disputed part of the South China Sea and said while it wanted good relations with its neighbour, it would not abandon principles to achieve that.

China claims most of the South China Sea and has over the past two years been taking various steps to assert its claim, angering Vietnam and the Philippines in particular.

Shortly after China brought its oil platform into the area, Vietnam sent a large number of vessels into the area, China's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"There were as many as 63 Vietnamese vessels in the area at the peak, attempting to break through China's cordon and ramming the Chinese government ships a total of 1,416 times," the ministry said.

China has asked Vietnam more than 30 times to "stop its illegal disruption", the ministry said.

A Vietnamese fishing boat sank on May 26 during a confrontation not far from where China has towed the oil rig, accompanied by a cordon of Chinese vessels, 240km off Vietnam.

Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships have squared off around the oil platform since it was towed to the area in early May.

Vietnam says the platform is in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. China says it is operating within its waters.

Source: Al Jazeera , Reuters

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TENSION SURGE AS PHILIPPINE SEIZES CHINESE BOAT

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine police seized a Chinese fishing boat in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday, an official told Reuters, the latest flare-up of tensions in the oil and gas-rich waters that are claimed wholly or in part by six Asian nations.

Chief Superintendent Niel Vargas of the Philippine National Police Maritime Group said a maritime police patrol apprehended a Chinese fishing boat around 7 a.m. on Tuesday off Half Moon Shoal.

The boat has 11 crew and police found about 350 turtles in the vessel, some of which were already dead, a police report said.

It added that a Philippine boat with crew was also seized, and found to have 70 turtles on board. Several species of sea turtles are protected under Philippine law.

Maritime police are now towing the boats to Puerto Princesa town on the island of Palawan where appropriate charges will be filed against them, Vargas said.

The incident is bound to raise the ire of Beijing, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

On Tuesday, China warned Vietnam not to disturb activities of Chinese companies operating near disputed islands in another part of the South China Sea, after Hanoi condemned as illegal the movement of a giant Chinese oil rig into what it says is its territorial waters.

There are frequent tensions in the South China Sea between China and the other claimant nations, particularly Vietnam and the Philippines, both of which say Beijing has harassed their ships in the waters there.

Source: Reuters...More...

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ASEAN AGREED TO UNITE AGAINST CHINA IMPOSITION OF A FISHERIES LAWS IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

MANILA, Philippines - Foreign ministers of the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have agreed to take a united stand against China’s imposition of a new fisheries law in the South China Sea, a senior official said.

The Asean foreign ministers, during a retreat in Bagan, Myanmar, reaffirmed Asean’s principle to uphold the “importance of the maintenance of peace and stability, maritime security, freedom of navigation in and over flight above the South China Sea,” said a statement released by Manila’s foreign affairs department.
“The Asean foreign ministers expressed their concerns on the recent developments in the South China Sea,” the statement added.
It referred to China’s ban on the entry of foreign vessels in the disputed South China Sea, expressing fears that China might unilaterally impose an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea, as it did over the East China Sea.

Meanwhile, the Asean foreign ministers called on all parties to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) that Asean and China signed in 2002 to “undertake the full and effective implementation of the DOC in order to build an environment of mutual trust and confidence [for all claimants to the South China Sea],” the statement said.
“They emphasised the need to expeditiously work towards the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC to make the DOC more legally binding,” the statement added.
There were no details such as how Asean will ask China to bilaterally discuss with the region how to ease tension in the South China Sea.
The foreign ministers’ meeting was the first in the series of annual events undertaken by the group this year, which is chaired by Myanmar.
China also built structures on Mischief Shoal near Palawan, south-western Philippines in 1995 and took over Scarborough Shoal near northern Luzon in 2012.

The 1995 event prompted Asean to forge the DOC with China in 2002.

China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim the whole of the South China Sea, based on their respective historical rights on the sea lane.
Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim some parts of the Spratly Archipelago off the South China Sea, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which grants countries a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone starting from their shores. Four of the claimants are Asean members.
Asean is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Source: Agencies

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