Philippines attacks China’s “Internationally –illegal” maritime law

The West Philippines Sea of the Kalayaan Group of Island in the Province of Palawan Philippines. 

The Philippines has criticized China for expanding the powers of its maritime police, in a move that has further inflamed tensions over the South China Sea.

Manila urged Beijing to "immediately clarify" its plans to allow Chinese maritime police to interdict ships in the South China Sea, where China, Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia have conflicting territorial claims.

The Philippines foreign ministry on Saturday said the new powers – if accurately reported – would constitute a "gross violation" of legal agreements on the South China Sea and a "direct threat to the international community".

Tensions over the South China Sea, which is believed to hold vast oil and gas resources and is home to a third of the world's shipping activity, have risen steadily this year. Last week, southeast Asia's top diplomat warned that the area risks becoming "Asia's Palestine".

The new Chinese regulations, which were summarised in state-run media and come into force on January 1, allow maritime police in Hainan province to board and detain ships that are carrying out "illegal activities", such as entering Chinese waters without permission and carrying out "publicity campaigns".

The Chinese navy already had the right under Chinese law to board foreign vessels in Chinese waters. But the new law extends this power to domestic maritime police ships as well, said Li Jinming, a professor at Xiamen University's Maritime Studies Center. "Previously China has always used its navy, not its maritime police, for these types of activities."

Taiwanese and Indian officials also voiced concern, with Taipei calling on Beijing to exercise more "self-restraint" after the new rules were published.

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, a China expert at the International Crisis Group, said the law was "part of an overall strategy by Beijing to more forcefully defend its sovereignty claims through legal, economic and operational means".

She said the measure appeared to apply mainly "to the activities of foreign ships within Hainan's 12-nautical mile territorial seas", but vague language in the summaries suggests that it may extend beyond that.

The statement from Manila is the latest irritant in increasingly strained relations between China and the Philippines, which figured in a prolonged maritime stand-off in April over the Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea.

Last week, the Philippines, Vietnam and India protested Beijing's decision to include the controversial nine-dash line map it uses to demark its maritime claims in new Chinese passports.

Manila said it will no longer stamp its visas on the Chinese passport but will instead stamp it on a separate visa application form.(http://is.gd/DqECWU)

The Financial Times

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2nd Philippine Warship-Alcaraz would be delay of deployment from earlier schedule

Deployment would be delay for re-fitting armament system. Mk38 Mod 2 automatic cannon systems to be fitted to Philippine Warship BRP Ramon Alcaraz. A frigate purchased by the Philippines from the United States will be among the first ships in the world to be equipped with state-of-the art cannon systems.

Philippine warship likely to be deployed by April 2013

The Philippine government may have to wait until April 2013 before it could deploy its second warship, even as the tension triggered by the conflicting ownership claims over the islands in the West Philippine Sea is expected to escalate.

Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama said on Sunday the scheduled commissioning of BRP Ramon Alcaraz would be delayed due to ongoing repairs and refitting on the Hamilton-class cutter in Charleston, South Carolina.

The 45-year-old frigate was formally acquired for ₱450 million by the Armed Forces from the US Coast Guard on May 22 as part of the US government's military assistance to the Philippines.

"The repairs are still continuing so most probably (BRP Alcaraz) will arrive in the country late March or early April next year," Pama told reporters over the phone.

He said the delay was caused mainly by the installation of the new main engine of the 3,250-ton warship, which was initially scheduled to sail from the United States last May.

"That's why we are taking this opportunity for our personnel to undergo more training," he said.

Asked if the ship would be sent to patrol the country's coastlines in the West Philippine Sea, he said "it will be deployed wherever it may be needed."

In his State of the Nation Address last July, President Benigno Aquino III announced that BRP Alcaraz would be sailing from the United States in January 2013 as part of the much-needed upgrade in the war armaments and equipment of the Armed Forces.

"We are not sending paper boats out to the sea. Now, our 36,000 kilometers of coastline will be patrolled by more modern ships," the President said, referring to the decades-old vessel which the US Coast Guard decommissioned on March 30.

Formerly called USCGC Dallas (WHEC-716), the military's second frigate was named after the late Commodore Ramon "Monching" Alcaraz, a decorated World War II hero who commanded Q-boat Abra, which shot down three Japanese aircraft.

Like its sister ship BRP Gregorio del Pilar, the warship was classified as a high-endurance cutter built in 1968. (http://is.gd/Yk9sV7)

Inquirer Global Nation

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