Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




ENERGY TECH
Armed conflict possible in South China Sea: ICG
by Staff Writers
Manila (AFP) July 24, 2012


Philippines protests China's Paracel garrison plans
Manila (AFP) July 24, 2012 - The Philippines on Tuesday summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest against China's plans to establish a military garrison on the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The foreign department said it summoned Ma Keqing to lodge the complaint, and also to object to the arrival of a military-escorted Chinese fishing fleet near the contested Spratly Islands.

The Chinese defence ministry announced plans to operate troops from Chinese-held Sansha or Woody Island in the Paracels on Monday, a month after Beijing designated the island as China's administrative centre for both the Paracel and Spratly groups.

While the Philippines does not have territorial claims on the Paracels, foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Chinese plan to administer both island groups from Sansha was unacceptable.

"The Philippine government has expressed its grave concern and registered its strong protest over the Chinese government decision to establish a military garrison in Woody Reef," Hernandez told reporters.

China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, which is believed to hold vast amounts of oil and gas, while the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam each claim portions.

Disputes have flared in recent weeks, with Vietnam and the Philippines criticising what they call Chinese encroachment.

China and South Vietnam once administered different parts of the Paracels but after a brief conflict in 1974, Beijing took control of the islands.

The Philippine foreign department said it summoned the Chinese ambassador over the garrison plans as well as to receive a strong objection to China's dispatch of a military-backed fishing fleet in Spratly waters.

The Filipino coast guard monitored a fleet of 29 fishing vessels, a cargo vessel, and three other ships including one Chinese navy vessel near Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef on July 18, Hernandez said.

"The use of armed government vessels to escort fishing vessels that conduct non-fishing activities is a violation of Philippine territory and a violation of obligation of states under international law," Hernandez said.

Tensions over competing claims in the South China Sea could escalate into conflict, with an arms build-up among rival nations raising the temperature, an international think tank warned Tuesday.

Prospects of solving the disputes "seem to be diminishing" after a recent failure by the 10-nation ASEAN grouping to hammer out a "code of conduct" that would govern actions in the sea, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

"Without a consensus on a resolution mechanism, tensions in the South China Sea can easily spill over into armed conflict," warned Paul Quinn-Judge, the ICG's program director for Asia.

"As long as ASEAN fails to produce a cohesive South China Sea policy, a binding set of rules on the handling of disputed claims cannot be enforced."

China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the sea, which is believed to hold vast amounts of oil and gas, is one of the region's most important fishing grounds and is home to shipping lanes that are vital to global trade.

The Philippines and fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as Taiwan, claim parts of the sea.

The rival claims have for decades made the area one of the region's potential military flashpoints, with Vietnam and China engaging in sea conflicts in 1974 and 1998 that left dozens of military personnel dead.

Tensions began to escalate again last year with Vietnam and the Philippines accusing China of becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claims to the sea.

In April Philippine and Chinese vessels became engaged in a tense stand-off at the remote Scarborough Shoal.

And China this week triggered further anger from around the region when it announced it was planning to build a military garrison on the Paracel Islands.

On the diplomatic front, an annual meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers ended in disarray early this month when it failed to agree on a joint statement, a first in its 45-year history, because of divisions over the South China Sea.

Meeting host Cambodia was widely seen to have backed China, a close ally. This derailed a campaign by the Philippines for a tough ASEAN position against China.

The Brussels-based ICG said in its report on Tuesday that China had "worked actively to exploit" the divisions in ASEAN by offering preferential treatment to members of the bloc that supported its position in the dispute.

"A lack of unity among China's rival claimants, coupled with the weakness of the regional multilateral framework, has hampered the search for a solution," the report said.

"All of the trends are in the wrong direction, and prospects of resolutions are diminishing."

The report also noted that China and the rival claimants had continued to expand their navies and coast guards amid the dispute, due in part to domestic political pressures and rising nationalism among its citizens.

This could lead to an "escalation" of incidents, including more maritime stand-offs, it said.

The ICG said the best way to ease the tensions would be for the rival claimants to agree on ways to share the natural resources on offer in the South China Sea.

But it noted that the last effort to do so -- a joint seismic survey by China, Vietnam and the Philippines -- broke down in 2008, and the prospects of co-operation in the future were low.

.


Related Links
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ENERGY TECH
Serbia: South Stream a top priority
Belgrade, Serbia (UPI) Jul 23, 2012
Serbia has placed the planned Russian-led South Stream gas pipeline among its highest national priorities, President Tomislav Nikolic says. Nikolic said after meeting with the chief executive of the venture that will operate the Serbian sector of the pipeline the effort is one of the country's top concerns, the Tanjug news agency reported. Nikolic met last week with Dmitry Malysh ... read more


ENERGY TECH
Another Small Step for Mankind

Russia starts building Moon spaceship, eyes Lunar base

Plans to revisit Moon impeded by financial difficulties

Russia says no manned moon shots till 2018

ENERGY TECH
Slow-Going at Cape York for Opportunity

ExoMars program gathers strength

Opportunity Runs the First Martian Marathon

NASA Conducts Mission Simulations In Hawaii

ENERGY TECH
NASA Offers Condolences on the Passing of Pioneering Astronaut Sally Ride

Sally Ride, first US woman in space dead at 61

America Invents Act is a game changer

NASA Completes Another Orion Parachute Test

ENERGY TECH
Looking Forward to Shenzhou 10

Astronauts in good shape after return

Shenzhou mission sparks 'science fever'

China Beats Russia on Space Launches

ENERGY TECH
Russian cargo ship fails to dock at ISS: NASA

Russian cargo ship fails to dock at ISS during tests

Japanese Rocket Sends Cargo to ISS

Japan sends cargo to space station

ENERGY TECH
NASA Partner United Launch Alliance Completes Two Atlas V Reviews

The Spaceport maintains its mission cadence for Ariane 5 flights

S. Korea plans fresh rocket launch in October

NASA Selects Launch Services Contract for Jason-3 Mission

ENERGY TECH
UCF Discovers Exoplanet Neighbor

Can Astronomers Detect Exoplanet Oceans

The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Dust

Study in Nature sheds new light on planet formation

ENERGY TECH
Apple wants billions from Samsung in patent fight

SWF Announces International Dialog on Satellite Servicing and Debris Removal

Tablets to push US electronic sales above $200 bn

Researchers Almost Double Light Efficiency in LC Projectors




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement