The South China Sea could be a more explosive flashpoint for a US-China crisis than the Taiwan Strait, according to some observers. Photo: AP
Published January 5, 2024
- China could assert fishing rights, demand transit passages and contest baselines if disputes with Philippines escalate, according to leading scholar
- Tensions between the neighbours have continued to stew over contested reefs and closer US-Philippine defence ties
“[China has] a lot of legal weapons and has not used them yet,” said Fu Kuncheng, a specially appointed research fellow with the Belt and Road Institute at Xiamen University in southeast China. He previously served as dean of the university’s South China Sea Institute – the first research organisation at a university in mainland China to focus on the region.
“Within the archipelagic waters of the Philippines, not only in the Sulu Sea but in many other areas, Chinese fishermen have the right to fish,” said Fu, who has served as an arbitrator in various arbitration tribunals in mainland China, Taiwan and Russia.
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SOURCE: www.scmp.com
RELATED: Philippines remains open to diplomacy with China – national security adviser
Published January 5, 2024
MANILA, Jan 5 (Reuters) – The Philippines remains open to diplomatic discussions with China and believes the two nations can achieve a resolution to disputes over the South China Sea through peaceful dialogue, its national security adviser said in a statement on Friday.
Eduardo Ano’s remarks came after a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Thursday called recent joint patrols by the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea “provocative” and “irresponsible”.
“Our joint patrols with the United States and potential future activities with other allied countries shows our mutual commitment to a rules-based international order and for promoting peace and stability of the region,” Ano said.
The Chinese embassy in Manila repeated the foreign ministry spokesperson’s comments when asked to respond to Ano’s remarks.
Two Chinese navy vessels had shadowed Philippine and U.S. ships conducting the recently concluded joint patrols, the Philippine military said on Thursday.
The two-day maritime exercises involved four vessels from the Philippine navy and four ships from the U.S. Indo-Pacific fleet, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The patrols ended on Thursday and the U.S. vessels called at the port of Manila on Friday.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: Two Chinese vessels shadowed Philippine, US ships – Philippine military
Published January 4, 2024
MANILA, Jan 4 (Reuters) – Two Chinese navy vessels shadowed Philippines and U.S. ships conducting joint patrols in the South China Sea, the Philippine military said on Thursday, as tensions flare in the region over disputed territorial claims.
“We confirm the presence of two PLA-N (People’s Liberation Army Navy) vessels from a distance shadowing the participants of the Maritime Cooperative Activity,” said Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the Philippine military’s public affairs office.
The two-day maritime exercises involving Manila and Washington, which ended as planned on Thursday, were the second in less than two months in the West Philippine Sea – what Manila calls the waters in the South China Sea that fall within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The activities followed Beijing’s warning to the Philippines that any miscalculation in their escalating dispute in the South China Sea would bring a resolute response.
“We are hoping that China and other foreign countries will respect our sovereignty and right to conduct the activity that is following international law,” Trinidad said.
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately comment.
The joint patrols were underway when China’s military said it would conduct routine patrols with its naval and air forces in the South China Sea from Wednesday to Thursday but did not say where exactly the patrols would be held.
Beijing and Manila have traded accusations in recent months over several run-ins in the South China Sea, including charges that China rammed a ship last month carrying the Philippine armed forces chief of staff.
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SOURCE: www.reuters.com
RELATED: U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Sails With Philippine Navy In South China Sea
Navies of longtime defense allies the Philippines and United States sailed together for a two-day joint naval drills in the South China Sea on Wednesday, January 3, amid China’s rising tensions in the contested waters.
File picture of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) at sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles J. Scudella III)
Published January 4, 2024
An analyst said the joint drills showed a strong alliance between Manila and the US necessary to improve operational integration between allies.
The Maritime Cooperative Activity until January 4 that is currently taking place in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for South China Sea waters within its 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone, was designed to support our longstanding partnership and to further advance combined capabilities in the maritime domain.
https://x.com/TeamAFP/status/1742487195485888716?s=20
Washington deployed its U.S. Navy’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 led by its flagship Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Kidd (DDG 100) and USS Sterett (DDG 104) while the Philippines sent Gregorio del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessels BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PS-15), BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16), and Tarlac-class landing platform dock BRP Davao del Sur (LD-602) for the activity.
General Romeo Brawner, Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief, said the participating Navies will conduct passing exercises, communication checks, cross-deck exercises, joint patrols, Officer of the Watch maneuvers, and fixed-wing flight operations.
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SOURCE: www.navalnews.com
