China’s President Hu urges navy to prepare for combat - Drill oil in Spratlys begin

Chinese President Hu Jintao urging his Military to prepare for a war

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday (December 6, 2011) urged the Chinese navy to prepare for military combat, amid growing regional tensions over maritime disputes and a US campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power.

The navy should "accelerate its transformation and modernization in a sturdy way, and make extended preparations for military combat in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security," he said.

Addressing the powerful Central Military Commission, Hu said: "Our work must closely encircle the main theme of national defense and military building."

His comments, which were posted in a statement on a government website, come as the United States and Beijing's neighbors have expressed concerns over its naval ambitions, particularly in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

Several Asian nations have competing claims over parts of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), believed to encompass huge oil and gas reserves, while China claims it all. One-third of global seaborne trade passes through the region.

Vietnam and the Philippines have accused Chinese forces of increasing aggression there.

In a translation of Hu's comments, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the president as saying China's navy should "make extended preparations for warfare."

The Pentagon however downplayed Hu's speech, saying that Beijing had the right to develop its military, although it should do so transparently.

"They have a right to develop military capabilities and to plan, just as we do," said Pentagon spokesman George Little, but he added, "We have repeatedly called for transparency from the Chinese and that's part of the relationship we're continuing to build with the Chinese military."

"Nobody's looking for a scrap here," insisted another spokesman, Admiral John Kirby.

"Certainly we wouldn't begrudge any other nation the opportunity, the right to develop naval forces to be ready.

"Our naval forces are ready and they'll stay ready."

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said: "We want to see stronger military-to-military ties with China and we want to see greater transparency. That helps answer questions we might have about Chinese intentions."

Hu's announcement comes in the wake of trips to Asia by several senior US officials, including President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

US undersecretary of defense Michelle Flournoy is due to meet in Beijing with her Chinese counterparts on Wednesday for military-to-military talks.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last month warned against interference by "external forces" in regional territorial disputes including those in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea).

And China said late last month it would conduct naval exercises in the Pacific Ocean, after Obama, who has dubbed himself America's first Pacific president, said the US would deploy up to 2,500 Marines to Australia.

China's People's Liberation Army, the largest military in the world, is primarily a land force, but its navy is playing an increasingly important role as Beijing grows more assertive about its territorial claims.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon warned that Beijing was increasingly focused on its naval power and had invested in high-tech weaponry that would extend its reach in the Pacific and beyond.

China's first aircraft carrier began its second sea trial last week after undergoing refurbishments and testing, the government said.

The 300-meter (990-foot) ship, a refitted former Soviet carrier, underwent five days of trials in August that sparked international concern about China's widening naval reach.

Beijing only confirmed this year that it was revamping the old Soviet ship and has repeatedly insisted that the carrier poses no threat to its neighbors and will be used mainly for training and research purposes.

But the August sea trials were met with concern from regional powers including Japan and the United States, which called on Beijing to explain why it needs an aircraft carrier.

China, which publicly announced around 50 separate naval exercises in the seas off its coast over the past two years — usually after the event — says its military is only focused on defending the country's territory.

China's will start drilling for Oil in Spratlys December 2011 or January 2012

China is targeting to drill for oil in the Spratlys near the main island of Palawan Province, Philippines

Chinese offshore oil and gas specialist CNOOC Ltd will drill its first deepsea exploration well in a northern area of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea) in coming weeks, a company official told Reuters news.

The china's president Hu urging for preparation for combat might be in line with their oil exploration in the Spratlys which might result to sparks opposition between claimant countries more particularly the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Although missing an earlier schedule by nearly half a year, the wildcat, an exploration well drilled in an unproven area, marks the beginning of the company's long-planned foray into the geologically challenging deep waters offshore China.

"981 will start drilling late this month or in January," said a company official, referring to the country's first and only homemade deepsea rig Offshore Oil 981, which is designed to operate at a water depth of 3,000 metres and to drill up to 10,000 metres.

Hong Kong-listed CNOOC and international partners including Canada's Husky Energy Inc and U.S. Company Chevron Corp will step up exploration of the deepsea waters in the South China Sea in coming years, with the first major production from the Liwan gas project operated by Husky.

The companies would mostly drill in the northern part of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), industry officials and analysts have said, staying away from politically sensitive waters to the south to avoid territorial rows with neighbors such as Vietnam and the Philippines.

The CNOOC official did not say where the first well would be drilled, but over recent years the offshore major had carried out seismic work in the Qiongdongnan basin and the Pearl River Mouth Basin and identified "big oil and gas structures", Chinese geologists said.

Husky Energy, which struck the sole major deep-sea discovery offshore China in 2006, said in September that its Liwan gas project would begin production in 2014, with daily output to reach 500 million cubic feet in 2015.

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Military Buildup in West Philippines Sea Spratlys - Red to break a war

December 6, 2011: The Philippines is feared of losing the Spratlys as it is the weakest country claimant in Spratlys in terms of Military capability. Most Part of the Spratlys is just within the Philippines's territory's 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone as the Spratlys archipelago is just within Philippines proximity but the country's capability to defend its territory is very low reason why neighbors are invading in which former Administration must be blame for stealing government money and less funding for the armed capability.  Blaming Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo is too late.

Anxiety has come and the Spratlys now is tagged as the most dangerous and restive sea. Though the Spratlys is the same geographic feature with the main islands of the Philippines as Archipelagic States that links the islands of the country; the government could not flex its power as china remains the most powerful and just a kick to sink the Philippines' military capability.

Though china is very far from the Spratlys as it is just within Philippines Proximity, Philippines is nothing as invading china is powerful which ready to compete with US powers.

Several countries with overlapping claims in the Spratlys of the Philippines territory which is adjacent to the Main Island Palawan, province of the Philippines  are reportedly tripled building up their military powers in the territory — a move that may endanger regional security and stability and looks like ready to broke a war.

China has intensify building up in areas within the Philippines Territory's 200 Nautical Mile Exclusive Economic Zone and Malaysia build an airbase in Layang – layang  near the  edge of the Southwestern part of Main Island Palawan which is also claimed by the Philippines 200 N Miles.

According to Indonesian Center of Democracy, Diplomacy and Defense executive director Teuku Rezasyah, Malaysia has two battleships, the Philippines one and another coming 1, China 27 and Taiwan 26 operating in the South China Sea.

He said Vietnam had several escort vessels operating in the area, while no data was available for Brunei's operations in the Spratlys islands.

"China's 27 naval vessels do not even include the aircraft carrier and submarines [it operates in the South China Sea],"

He said a Type 093 Shang class nuclear-powered attack submarine was observed at the pier under construction.

Significant construction is still underway at the Yalong Bay Naval Base on Hainan Island, including a fourth submarine pier at the southern section of the base, increased camouflage over the submarine pen and a bunkered rail line on the eastern side of the basin peninsula, he said.

"China has successfully massively reclaimed shores on Nam Yit Island and Southwest Cay Island, which borders the Philippines. China has made those hubs for its aircraft carriers based on satellite imagery," Rezasyah said.

He said that China was likely preparing for a worst-case scenario, with Nam Yit Island able to support three aircraft carriers.

China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan all have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, which is estimated to have oil and natural gas reserves amounting to 17.7 billion tons, making it the world's fourth-largest reserve bed.

The Paracels are claimed by China and Vietnam; Scarborough Shoals and Reed Bank  which described by Philippines president Aquinos as just like the Recto Avenue in manila as it is just in the side of few kilometers from the Philippines shore is claimed by China; Tungsha is claimed by China and Taiwan; the Spratlys are claimed by China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, according to the ASEAN Secretariat.

According to Reza, Malaysia has built military bases on Layang-layang, a resort island that has a 1,356-meter-long airplane runway and is only 300 kilometers away from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia's (Philippines' North Borneo) Sabah.

Northeast Cay Island, which is claimed by the Philippines, is integrated with the United States 7th Fleet. Although it is hard to physically verify it, "planes that are used in that area are the same planes used by the US 7th Fleet", he said.

Taiwan is building up its military forces in Tai Ping Dao Island (Itu Aba Island), which is also claimed by China, the Philippines and Vietnam, he said.

"The most fearful  for Taiwan is if China seizes Tai Ping Dao Island, which is claimed by Taiwan and China, because there will be no one who can do anything to help, not even ASEAN, thanks to the one China policy," Rezasyah said.

The territorial disputes in the South China Sea have brought the US into the field that is anticipating the risk of Chinese aggression possibly through its plan to deploy 2,500 US marines in Australia's Darwin, which is only 820 kilometers away from Indonesia.

Already, the US has 29,086 military personnel at its bases in South Korea and 35,688 military personnel at its bases in Japan, according to various sources.

The US also allegedly asked for Indonesia's help to counter China by asking Indonesia to use its newly granted F-16 fighter jets to help the US deal with China "if anything bad happens in the South China Sea", a source told the Post.

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New habitable planet “Kepler-22b” discovered – like earth Filipinos could migrate

By: Denis Somoso

How could be the new Philippines inside the Kepler-22b planet? Do you think that there could be another Spratlys disputes in Kepler-22b Planet? Do you think that China will still lead in economy if they could have a chance to grab a piece of Spratlys Island in the Kepler Planet? Which country could be your favored neighbor? China or America? For me I want to be a neighbor with Indonesia, Thailand and East Timorese as we have similarities in culture, belief, language, looks or accent of the face, skin texture and we looks like 1 family a light brown or naturally tropical  tanned color so there will be no color discrimination among neighbors as everyone looks like 1 family.

 

An artist's concept of Kepler-22b, a roughly Earth-size world orbiting within the habitable zone of a sun-like star 600 light years from Earth. (Credit: NASA)

A new habitable planet in the other solar system has been discovered. Though we need to wait for another 3 years more to confirm if human in Earth is welcome to migrate to this new Kepler -22b planet but the report is positive that human could live and exist in this new planet.

Kepler-22b planet's life is faster than the earth as 1 year is only 290 days or 75 days faster compare to the Earth. The temperature of this planet is expected to be better  or almost the same as what in earth for 72 degree Fahrenheit or 22 Degrees Celsius, a very good  temperature to plant banana, potato, apple,  and vegetables.

As published by NASA (December 6, 2011); for the first time, astronomers using NASA's Kepler space telescope have confirmed a roughly Earth-size planet orbiting a sun-like star in the so-called "Goldilocks" zone where water can exist in liquid form on the surface and conditions may be favorable for life as it is known on Earth.

Along with the confirmed extra-solar planet, one of 28 discovered so far by Kepler, researchers today also announced the discovery of 1,094 new exoplanet candidates, pushing the spacecraft's total so far to 2,326, including 10 candidate Earth-size worlds orbiting in the habitable zones of their parent stars.

Additional observations are required to tell if a candidate is, in fact, an actual world. But astronomers say a planet known as Kepler-22b, orbiting a star some 600 light years from Earth, is the real thing.

"Today I have the privilege of announcing the discovery of Kepler's first planet in the habitable zone of a sun-like star, Kepler-22b," Bill Borucki, the Kepler principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, told reporters. "It's 2.4 times the size of the Earth, it's in an orbital period (or year) of 290 days, a little bit shorter than the Earth's, it's a little bit closer to its star than Earth is to the sun, 15 percent closer.

"But the star is a little bit dimmer; it's a little bit lower in temperature, a little bit smaller. That means that planet, Kepler-22b, has a rather similar temperature to that of the Earth...If the greenhouse warming were similar on this planet, its surface temperature would be something like 72 Fahrenheit, a very pleasant temperature here on Earth."

It is not yet known whether Kepler-22b is predominantly rocky, liquid, or gaseous in composition, but the finding confirms for the first time the long-held expectation that Earth-size planets do, in fact, orbit other suns in the habitable zones of their host stars.

That, in turn, greatly improves the odds for the existence of life, as it is commonly defined, beyond Earth's solar system.

"I think there are two things that are really exciting about Kepler-22b," said Natalie Batalha, the deputy science team lead at Ames. "One is that it's right in the middle of this habitable zone.

"The second thing that's really exciting is it's orbiting a star very, very similar to our own sun. This is a solar analogue, almost a solar twin, very similar to our own sun and you've got a planet 2.4 times the size of the Earth right smack in the habitable zone."

Equipped with a 95-megapixel digital camera, Kepler was launched from Cape Canaveral on March 6, 2009. The camera is aimed at a patch of sky in the constellation Cygnus that's the size of an outstretched hand that contains more than 4.5 million detectable stars.

Of that total, some 300,000 are believed to be the right age, have the right composition and the proper brightness to host Earth-like planets. More than 156,000 of those, ranging from 600 to 3,000 light years away, will be actively monitored by Kepler over the life of the mission.

To find candidate planets, the spacecraft's camera monitors the brightness of target stars in the instrument's wide field of view, on the lookout for subtle changes that might indicate a world passing between the star and the telescope. By studying the slight dimming--comparable to watching a flea creep across a car's headlight at night--and by timing repeated cycles, computers can identify potential extra-solar worlds even though the planets themselves cannot be seen.

 

Earth's solar system and that of Kepler-22b drawn to scale, showing the habitable zones of both stars and the relative sizes of familiar planets. (Credit: NASA)

But it's a challenging observation. For a planet like Earth passing in front of a star like the sun, the sun's light would dim by just 84 parts per million. To make sure an observation indicates the presence of a real planet and not some other phenomena, measurements over multiple orbits are required. For Earth-like planets in habitable-zone orbits, a full three years is needed to confirm an initial observation.

In June 2010, the Kepler team announced 312 planet candidates, most smaller than Neptune, in data collected over the first four months of the mission. In February 2011, based on 13 months of data, the number grew to 1,235 potential planets orbiting 997 stars.

The latest announcement pushes the total number of candidates to 2,326 possible planets orbiting 1,792 stars. Of that total, 367 stars--about 20 percent--show signs of multiple planet candidates.

Twenty-eight confirmed planets have been found in the Kepler data. Including Earth-based telescopes, more than 600 extrasolar planets have been found to date. But most of them are huge Jupiter-class worlds orbiting well outside the habitable zone.

With Kepler, "we're getting very close, we are really homing in on the true Earth-size habitable planets," Batalha said.

Also in the hunt: The SETI Institute, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, in Mountain View, Calif.

Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research at the institute, said a radio telescope array that was looking for signs of radio signals in the Kepler field of stars that might indicate the presence of intelligent life is back in operation after a budget-driven hiatus earlier this year.

"I'm really pleased to announce as of 6:18 this morning, as the Kepler field rose over the observatory, the ATA (Allen Telescope Array) was back on the air, continuing the search for Earth analogues."

The Allen Telescope Array, originally funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is being used to make systematic observations of stars in the Kepler field, on the lookout for any signs of artificial signals.

Citing a 1993 paper by Carl Sagan and four colleagues that used data from NASA's Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft as a test for detecting life on Earth, Tarter said "one of the strongest pieces of evidence for life, indeed intelligent life on Earth, was the presence of narrow-band pulse-amplitude-modulated radio transmissions."

"While there may be some uncertainty about how to define the habitable zone, an exoplanet that could be detected through the techno-signatures of its inhabitants would surely qualify as an Earth analogue," she said.

About William Harwood

Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He has covered more than 125 shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2's flyby of Neptune, and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of "Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia." You can follow his frequent status updates at the CBS News Space page.

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Greece could Jump S&P CC rating Eurozone Jump -1& -2 down – PHL as ease

Philippines + up ratings

While the Philippines is still lobbying to have the investment grade ratings for its high liquidity and foreign currency reserves continued to grow in October 2011, giving the Philippines more than enough of a defense against a deteriorating global economic situation as it ranks now up to thethe 26^th highest World Gross International Reserves higher than many countries in Europe – S&P and Fitch stick the Philippines' rating as ease though it deserves upgrade.

Currently, Fitch Ratings has put the country one notch below investment grade while Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's have it rated two notches lower. This is after four recent upgrades by the agencies.

Last month, the country repaid 7% of its outstanding foreign debt, about $1.3 billion at a premium of nearly $1.7 billion, the secretary said, as part of a series of broad economic and government reforms it is undertaking to improve the country's image and governance.

The repayment of debt is expected to save the country from making expensive interest payments and takes it a step closer toward its policy goal of reducing foreign currency debt. Like other countries in the region, the Philippines, which is the largest issuer of foreign debt with nearly $16 billion outstanding, hopes to protect its economy from the swings of the currency trade by reducing its dependence on such debt.

As the Philippines economy continue to bubble, the countries GIR will also grow upward. The country's GIR now higher than the reserves of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia, and most countries in Europe.

Japan remains the 2^nd highest followed by Russia & Saudi Arabia. France ranks 13^th lower than South Korea's 8^th notch. United Kingdom is on the 20^th of $114,180 Billion GIR.

Eurozone Jump -1 & -2 ratings down

Confirming earlier reports, Standard & Poor's put its ratings of 15 Euro zone countries on watch negative, implying it could lower credit ratings of countries including Germany and France.

Ahead of an EU summit Thursday and Friday, S&P said the 15 countries are at risk of a downgrade depending on what comes out of the meeting. The move, S&P said, was "prompted by our belief that systemic stresses in the eurozone have risen in recent weeks to the extent that they now put downward pressure on the credit standing of the eurozone as a whole."

S&P said Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg could have ratings lowered by up to one notch, while France, also currently AAA, and the rest of the governments, including Italy and Spain, and could see ratings lowered by up to two notches.

The ratings agency, which cut the U.S. rating one notch from AAA in August after the debt ceiling debate failed to generate significant deficit reduction plans, said the systemic stress in the Euro zone comes from five factors:

(1) Tightening credit conditions across the eurozone;

(2) Markedly higher risk premiums on a growing number of eurozone sovereigns, including some that are currently rated 'AAA';

(3) Continuing disagreements among European policy makers on how to tackle the immediate market confidence crisis and, longer term, how to ensure greater economic, financial, and fiscal convergence among eurozone members;

(4) High levels of government and household indebtedness across a large area of the eurozone; and

(5) The rising risk of economic recession in the eurozone as a whole in 2012.

Currently, we expect output to decline next year in countries such as Spain,

Portugal and Greece, but we now assign a 40% probability of a fall in output for the eurozone as a whole.

Of those factors, S&P said its review will focus on the political, external and monetary scores it assigns the region's government's, considering both "country-specific and Euro zone-wide issues that appear to us to be limiting the effectiveness of efforts to resolve the market confidence crisis." S&P will also consider the borrowing requirements of governments and European banks, as well as the European Central Bank's policy settings, which to date have not included any signals of a willingness to act as a lender of last resort. (See "What Bernanke & Friends' Latest Move Means For Markets.")

Seth Setrakian, co-head of equities at First New York Securities, highlighted the issue of high levels of government and household indebtedness mentioned by S&P, arguing that all the bailout discussions currently in effect or on the table increase, rather than decrease indebtedness in some fashion. Germany's resistance to a full-on rescue of countries like Italy without stringent debt and deficit restrictions is a positive in Setrakian's view, even if it makes trading a challenge in a highly volatile market. "For once, somebody is willing to take short-term pain for long-term gain."

Earlier Monday, France's Nicholas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel said they were determined to rework treaties in order to allow for sanctions on countries that to not meet fiscal guidelines, while the Italian government announced €30 billion in austerity measures aimed at cutting its debt load under new Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Greece, the country that kicked off the European debt crisis more than a year ago, was not one of the country's placed on watch by S&P Monday. Of course, that's because the ratings agency believes there is already "a relatively high near-term probability of default," as connoted by its CC rating.

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WikiLeaks Founder - Julian Assange to take fight to British Supreme Court

Julian Assange arrives at the High Court in London. "Today the High Court has decided that an issue that arises from my own case is of general public importance and may be of assistance to other cases and could be heard by the Supreme Court," he said. (Stefan Wermuth / Reuters / December 5, 2011)

By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times (henry.chu@latimes.com)

December 6, 2011: Reporting from London— Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks website, is free to ask Britain's highest court to decide whether he should be extradited to Sweden on allegations of sexual assault, judges ruled Monday.

Recently, Julian Assange has been recognized in Australia for its "outstanding contribution to journalism", with founder Julian Assange lashing out at "cowardly" Prime Minister Julia Gillard in an acceptance speech.

The global community recognized the independent journalism and heroic contribution of the Wikileaks that leaked thousands of confidential information involving the politics and US cables.

In the Philippines; Wikileaks leaked tons of information from the US cables related to the Philippines political issues and including the information that lauded by the locals regarding the tons of gold and oil and gas deposits in Agusan Marsh Mindanao which is estimated to a $Trillion US dollars.

Wikileaks leaked also the confidential comment of former US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney describing the Philippines President Benigno Aquino III as unassertive.

The 40-year-old Australian has been battling extradition to Stockholm, the Swedish capital, since a judge ruled in February that he should be sent there to face accusations of raping and molesting two women.

Assange and his lawyers have 14 days to file a request for review by the Supreme Court. If it refuses to hear the matter, Assange would be extradited within days of the decision. If it accepts, the case would probably come before the court sometime next spring, the BBC reported.

Assange denies any misconduct and insists his relations with the women in separate encounters in August 2010 were consensual. He contends that the allegations against him are politically motivated, a pretext to ship him onward for prosecution in the U.S., where the Obama administration has roundly condemned him for leaking thousands of diplomatic documents on his website.

He surrendered to police in London last December after Sweden issued a warrant for his arrest. He has spent almost the entire time since then under "mansion arrest," living on a supporter's sprawling country estate outside London but forced to wear an electronic tag, abide by a curfew and check in with police daily.

Last month, judges on Britain's High Court upheld the earlier ruling approving Assange's extradition. On Monday, they said he would not be allowed to pursue his case any further through the normal appeals process but could apply directly to the Supreme Court for a hearing, on the basis that general principles worthy of the court's scrutiny were at stake.

Those principles deal with which bodies in foreign countries ought to be allowed to request extradition of suspects from Britain.

"Today the High Court has decided that an issue that arises from my own case is of general public importance and may be of assistance to other cases and could be heard by the Supreme Court," Assange told reporters. "I think that is a correct decision and I am thankful. The long struggle for justice for me and others continues."

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6 Chinese fishermen charged for endangered sea turtle catch in Philippines Spratlys

MANILA, Philippines — A court in the Philippines charged six Chinese fishermen with poaching endangered sea turtles in proceedings Monday aimed at protecting threatened wildlife along the country's coastline.

Authorities discovered a batch of giant green turtles after intercepting the fishermen's speedboat in waters off the western province of Palawan on Friday, said military spokesman Major Niel Estrella. A joint team from the Philippine navy, coast guard and the Environment Department made the seizure.

The boat was likely attached to a mother ship that escaped after the fishermen were detained, Estrella said.

Nine of the turtles were already dead, but three were released alive into the waters after being tagged, Glenda Cadigal, a wildlife specialist at the Palawan Council, told The Associated Press.

The sea turtles, also known as Chelonia mydas, are often caught for food and for use in traditional medicine. They can grow as long as 5 feet (150 centimeters) and weigh as much as 290 pounds (130 kilograms). They are endangered because of overharvesting of both eggs and adults.

On Monday, authorities filed criminal charges under the Philippines' Wildlife Act and Fisheries Code at the Palawan Regional Trial Court in the capital Puerto Princessa, said Adelina Villena, chief lawyer for the government's Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.

If found guilty on all charges, the fishermen would face up to 24 years in prison. They were not requested to enter a plea Monday and a date for their arraignment was not immediately set, Villena said.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was "paying attention to the incident" and asked the Philippines to ensure the safety and legal rights of the fishermen. "The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has sent staff to visit the detained fishermen," Hong said.

Last year, six Chinese fishermen also on a speedboat were arrested near the same area with more than 50 turtles, many of them already butchered and one bearing a monitoring tag of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, said Cadrigal, the wildlife specialist.

The trial of those fishermen is still continuing.

"These kinds of practices endanger the lives of other creatures in the sea because marine turtles have their function in the balance of the ecosystem," Cadigal said.

Sea turtles feed on sea grass, which keeps the blades short and promotes their growth across the sea bed, and also provide sand beaches with nutrients, partly because of the eggs they lay that remain unhatched.

Palawan, about 510 miles (820 kilometers) southwest of Manila, is the nearest Philippine province to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which are claimed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.

Relations between the Philippines and China have recently soured after Manila accused Beijing of interfering with its oil exploration activities in the sea China claims in its entirety.

___

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. Associated Press writer Louise Watt in Beijing contributed to this report.

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5 Chinese Spy & poachers captured in Palawan

Class and type: Jacinto class (also known at Tatlong Bayani class)| Type: Patrol Corvette| Displacement 763 tons full load| Length: 205.4 ft (62.6 m)| Beam: 32.8 ft (10.0 m)| Draft: 8.9 ft (2.7 m)|  Installed power:         14,188 bhp Propulsion:  2 x APE-Crossley SEMT-Pielstick 18 PA6 V 280 Diesel engines, 2 x shafts , 1 x Schottel S103 LSVEST drop-down, shrouded loiter retractable propeller, 181 shp| Speed: 25 knots (sustained speed) |Range: 2,500 nmi at 17 knots |  Boats and landing | craft carried: 2 x Avon Searaider 5.4m 30-kn. 10-man Semi-rigid boat aft | Complement: 31 | Sensors and processing systems: Sperry Marine Naval BridgeMaster E Series Surface Search Radar, Kelvin Hughes Type 1006 Navigation Radar , Ultra Electronics Command and Control System,  Radamec 1500 Series 2500 Electro-Optical Tracking/Fire Control System | Armament: 1 × 76 mm Oto Melara Compact DP gun,  1 x 25 mm M242, Bushmaster on MSI Defense Seahawk mount,  2 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns,  2 × .50 caliber machine guns, Armor: Belted Steel

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines - Naval authorities on Thursday (December 1, 2011) arrested five Chinese nationals for allegedly fishing illegally in Palawan's southernmost sea corridor off Balabac.

Adm. Rostum Peña, Naval Forces West (Navforwest) commander, said the five were brought to Puerto Princesa on board BRP Apolinario Mabini on Saturday for the filing of charges.

He said the Chinese fishermen were spotted aboard a speed boat some 1.5 nautical miles from the coastal village of Ramos, Balabac, and were captured following a chase by an enforcement team led by a Navy patrol boat.

The Chinese's boat yielded five live marine turtles, three dead ones and assorted fishing paraphernalia, including butchering tools.

China used to use undercover agent to spy as fishermen to search out and monitor the latest development in the area for their future plan.

Pakistan Observer published Saturday that Oil exploration in Chinese claimed waters is pending and several wells will be drilled next year in 2012 in any area in South China Sea. As a prelude to a climax, China has warned Vietnam, the Philippines and India (under license from Vietnam) against doing so.

Peña said the arrested Chinese nationals were believed to have come from the Chinese province of Hainan and were part of a bigger fishing fleet which was able to elude arrest.

The Chinese speed boat, according to Navforwest spokesperson Lt. Noel Joseph Cadigal, had two high-powered outboard engines and tried to ram the naval patrol boat before attempting to escape.

Cadigal said the Chinese speed boat malfunctioned during the chase allowing the law enforcers to catch up.

Peña, in an interview, said he observed that the Chinese poachers have adopted a different approach and were no longer the ones conducting fishing but were instead financing local villagers to conduct the illegal fishing.

"We need our local government units to be more vigilant and prevent this form of exploitation by foreign poachers," Peña said.

Dozens of Chinese poachers got away with illegal fishing in Palawan in the past after national government officials, often the Department of Foreign Affairs, interceded on their behalf following Chinese government pressure.

China is claiming the entire South China Sea as its territory in a dispute with several other countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, which claims part of the Spratly islands and refers to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea.

China's To Start Drilling oil in Spratlys by 2012

The drilling platform of 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.

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The Philippines improves in corruption Index 2011

The Philippines aims to be at the top 20 least corrupt country by 2012

Insight of corruption in the Philippines has eased from last year due to the Aquino administration's campaign for good governance, global civil society group Transparency International said in its latest rankings published yesterday.

The Philippines placed 129th out of 183 territories in the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index which ranks such jurisdictions based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.

Last year, the country ranked 134th out of 178 territories.

In Asia and the Pacific, the Philippines ranked 25th out of 35.

The study, covering the period December 2009 to September 2011, scored territories on a scale of 0-10, with 0 indicating the jurisdiction concerned is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 meaning it is deemed very clean.

The Philippines got a score of 2.6 this year, an improvement from the 2.4 garnered last year, the index showed.

"We have inched our way up which is good, since we have been plateauing in previous years. But, there is still a lot of room for improvement," Transparency International-Philippines (TI-P) board member Araceli Estrada-Villanueva said during the press conference yesterday at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila.

At the top of the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index were, the following countries shows the least corruption leaded by:

1. New Zealand (9.5)
2. Denmark (9.4)
3. Finland (9.4)
4. Sweden (9.3)
5. Singapore (9.2)
6. Norway (9.0)
7. Netherlands (8.9)
8. Australia (8.8)
9. Switzerland (8.8)
10. Canada (8.7)

Rounding up the bottom of the list were as the top most corrupt countries in the world

1. Burundi (1.9)
2.  Equatorial Guinea (1.9)
3. Venezuela (1.9)
4. Haiti (1.8)
5. Iraq (1.8)
6. Sudan (1.6)
7. Turkmenistan (1.6)
8. Uzbekistan (1.6)
9. Afghanistan (1.5)
10. Myanmar (1.5)
11. North Korea (1.0)
12. Somalia (1.0)

More than two-thirds of the territories in the survey scored below five, but significant gains have nonetheless been posted, the report noted.

"In 2011, we saw the movement for greater transparency take on irresistible momentum, as citizens around the world demanded accountability from their governments. High-scoring countries show that, over time, efforts to improve transparency can, if sustained, be successful and befit their people," Transparency International Managing Director Cobus de Swardt said in the report.

"This year, we have seen corruption on protestors' banners, be they rich or poor. Whether in a Europe hit by debt crisis or an Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must heed the demands for better government," Transparency International Chairperson Huguette Labelle added.

The Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite index based on assessments and opinion surveys carried out by independent institutions.

The Philippines' ranking was based on 12 studies: the Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Assessment, the Global Insight Country Risk Ratings, IMD World Competitiveness Year Book 2010 and 2011, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Asian Intelligence 2010 and 2011, the Political Risk Services International Country Risk Guide, the Transparency International Bribe Payers Survey, the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey 2010 and 2011, and the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index.

The surveys studied issues such as bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement and embezzlement of funds. They also looked into enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information and conflicts of interest in the government, TI-P President Georgina R. Encanto said in the briefing.

Ms. Encanto attributed the Philippines' improved performance to the Aquino administration's agenda of good governance, complemented by initiatives of civil society, business community and the private sector.

"To improve the country's score, the general public must see results and experience clean governance in their everyday lives -- results manifested in concrete efforts such as convictions of high-level corruption cases, compliance to the Anti-Red Tape Act, passage of the Freedom of Information Act and the enactment of the Whistleblowers' Protection Law, among many others," TI-P Chairperson Dolores L. Espanol said.

For his part, National Competitiveness Council private sector co-chairman Guillermo M. Luz welcomed the results, highlighting the importance of transparency in the economy.

"Good governance is good economics," he explained in a telephone interview yesterday.

"When you have greater transparency, you build trust in the system. More investors want to participate in projects, leading to better quality of goods, services and jobs for the people."

For example, Indonesia focused on stamping out corruption in the last five years and, as a result, it has attracted the most foreign direct investments (FDI) in the region, Mr. Luz noted, adding that country expects this year to record its highest FDI level yet.

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