The Spratlys, etc. - Future conflict zones?, Palawan, Paracels, all disputed islands

well, maybe we can have a joint agreement to explore for oil and other resources in those islands but then i do not trust the Communist Chinese. sooner or later, they will do to the Spratlys and Palawan the same thing that they did in the Paracels not so long ago.

Dont forget their style!

Talk and take ... then talk a lot more! Just like what they did with Mischief Reef

Taiwan renews claim over Spratlys, calls for talks to solve dispute

TAIPEI, Jan 3 (AFP) - Taiwan on Tuesday rejected Vietnam's demand that it stop building a runway in the Spratly Islands, reaffirming its claim to the island group but calling for a peaceful solution to the dispute.

The Spratlys and three other island groups in the South China Sea "are part of this country's territory," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said Taiwan was building a runway on Taiping, the largest island which is known as Ba Binh in Vietnamese, for logistical support and humanitarian assistance.

Taiwan has "no military motivation behind the runway nor has it any intention to provoke regional tensions," it said.

Vietnam's foreign ministry last week described the building of the runway as a "severe violation of Vietnam's sovereignty" and said it would have a negative impact on peace, stability and increased regional cooperation.

Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim all or part of the potentially oil-rich Spratlys.

All claimants except Brunei have troops based on the archipelago of more than 100 islets, reefs and atolls, which have a total land mass of less than five square kilometres (two square miles).


Wednesday, January 04, 2006
6:47:55 PM

Source

Ayan na po!

Well, AFP and PGMA maghanda-handa na kayo. Mas matapang pa Vietnam at Taiwan sa tin ngayun.

we Filipinos only act when everything is too late. perhaps a war in the South China Sea ala-Paracel Islands will awaken us from our slumber.

PGMA should not repeat FVR's folly when the Chinese assualted Mischief Reef.

Else, we will be pounding on her hard in this forum when another reef or shoal or island or islet is taken from us!

The Spratlys could be a future battleground for "david and GOLIATH.'

Let them finish their airport.It is their prerogative to build and use their islands. And to left the PLA in the area without an airport. Let see what China's next move in the island after an agreement was signed last year.

Nice idea.

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?in...&story_id=69623


Taiwan may redispatch troops to disputed Spratlys--official
First posted 09:10pm (Mla time) Mar 16, 2006
Associated Press


TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's defense minister has said the island is considering redispatching troops to an island in the South China Sea to fend off a possible Chinese attack, a newspapers and officials said on Thursday.

At a Wednesday legislative briefing on Taiwan's defense capabilities, Lee Jye said the military may deploy Marines to Taiping island in the disputed Spratlys chain, the United Daily News reported.

Taiwanese troops occupied the island until 1990, when they were withdrawn ostensibly because of difficulties supplying them.

Lee made his remarks after a lawmaker asked if troops from bases in Taiwan could reach Taiping in time to fend off a Chinese invasion.

A Defense Ministry official, requesting customary anonymity, confirmed the report.

The Spratly Islands consist of about 100 barren islets, reefs and atolls dotting the world's busiest shipping lanes in the South China Sea.

Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the low-lying islands, believed to be rich in oil, gas and fish stocks.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, and China has threatened an invasion if Taiwan formalizes its de facto independence.

Late last year, Taiwan began building a runway in Taiping, saying the project was for coastal patrol, fishing and emergency medical needs, and was not a military facility.

China and Vietnam, which have both built permanent structures in the Spratlys, had violent clashes over the island group in 1988 and 1992. Other countries have also engaged in low-level skirmishes over their own claims.

O-oh...

4 Chinese fisherman shot to death in South China Sea

First posted 07:14pm (Mla time) May 02, 2006
Associated Press

BEIJING -- Four Chinese fisherman were shot and killed and another three were wounded near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, the government said Tuesday.

The men from the island province of Hainan were attacked April 27, while they were fishing, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The nationality of the attackers is unknown, Xinhua said. All the equipment on the boat, including radios and navigation apparatus, was taken, it said.

An investigation was under way, Xinhua said.

Four of the men died on the spot and the three were rescued and have been hospitalized, it said.

The Spratly Islands are claimed in whole or in part by Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. They are believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves.

The conflicting claims have led to a series of squabbles, including a 2002 incident when Vietnam fired warning shots at Philippine military planes and a number of spats over fishermen crossing into the wrong waters.

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?in...&story_id=74434

It was not a strange scenario. Those fishermen are Chinese spies conducting their routine observation on the area. The incident can be a kindling point and a sign of hostilities cropping up.

malamang nga! I think our country should be alert and vigilant now because of this incident, hindi natin alam may HOSTILE ACT in the making na 'eto...

... for now what is our gov't and AFP doing after this situation? mukang hindi tayo handa if ever hostilities errupts in this volatile area...

China asks RP to investigate pirate attack

The Chinese government has asked the Philippines to investigate an attack on a Chinese fishing boat in disputed waters in the South China Sea, which left four crewmen dead.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Wednesday that Chinese consular officials had told them they were uncertain of the nationality of the attackers or the vessel as it "had no flag or identifying marks".

The attack took place last week in the disputed Spratly Islands leaving four Chinese crewmen dead and three wounded.

Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan said in a television interview the Navy had no boats in the area as they were all patrolling gas fields off the west coast of the country.

"We don't have ships there. Currently our patrol is in Palawan assigned to Task Force Malampaya to secure the Malampaya power plant," Malabanan said.

The Chinese state press had earlier said a Philippine boat was believed to be behind the attack, quoting a survivor as saying that "six of [the attackers] wore camoflage clothes while the other seven were casually dressed."

"The attack appeared to be organized," the report in the Southern Daily newspaper said. The report gave no other details to back up its assertion that the boat was from the Philippines.

The Chinese boat, the Jinghai 03012, has since returned to its home base on China's southern Hainan island with the three wounded crew members in a stable condition.

The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs in the South China Sea that are claimed partially or entirely by Brunei, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. All claimants but Brunei have troops posted in parts of the Spratlys.
AFP

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=37526

like these?


http://timawa.net/forum/index.php?topic=3794.0

Navy denies attacking Chinese fishers in Spratlys

The Philippine Navy said Wednesday it had nothing to do with the alleged attack on a Chinese fishing vessel near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, ANC reported.

"We don't have ships there. Currently our patrol is in Palawan assigned to Task Force Malampaya to secure the Malampaya power plant," Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan said in an interview.

Malabanan's denial came after the South China Daily newspaper reported that four crewmen of the Chinese-registered Jinghai 03012 died while three others got hurt following the attack.

The newspaper report said that six of the 13 attackers had camouflage uniforms on while seven were wearing plain clothes. It added that a vessel, resembling a Navy ship, was seen near the disputed islands at the time of the attack.

Malabanan said the Navy is investigating the attack.

The Spratlys is a group of islands being claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines because of huge oil deposits beneath the sea floor.

The islands are located west of the Philippine province of Palawan.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=37528