China is invading gas rich South Korean Ieo Island, Spratlys of the Philippines, Senkaku Japan

By: Denis Somoso (OFW/ Independent writer)

China's communist hegemony hits Japan, Korea, Philippines and other 4 ASEAN Nations (Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia).

The Philippines, Royal Sultanate State of Sulu and China's dream Empire

Conflict in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) flare-up recently between China and the Philippines after china fired the Filipino fishermen in their waters claiming the waters surrounding Palawan Island of the Philippines as China's territory. Vietnam also protested as China sabotaged the Vietnam Exploration vessel in their sea. Not only Vietnam and the Philippines hit by China's hegemony but also it is expanding both East to South Seas creating disputes and challenging each country affected to build up their navies that includes  the powerful Japan and South Korea.

Though it is still far for the other countries to be controlled by China's communist hegemony; the Philippines' Old sultanate state of Sulu is hardly affected as China claimed the whole Spratlys archipelago which was owned and under the territory of the old Sultanate State of Sulu during the 1400 years or prior to the Spanish invasion to the Philippines.

Sultanate of Sulu - Sultan Kiram turned over his territorial and proprietary rights of the Sultanate of Sulu to the Republic of the Philippines in 1960s and the Philippine Government officially recognized the continued existence of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu under its regime.

Spratlys Archipelago become a core of interest of china as it stored the huge untapped deposit of oil and Gas in line with Saudi Arabia and the gulf countries that could sustain china's dependents in oil if they could control the whole archipelago. The Archipelago is not just rich in untapped oil and gas reserves but also a rich in marine resources and an important sea route for commerce.

The Benham Rise of the Philippines could be the next China Rise?

This year 2012, the Philippines is waiting for the approval from the United Nations for an official declaration that Benham as under Philippines's territory but china is now eyeing the seas in the Philippines Sea that includes Benham Rise facing the waters of Guam of the United States of America to be included in its communist hegemony.

Benham Rise is a Benham Plateau (with coordinates: 17°N 125°ECoordinates: 17°N 125°E) a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge east of the Philippines, in the Philippine Sea.

Under the Philippine Sea lies a number of Basins including the West Philippine Basin (WPB) of which inside the Basin is located the Central Basin Fault (CBF). The Benham Plateau is located in the CBF and its basement probably represents a micro-continent.

Several scientific surveys have been made on the feature to study its nature and its impact on tectonic subduction, including one about its effects on the 1990 Luzon earthquake, which devastated the northern city of Baguio. The area is currently claimed, as part of its continental shelf, by the Republic of the Philippines, which has lodged a claim with the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on April 8, 2009.

This future new Philippines territory could face another challenge like the Spratlys Archipelago if china will continue it expansionism attitude to its surrounding waters which give a hint to the Philippines to continue building up their coast guards and navy capabilities for deterrence.

South Korean Ieo Island and Senkaku Japan - new China's territory

China has included South Korea's Ieo-do (Ee-yoo-do Island) on the list of regular monitoring by maritime surveillance vessels and planes, claiming that the island is inside Chinese territorial waters. Ieo is an underwater rock 149 kilometers southwest of Korea's southernmost island of Mara. Ieo-do is located where South Korean and Chinese economic exclusive zones overlap but is closer to South Korean waters. The closest Chinese island is Sheshan at 287 kilometers from Ieo. South Korea set up a maritime research center on the island in 2003 and Korean researchers live there. The island belongs to South Korea but China is trying to flex its hegemonistic agenda based on its economic and military power.

Beijing has begun shifting the focus of its defense strategies from land to sea and building up its naval power. By dividing its maritime defense boundary lines into two -- one from Okinawa and Taiwan to the Philippines and the other from Saipan and Guam to Indonesia -- China apparently seeks to control the Pacific. A case in point is China's first aircraft carrier Varyag, which will go into commission this year. China announced last year its intent to enter the East Sea separating South Korea and Japan by sending two military vessels there for the first time in 15 years.

To brace for China`s claim to South Korea's sovereign waters, the planned naval base on Jeju Island is a must. China is locking horns with Southeast Asian countries over the South China Sea and with Japan over the Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyu in Chinese. If disputes arise over Ieo, the South Korean Navy should respond to them. It will take 23 hours for the South Korean Navy to reach the island from Busan, but the Chinese east fleet in Ningbo can get there in just 18 hours. If the Jeju base is established, the South Korean Navy can make it in just eight hours. Response time is a critical factor that determines the outcome of a military operation.

The naval base is also essential to protecting the Jeju sea route, where more than 90 percent of inbound and outbound maritime freight passes. Up to 100 billion barrels of oil and 7.2 billion tons of natural gas are also presumed to be buried underwater near Ieo as well. Such an ample volume of natural resources is another reason behind Beijing's dispatch of a naval vessel in July last year to waters near Ieo and its territorial claim to the island.

Like the Philippines, Korean government still encountered China's supporters from South Koreans using the environment activist groups. South Korean Government Supporters called the anti government to reunite. "Those in South Korea opposed to the construction of the Jeju base present themselves as peacekeepers and environmentalists, but are eventually helping China and North Korea. Therefore, they must stop hindering the project. Going against the construction of the naval base is tantamount to giving up national security and interest".

 

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Philippines Gross Int'l Reserves GIR surge 6 Notches rank 25th Global Ranking - Economy resilient

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has identified four countervailing forces that would help the Philippines survive the weak global demand amid the fragile economic growth in advanced economies led by the US as well as the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country's strong external payments position, resilient banking system, demographic dividends, and manageable inflation would serve as countervailing forces to offset weak global demand.

"The country enjoys three... no, four factors that have become countervailing forces to offset the slack in external demand that we now face (because of the volatile global market)," Tetangco stressed.

He pointed out that the favorable external sector dynamics would continue to be a source of strength for the Philippine economy.

He said sustained foreign exchange inflows, including remittances of overseas Filipinos and earnings from the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector have provided the BSP the opportunity to build up its international reserves.

Once the revitalized tourism program of the national government goes into full swing, Tetangco said the country's external liquidity position would improve even more.

"This will further enhance the country's self-insurance. The BSP maintains a policy of a market-determined exchange rate, with scope for official action only against excessive rate movements. With the varying effects of exchange rate movements on different economic sectors, this policy has proven to be most equitable and efficient for the overall economy," he said.

The BSP sees the country's gross international reserves (GIR) - the sum of all foreign exchange flowing into the country - hitting a new all time high of $79 billion this year from $75.3 billion last year. As of February 2012, Philippine Gross International reserves surges up 6 notches world rank from 31 to rank 25 of $77.766 Billion US Dollar. It also expects the balance of payments (BOP) surplus stabilizing at $2.8 billion this year from $10.9 billion last year. The BOP position refers to the difference of foreign exchange inflows and outflows on a particular period and represents the country's transactions with the rest of the world.

The BSP chief also cited the country's banking system that continued to remained stable amid the mounting challenges posed by the current global economic conditions.

"The reforms - which were instituted well ahead of this crisis — paved the way for banks to enhance their risk management systems, adopt international accounting standards and improve transparency and disclosure to clients. These have, in turn, promoted well-capitalized, better-governed, and ... profitable banks," Tetangco said.

He pointed out that the bank regulator does not foresee a significant adverse impact on banks even if the BSP announced an accelerated adoption of higher capital requirement under the Basel 3 framework starting January 2014 as the industry's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 17 percent way above the BSP treshhold of 10 percent and the international standard of eight percent.

He also noted the country's demographic dividends and domestic consumption continued to be fuelled by strong remittances from Filipinos working abroad.

'We have a vibrant, young, skilled, ready-to-consume population. The country's domestic consumption has certainly continued to buoy our economic growth. Consumption has also remained to be underpinned by strong remittances from overseas Filipinos and receipts from the BPO sector," he added.

According to him, the country's inflation remained manageable and is expected to fall within the mid-point of the BSP target of three percent to five percent this year and next year.

Monetary policy has certainly been successful in providing just the right amount of domestic liquidity.. to fund the productive sectors of the economy. This favorable inflation outlook has allowed BSP to accommodate economic growth, without fuelling an asset price bubble," Tetangco stressed.

The BSP's Monetary Board has so far slashed interest rates by 50 basis points this year due to benign inflation outlook and slower than expected global economic growth. The 25 basis point reduction last January 19 followed by another 25 basis point cut last March 1 brought the overnight borrowing rate back to a record low of four percent and the overnight lending rate at six percent.

The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) sees the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growing between five percent and six percent this year after slackening to 3.7 percent last year from 7.6 percent in 2010 due to weak global trade and cautious spending by the Aquino government.

"Given all these factors, I believe there is basis for continued optimism on the country's growth prospects," the BSPchief said.

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