US & Philippines Marines Begin Drills Near Spratlys

About 3,000 U.S. and Filipino marines’ soldiers started two weeks of annual military drills in the Philippines on Monday that will include a hostile beach assault exercise near the disputed Spratly Islands.

U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Nick Eisenbeiser said the Oct. 17-28 maneuvers would focus on honing their joint capability to ensure regional security and were not aimed at China or any country as an imaginary target.

"They shouldn't get worried," Eisenbeiser, when asked if the exercises were aimed at China, who’s growing naval power has set off concerns in the region. "We're assisting the Chinese in ensuring that their region is peaceful."

The exercises would ensure that U.S. and Philippines forces could jointly respond to "anything that arises," he said.

The United States irked Beijing last year by asserting that Washington had a national security interest in the peaceful resolution of the disputes over the Spratly Islands.

The potentially oil-rich islands are located in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), between Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, and straddle some of the world's busiest sea lanes.

China seeks to resolve the disputes through bilateral talks with five other claimants, including the Philippines. Beijing has rejected any U.S. role in the resolution of the disputes over the islands.

Philippine military spokeswoman 1st Lt. Cherryl Tindog said an Oct. 27 drill will involve a mock raid by about 100 U.S. and Filipino marines from an American warship to capture a hostile beachhead west of Palawan province, which faces the South China Sea.

Other events include a live-fire exercise in Crow Valley in Tarlac province, north of Manila, and medical missions and school constructions in several Philippine towns.

One Filipino-occupied island was proposed as a possible site for joint training but was ruled out to avoid antagonizing China and other claimants. The island lies close to a Spratly reef occupied by Chinese forces and an island separately occupied by Vietnamese forces. The information came from two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Philippines marine Brig. Gen. Eugenio Clemen said the exercises with U.S. forces would be confined to the country's territory so "nobody could question that."

The Philippines and Vietnam, another Spratlys claimant, have separately accused Chinese vessels of intruding into what they say is their part of the contested areas and of disrupting oil explorations in their territorial waters this year.

Both countries have since discussed those allegations with China and renewed calls for the peaceful resolution of the disputes, easing monthslong tensions.

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Hainan China Mounted Nuclear Weapon Facing Manila

When China’s largest offshore petroleum producer launched a $1 billion oil rig this summer from Shanghai, Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, the commander of Philippine military forces commented that China of 1,500 miles away in the South China Sea, began preparing for trouble.

The drilling platform, said China, would soon be heading in the 38 general’s direction - southward into waters rich in oil and natural gas, and also in volatile fuel for potential conflict.

China pointing the Map down south adjacent to the City of Puerto Princesa Palawan, Province of the Philippines. China is willing to face war and conflict just to drill the oil and gas with or without approval from the Philippines government as they claim the area as undisputable and it core interest.

Regardless of the UNCLOS provision of 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone for the Philippines and other neighboring country within the proximity of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), china believed their map is right and will surpassed / overpower the United Nations International laws of Sea as they have their own laws and concept.

Red Alert- Philippines for the unexpected attack of China

Few information leaked that china is preparing to sink the new Philippines Navy Warship Flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a newly acquired and refurbished from the USA high endurance Hamilton Class Cutter Frigate.

Chinese nuclear submarine armed with nuclear missiles has been mounted in Hainan island south of China and high powered weapon are now facing Manila for ready to attack anytime.

Leaked information mentioned that China will target to paralyze the Philippines by attacking the BRP Gregorio del Pilar prior of their planned launching of the $1 billion Dollar oil rig in the area near Pruerto Princesa this year or early next year in 2012.

The Philippines is not yet aware of this china’s plan. The United Nations is now the only chance to intervene or to mediate prior the leaked information to happen.

The cooling of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) issue is the preparation of China for their ready to launch $1 billion Dollar oil rig and a simultaneous attack to destroy the BRP Gregorio del Pilar.

“We started war-gaming what we could do,” said Sabban, a barrel-chested, American-trained marine who, as chief of the Philippines’ Western Command, is responsible for keeping out intruders from a wide swath of sea that Manila views as its own 200 Nautical Miles Area from the shore but that is also claimed by Beijing.

China oil hungry giant to attack Spratlys

Arguments over who owns what in the South China Sea have rumbled on for decades, ever since the doomed Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek in 1947 issued a crude map with 11 dashes marking as Chinese almost the entire 1.3 million-square-mile waterway. The Communist Party toppled Chiang but kept his map and his expansive claims, though it trimmed a couple of dashes.

Today, China’s insatiable thirst for energy has injected a highly combustible new element into long-running quarrels over cartography, arcane issues of international law and ancient shards of pottery that Beijing says testify to its “indisputable sovereignty” over the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

China, which imports more than half its oil, will nearly double its demand for the stuff over the next quarter-century, according to the International Energy Agency in Paris. Its demand for natural gas — which is believed to be particularly abundant beneath an archipelago of contested islands and reefs, known as the Spratlys, just west of here — is projected to more than quadruple.

With consumption soaring and the price of imports rising, China is desperate for new sources to boost its proven energy reserves, which for oil now account for just 1.1 percent of the world total — a paltry share for a country that last year consumed 10.4 percent of total world oil production and 20.1 percent of all the energy consumed on the planet, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

As a result, Beijing views disputed waters as not merely an arena for nationalist flag-waving but as indispensable to its future economic well-being.

“The potential for what lies beneath the sea is clearly a big motivator” in a recent shift by China to a more pugnacious posture in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), said William J. Fallon, a retired four-star admiral who headed the U.S. Pacific Command from 2005 until 2007. China is wary of pushing its claims to the point of serious armed conflict, which would torpedo the economic growth on which the party has staked its survival. But, Fallon said, such a thick fog of secrecy surrounds China’s thinking that “we have little insight into what really makes them tick.”

A big factor in this uncertainty is a meshing of Chinese commercial, strategic and military calculations. Like other giant energy companies in China, the China National Offshore Oil Corp., or CNOOC, the owner of the new Chinese rig, pursues profit but is ultimately answerable to the party, whose secretive Organization Department appoints its boss.

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The Royal Sultanate of Sulu & the Republic of the Philippines will reunite as 1 and United Nations for the Spratlys.

Sulu Sultanate rejects China claim over Spratlys

The Sultanate of Sulu slammed for the claim of China over the Spratly Islands, saying the disputed territory was part of the Sultanate of Sulu long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines.

“China has no right over the Spratly Islands in what it calls the South China Sea because that is part of our ancestral domain, including the marine territory around it and the waters around these islands is part of the Sulu Sea,” Majaraj Julmuner Jannaral, Sultanate information officer, quoting His Majesty Muhammad Fuad Abdulla Kiram I, the reigning Sultan of Sulu and Sabah (North Borneo).

Jannaral said China has launched a “divide-and-rule” strategy over ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members because it has refused to talk on the Spratlys issue, and instead wants to deal or negotiate with the 10 member countries individually.

“This is unacceptable to me and my people,” Jannaral quoted the Sultan as saying.

He said historically, the proprietary rights over the Spratlys, Sabah(North Borneo), the Sulu archipelago, and Palawan and parts of Mindanao belong to the Sultanate of Sulu and (North Borneo) Sabah even long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines.

“Thus, China is violating our people’s human rights by openly and unilaterally announcing ownership of the Spratlys and the waters around it,” the Sultan said in an official statement.

Jannaral, quoting the statement, said “China may have forgotten that the sovereign political right (not the proprietary right) over the disputed area was given by the Sultan’s late father, Sultan Muhammad Esmail E. Kiram I, to President Diosdado Macapagal in 1962, and later in 1969, to President Ferdinand Marcos to recover particularly Sabah (North Borneo) from Malaysia.”

“But Sabah (North Borneo) is not an issue with China. Our concern here is the Spratlys and what China calls the South China Sea, because the Chinese leaders state this is their core interest,” the statement said.

The Sultanate said that by claiming the Spratlys, China has manifested what President Aquino called “bullying” tactics on the five other claimants – Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Jannaral said the Chinese military has even timed its announcement with the open sea trial runs of its first aircraft carrier in the north-eastern China Sea this month and its formal launch next October with its current verbal exchanges with the US regarding open use of the South China Sea by international commercial shipping.

“My blood lineage dates back from the Mahjapahit and Shrivijaya empires, which extended from Sabah (North Borneo), the Sulu archipelago, Palawan, parts of Mindanao, the islands now known as the Spratlys, Palawan, and up to the Visayas and Manila,” the Sultan’s statement reads.

“The Spanish colonial forces drove my forefathers from Manila and the Visayas but never conquered the territories of the Sultan of Sulu and Sabah because they failed to subjugate us. The Spaniards illegally transferred the Philippines, the Sulu archipelago, Sabah (North Borneo), and Guam to the Americans in their 1898 Treaty of Paris without the Sultan’s consent,” it added.

According to the statement, the Sultan’s direct ancestor, Sultan Jamalul Ahlam Kiram, rented out Sabah to the British East India Company in 1878.

“After the last world war, Britain illegally transferred Sabah to Malaysia when London granted Malaysia its independence in 1963.”

Proof that Britain and Malaysia recognized the Sultan’s proprietary rights over Sabah is the yearly payment as rent, up to this day, which is paid regularly by Malaysia to the Sultan and eight other descendants of the first Sultan.

The Sultan said he agreed with President Aquino’s position that China cannot legally claim ownership of the Spratlys, which are at least 800 miles away from the nearest Chinese territory, while some of the islands are within the 200-nautical mile economic zone limits of the Philippines under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

He said China’s claim violates the UNCLOS, which it signed. The Philippines is also a signatory to UNCLOS.

“President Aquino showed his quality nationalist leadership with his stand that settlement of the Spratly issue and the South China Sea - West Philippines Sea questions must be through peaceful and mutually beneficial diplomatic talks – especially to the members of the ASEAN since these islands are physically closer to us than China,” the Sultan said.

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USA will Support the Philippines' Spratly issue but Filipinos - cautious might betray again

A United Nations convention is clear on what constitutes sovereign territory, and the United States is prepared to do whatever is asked of it by the Philippines in connection with the South China Sea / West Philippine Sea dispute, US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said Monday (June 13, 2011) in Makati. Thomas Statement is absolutely opposite of the statement of Rebecca Thomson; US spokesperson saying “The US will not support the Philippine Spratly Issue as they are out of the Issue. Even USA is not united of their stands for the Spratlys issue.

 “We will do whatever we’re asked,” Thomas told The STAR during a visit to the newspaper office, when asked if the US would be willing to participate in the settlement of the territorial dispute.

But he quickly added, “What we want to say is right now we believe consistently that is not something for us to do. We have not been asked to do that. And we can’t deal with hypotheticals.”

Later, when pressed about US participation in negotiations, he said, “We have not been invited.”

Thomas spoke as China warned external powers to stay out of the overlapping territorial claims in the Spratly Islands.

Reuters reported Monday (June 13, 2011) from Beijing that the warning was contained in a commentary in the main military newspaper Liberation Army Daily, which is controlled by China’s Communist Party, and where articles are vetted to reflect official thinking.

President Aquino welcomed Thomas’ statement as he noted the military power of China and its huge population.

“We don’t want any hostility to break out,” Aquino said at Malacañang, even as he reaffirmed that islands in the West Philippine Sea are within undisputed Philippine territory under an international convention.

“Perhaps the presence of our treaty partner, which is the United States of America, ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation, will conform to international law,” Aquino added.

Earlier Monday (June 13, 2011), Thomas said the US would stand with the Philippines in all issues.

“I want to assure you – on all subjects, we in the United States are with the Philippines. The Philippines and the United States are strategic treaty allies. We are partners,” Thomas said at the launching of the US-supported National Renewable Energy Program in Makati City.

“We will continue to consult and work with each other on all issues, including the South China Sea and Spratly Islands,” Thomas said.

The Philippines has protested Chinese military activities in the West Philippine Sea, which is within the country’s territory as defined under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The UNCLOS, Thomas said, is “pretty clear on what is Philippine territory.”

Thomas mentioned that US President Barack Obama has said Washington supports the 2002 Code of Conduct in the South China Sea under UNCLOS.

Among other things, the Code of Conduct calls for all claimants to sit together and settle the dispute, he said.

President Aquino is so thankful

President Aquino welcomed Thomas’ declaration.

“We are grateful to the (US), especially when they reiterated that we are strategic partners, we have a treaty between us,” Aquino said when asked for his reaction to Thomas’ statement in a press briefing later at Malacañang.

The President stressed the importance of adhering to international laws, specifically UNCLOS.

“What that law says is that you have exclusive economic authority or exclusive economic zone extending 200 (nautical) miles from your continental shelf,” Aquino said.

“Reed (Recto) Bank, which is the subject of incidents lately, is located 80 (nautical) miles off Palawan, the closest of our contention in the Spratlys, the closest China (has) is 576 (nautical) miles if I remember correctly - 576 is obviously greater than 200,” he added.

“Why should there be a dispute if we are conforming to international law?” Aquino asked.

“Of course, they are a superpower, more than 10 times our population, we don’t want any hostility to break out. Perhaps the presence of our treaty partner which is the United States of America ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation, will conform to international law,” the President said.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing that the statement of the US ambassador “reaffirms even more our commitment to finding diplomatic and a peaceful resolution on the issues that we have in the West Philippine Sea.”

Valte said the statement was welcome because “everybody knows that we always have good relationship with the United States and so with other countries as well, even if we have issues with them.”

But Valte said there was no need to elaborate on the kind of assistance that the US is prepared to offer in the event of armed hostilities with China.

“We are in the process of trying to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict that we are in the middle of. So we do not want to make any statement that would be contrary to that position,” she said.

“I think with or without that clear statement, we have always been firm on our position on the issue. I don’t think anybody can doubt our resolve to have a resolution, a peaceful and diplomatic resolution on the issue,” Valte said.

“Our resolve cannot be questioned and that we will do so, we will pursue such resolution through diplomatic moves,” Valte said.

Valte said there should be no talk of military assistance yet because all claimant-countries were talking and seeking a peaceful resolution to the issue.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao said on Saturday that “military means” was not an option for China.

Authorities have recorded six to seven incursions into Philippine-claimed areas by Chinese vessels and aircraft.

Drilon appeal for Peace in Spratlys

Sen. Franklin Drilon, an administration ally, called for an end to incendiary statements on the West Philippine Sea issue.

“All sides should exercise calm and avoid issuing statements because this is a very sensitive issue. We must defend our sovereignty but we must also be very careful in issuing statements,” Drilon said.

Drilon emphasized that only the Department of Foreign Affairs should be allowed to issue statements because the issue involves diplomacy and foreign relations.

Drilon also said the country’s relations with China cannot be easily set aside. He was apparently referring to a call by Albay Gov. Joey Salceda for a boycott of Chinese products.

He also stressed that the issue should be discussed multilaterally, or taken up before the International Court of Justice.

The Philippines and other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he added, may take a united stand against China’s alleged bullying.

“This cannot be resolved on a bilateral or one-on-one basis. China is too big so the discussions should be multilateral, meaning the claimants in ASEAN should form a body to face China,” Drilon said.

Senate committee on foreign relations chair Loren Legarda also pushed for diplomacy in resolving the issue.

“It is to the region’s and the international community’s collective interest that the parties remain committed to exploring ways for building trust and confidence on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Legarda said.

Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce Enrile Jr., for his part, called for sobriety.

“Let the concerned agencies do the talking instead of (Palace) spokespersons who may not have a full grasp of West Philippine Sea, diplomacy, conflict management, and negotiations,” he said.

“When it comes to foreign policy, we should speak with one voice. We cannot compromise our foreign relations from interpretations made by spokespersons who muddle the handling of a potential conflict,” he said.

Enrile decried the apparently contradictory statements made by presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda and Valte, his deputy, on the Spratlys issue.

He said that while Lacierda was quoted as saying that the country is “committed to a multilateral approach to the resolution of claims in the Spratlys,” Valte invoked the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

Enrile said the agencies that should speak for the country on the issue are the DFA and the Department of National Defense.

Enrile’s father, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Joker Arroyo and other senators have expressed doubts on whether the MDT can compel the US to help the Philippines in case of an armed confrontation with China.

Enrile said the best way to resolve the conflict would be through negotiations under the framework of the UNCLOS.

Boycott All Chinese Product

Rep. Enrile also chided Salceda for calling for a boycott of Chinese-made goods. Salceda belongs to the ruling Liberal Party.

“Why on earth are we calling for a boycott of Chinese goods? China is bigger than the Philippines in terms of consumer market, so how can we, as a neighbor, even contemplate about it?” he asked.

“As responsible elected officials, we should refrain from instigating a trade war with the third biggest buyer of Philippine exports. The saber rattling is uncalled for. Let’s put a stop to that,” Rep. Enrile said.

“We should instead focus on setting up our national coast defense system to protect our baselines and buy and patronize Filipino products so that we help our economy,” he said.

Sen. Ralph Recto also slammed Salceda for his boycott call.

“The right response is to increase our trade and investments with China and perhaps, maybe with the right growth formula, we can get even economically years from now,” he added.

He said that it would be a “big economic victory” for the Philippines if it closes its $900-million trade deficit with China.

The country imported $7 billion worth of goods from China in 2010 as against its exports of a little over $6 billion.

Recto likewise noted that as part of the emerging economies and touted by respected global bodies as among the Top 25 countries with strong economies by 2025, the Philippines should “act accordingly” and should not be “boycott happy.”

“We should not only engage China diplomatically but also through business,” Recto stressed.

“The Spratlys question should be settled peacefully. You can’t be saber rattling with China. It’s our biggest trading neighbor,” Recto said.

“An action like that (boycott call) has repercussions. They can tell all you Filipino people in China, go home. They can call for a boycott of all Filipino products. I don’t know who will lose in this one. So we should take it easy,” Sen. Enrile said.

Recto said the Armed Forces of the Philippines should beef up its arsenal and capability “not for arms race but to protect our coral reefs and fishermen.”

Recto said the AFP should start buying modern equipment and fleet.

“We should start buying some of these equipment and I don’t care if we buy them from China,” he said.

 

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