China, Philippines locked in naval standoff

**timrev** · July 13th, 2012 09:32 AM

China installs new radar near Kalayaan islands

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07...layaan-islands

naku naman naunahan nanaman tayo!

**Ry_Tower** · July 13th, 2012 06:57 PM

Malabo as expected, may kakampi pa China!!!

ASEAN talks fail over China territorial dispute - Yahoo!7

**pop3corn** · July 14th, 2012 12:48 AM

mas maganda na yun may konting threat ng gyera so that we act accordingly. sarap sarap nga nyan may kalaban eh, alert level tayo and therefore, may motivation to raise arms na. two birds, we get off those Generals na pilit na nangungulit sa civilian affairs natin, and make use of them dyan where they truly belong ... anyway, as Filipinos, we'll support our soldiers naman. yan ang true worth soldier's honor and glory, hindi yun naging head ng LTO, DPWH etc.

---

tingin ko din naman yun mga Generals natin lalo na yun mga retired na napunta lgn sa govt. office, siguro kahit papano may feeling of discontentment, disheartening, and disillusionment sila. imagine all throughout their lives mayroon sila code, tapos naging ututusan lang ng pulitiko sa public service

**Monseratto** · July 14th, 2012 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by Ry_Tower

Malabo as expected, may kakampi pa China!!!

ASEAN talks fail over China territorial dispute - Yahoo!7

I guess wala tayong aasahan na support from anyone, even Uncle Sam stressed its neutrality and praised US-China relations...

**Altis6453** · July 14th, 2012 09:24 AM

Just in...

By Dona Z. Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer

A Chinese warship has run aground on a reef off Palawan while patrolling contested waters in the West Philippine Sea, an Australian newspaper reported on Friday.

The report titled “Embarrassment: frigate runs aground” came as the Philippine government started verifying reports that China had installed a powerful radar on Subi Reef, an islet 22 kilometers from the Philippine-occupied Kalayaan group of islands in the Spratly archipelago.

Reporter John Gaurnaut of The Sydney Morning Herald, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources, said the People’s Liberation Army’s naval ship No. 560 became “thoroughly stuck” on a reef at Half Moon Shoal during the previous night.

The warship is a Jianghu-class frigate “that has in the past been involved in aggressively discouraging Filipino fishing boats from the area,” the Morning Herald said.

“The accident could not have come at a more embarrassing moment for the Chinese leadership, who have been pressing territorial claims and flexing the country’s muscle ahead of a leadership transition later this year,” the article added.

The Philippines refers to Half Moon Shoal as Hasa-Hasa Shoal, which military sources said is only about 111 km (60 nautical miles) from the municipality of Rizal on the main island of Palawan province, well within the country’s 370-km (200-nautical-mile) exclusive economic zone.

Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon of Kalayaan in Palawan confirmed the incident and said it has been 10 days since it happened according to field reports.

“We heard the news from the Western Command about 10 days already,” he said in a text message to INQUIRER.net.

No comment

Military officials would not comment on the incident on Friday.

When reached for comment, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the military was checking out the report.

The military’s Western Command (Wescom), which covers the West Philippine Sea, reportedly sent out a ship Friday afternoon to check out the report.

“If there is a need to offer assistance to help them leave the area, we will help,” Gazmin said.

Wescom officials in Palawan said a ship and a plane had been dispatched to verify reports of a Chinese frigate that got stuck on Friday on a coral reef off Hasa-Hasa Shoal.

“We are still awaiting reports,” Lt. Col. Neil Estrella, Wescom spokesperson, told the Inquirer.

Estrella said orders were being awaited from the national government on how to respond to the situation.

Ready to help

He said, however, that the military was prepared to provide assistance to the stricken Chinese vessel.

“Any ship or naval vessel in distress, we are duty-bound to provide assistance, regardless of whether or not they intruded into our territorial waters,” Estrella said.

Earlier reports said the mainstay equipment at Wescom are the BRP Laguna and an Islander reconnaissance aircraft of the Philippine Air Force.

The reports said all of the other equipment of the Naval Forces West have been deployed to the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) area prior to Friday’s incident at Hasa-Hasa Shoal.

China’s defense ministry on Friday acknowledged that one of its frigates had run aground while conducting patrols in the disputed part of West Philippine Sea.

In Manila, the Chinese Embassy issued a statement saying the frigate ran aground around 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Currently the rescue work by the Chinese Navy is under way,” the embassy said.

The embassy said no injuries were reported.

Diplomatically challenging

The Sydney Morning Herald said salvage operations could be diplomatically challenging, given that the vessel appears to have run aground within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The stricken vessel has in the past been involved in aggressively discouraging Filipino fishing boats from the area, the Morning Herald said.

The accident could not have come at a more embarrassing moment for the Chinese leadership, who have been pressing territorial claims and flexing the country’s muscle ahead of a leadership transition later this year.

An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers’ meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, ended in disarray on Friday, without a code of conduct for resolving conflicts in the West Philippine Sea.

30-vessel fishing fleet

On Thursday, China dispatched one of its largest-ever fishing expeditions from Hainan Island to the Spratly archipelago.

Chinese fishing boats regularly travel to the Spratlys, a potentially oil-rich archipelago that China claims as part of its territory on historical grounds, but parts of which are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

The 30-vessel fishing fleet deployed on Thursday is one of the largest ever launched from Hainan, according to a report from state-run news agency Xinhua.

Poaching

The last notable incident at Hasa-Hasa Shoal occurred in 1995, when Philippine authorities apprehended 62 Chinese fishermen for poaching in the area and possession of explosives. The Philippines also impounded four fishing boats involved in the incident.

Wednesday’s accident at Hasa-Hasa Shoal came amid a worsening dispute between the Philippines and China over Panatag Shoal, where Philippine and Chinese vessels faced off with each other for two months.

China has refused to withdraw its maritime ships from the shoal even after the Philippines has pulled its vessels out of the area to ease tensions.

‘Provocative action’

In Malacañang, Ricky Carandang, chief of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, told reporters that if the setting up of the radar by the Chinese on Subi Reef was confirmed, the Philippines would view it as “provocative action.”

Such an action, he said, would not be consistent with a code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea that Asean is trying to formulate to prevent armed clashes with China in disputed parts of the sea.

Asked whether the Philippines would negotiate with China on its own or get the Asean involved to get China to agree to a code of conduct, Carandang said, “We are meeting with the Asean.”

Asean foreign ministers agreed on key elements for the code of conduct in their Phnom Penh meeting, but the preparation of the code may take more time now that the bloc is in disarray over China’s lobbying against the code. With reports from Frances Mangosing, INQUIRER.net, Norman Bordadora; Redempto Anda, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Tina G. Santos, The Sydney Morning Herald

First posted 8:00 pm | Friday, July 13th, 2012

From INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

By rights, naval authorities should board the Chinese warship and impound it since it was trespassing in Philippine territory.

**Ry_Tower** · July 14th, 2012 09:33 AM

^ hehe, takot lang nila. Anyway, let's just say karma na muna nila yan.

**timrev** · July 14th, 2012 10:03 AM

kung ti-nalo tayo ng CAMBODIA....

eto naman para kaya madam sen. miriam santiago
Miriam wants Australia's help if war erupts

Miriam wants Australia's help if war erupts | ABS-CBN News
i-OK na ang Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with Australia!

**yebo** · July 14th, 2012 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Altis6453

Just in...

By rights, naval authorities should board the Chinese warship and impound it since it was trespassing in Philippine territory.

naaah! 111km from nearest philippine land mass, international waters na yan. philippine territorial waters is only 20km from shore. 200 miles is the exclusive economic zone, but you do not have maritime authority within there, only the exclusive right to undertake economic activities (fishing, oil exploration, mining). you can catch illegal fishermen, or impound an oil rig drilling for another country, but not impede the transit of vessels civilian or military.

**Monseratto** · July 17th, 2012 08:29 AM

PH warns Chinese Fishing Fleet...*cough* *cough* *cough*...

Manila warns Beijing as Chinese fishing fleet sails towards Philippine EEZ
16-Jul-12, 11:56 PM | Agence France-Presse

MANILA - The Philippines on Monday warned a large Chinese fishing fleet in the Spratlys to stay clear of its waters amid a continuing face-off between the two countries over disputed territory.

Foreign Department spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Philippine coastguard would check on the location of the Chinese vessels in the South China Sea, to ensure they do not enter the country's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

"If these (ships) are going to our EEZ, we will file a protest because this is our EEZ and it is only the Philippines (that has) the sovereign right to explore, exploit and manage the resources in that area," he told reporters.

"We require China to respect the sovereign rights of the Philippines," he stressed.

**timrev** · July 17th, 2012 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by Monseratto

PH warns Chinese Fishing Fleet...*cough* *cough* *cough*...

atleast tumatahol kahit walang ipin pangagat hehehe

**Monseratto** · July 17th, 2012 12:47 PM

Chill out muna...

**Stoner** · July 19th, 2012 11:09 AM

Even Russia (one of their closest allies at that) wasn't spared. Unlike us though, they just may have the power and the balls to stand firm...

Well, with an ex-KGB agent as their president...

Shots fired as Russia detains Chinese fishing ships - CNN.com

(CNN) -- The Russian coast guard seized two Chinese vessels and detained 36 fishermen Tuesday after they were allegedly found fishing in Russian-controlled waters in the Sea of Japan, according to state media
Warning shots were fired at one vessel during a three-hour pursuit by Russian Coast Guard, which eventually rammed the vessel and soldiers fired directly on the ship when sailors resisted being boarded, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
No one was killed or injured in the incident, according to RIA.

**Ry_Tower** · July 19th, 2012 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by Stoner

Even Russia (one of their closest allies at that) wasn't spared. Unlike us though, they just may have the power and the balls to stand firm...

Well, with an ex-KGB agent as their president...

Shots fired as Russia detains Chinese fishing ships - CNN.com

hehe, tignan natin tapang ng China ngayon.

**pop3corn** · July 20th, 2012 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by Stoner

Even Russia (one of their closest allies at that) wasn't spared. Unlike us though, they just may have the power and the balls to stand firm...

Well, with an ex-KGB agent as their president...

Shots fired as Russia detains Chinese fishing ships - CNN.com

hindi close allies yan Russia and China. yun Ruso-Sino Split made the cold war three ways eh. dahil nga dyan kaya bumagsak ang USSR nun 89 eh, kasi nagsuportahan na ang china and USA noon.

nabadtrip kasi China sa USSR, kasi state capitalism pala pinapatakbo ng USSR noon cold war, tapos China lang yung uto-uto na sumunod Marxist-Lenist ideology of communism.

mintik na nga nagkatirahan ng Nuclear Missile yan dalawang yan eh. something that became the advantage for the US and NATO.

**CVT** · July 20th, 2012 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by pop3corn

hindi close allies yan Russia and China. yun Ruso-Sino Split made the cold war three ways eh. dahil nga dyan kaya bumagsak ang USSR nun 89 eh, kasi nagsuportahan na ang china and USA noon.

nabadtrip kasi China sa USSR, kasi state capitalism pala pinapatakbo ng USSR noon cold war, tapos China lang yung uto-uto na sumunod Marxist-Lenist ideology of communism.

mintik na nga nagkatirahan ng Nuclear Missile yan dalawang yan eh. something that became the advantage for the US and NATO.

Ang tagal...

16.3K:shower:

**Syuryuken** · July 20th, 2012 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by CVT

Ang tagal...

16.3K:shower:

sigurado tiklop ang China sa Russia.

Pinakamaganda diyan gatungan para sila na lang mag-away

**foresterx** · July 20th, 2012 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by Syuryuken

sigurado tiklop ang China sa Russia.

Pinakamaganda diyan gatungan para sila na lang mag-away

**timrev** · September 7th, 2012 09:46 AM

US plane joins Philippine coastal exercise
DAVAO, Philippines - A US navy surveillance plane joined Philippine security forces Thursday in an exercise aimed at safeguarding coastal areas in the strife-torn south, the Filipino exercise director said.

The PC-3 Orion flew over the Davao Gulf in the south from an airport in the central Philippines in a mock mission to help local authorities track a seaborne vessel, said Philippine Navy Captain Robert Empedrad.

"The Orion was available, so we requested they take part and spot a vessel," he told AFP.

"They (Orion crew) reported it (the target vessel's position) to us and after we determined the real position of contact, we instructed our ships to conduct an interception."

Philippine Navy and coastguard patrol vessels also took part in the exercise, while the US aircraft flew back to an airport in Cebu city after its mission, he added.

The exercise will help the US Navy to coordinate with the Philippine Navy, coastguard, maritime police and other agencies in securing the southern region of Mindanao, Empedrad said.

He added that it would boost security in helping protect the island from terrorism, piracy, drug smuggling, gun-running and human trafficking.

Mindanao and its surrounding islands have long struggled with outlaw groups including Islamic extremists linked to the Al-Qaeda network and various pirates and bandits.

The Philippines has recently been moving closer to the United States, following a face-off with China that began in April over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

Empedrad stressed that the United States had cooperated in previous similar exercises over the past three years and said the US aircraft's involvement on Thursday was not linked to fresh tensions with China.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/re...astal-exercise