MERGED: RP-China Territorial Dispute, Related Events and Updates

[tools4kools]

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IMO the baselines bill is as what sec. ermita said is only a clinical and technical adjustment of our existing territory. Spratlys Is. and Scarborough Shoal is already part of the philippine territory so its not basically extending our territory contrary to what china believes. Its just making adjustments in consonance with the UNCLOS of 1982.

[orcgod]

Hala, GUBAT na! Philippines vs. China, Vietnam,Taiwan,Malaysia ug Brunei. Dagan dayon ang Pinas, palaban America, uy America tabangi mi b, gi birahan nami sa mga Fongchoila-Chichidikonkoila.

[hobie]

Kansi ta nila bsta pa maotay nawong ang awai bah ..tsk3

Ayo unta mu sgot sila kung pa gwapohay lang ....

[spectre]

di ba kita man ang pinakaduol sa spratlys?

[joshua259]

uu kita pero ambot lang gi unsa na nila og claim nga ang philippinas man ang pinaka doul. hahay! basta kwarta lagi ang storyaan mag away dayon.

[manjun23]

Kansi ta nila bsta pa maotay nawong ang awai bah ..tsk3

Ayo unta mu sgot sila kung pa gwapohay lang ....

I Totally agree gyud nimu bro!

[baby_grace]

The protest is expected because it is the right of every sovereign state to do so against a claim of another state. The Philippines' claim on the Scarborough Shoal and the Kalayaan Group is in compliance with international law and the UNCLOS. There are six other claimants of the island and it is proper for the claiming states to assert their respective sovereignty and claims. We should not be worried or intimidated by the Chinese protests. The final resolution of the matter will be resolved by the UN at the proper forum.

[wak_wak]

AFTER CHINA SENDS PATROL BOAT
Manila may seek US, ASEAN support on Spratlys


By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:28:00 03/16/2009

MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang said it might seek the help of its traditional military ally, the United States, and other Southeast Asian countries in dealing with China’s deployment of a patrol boat to disputed territories in the South China Sea.
“Our national security advisers are already looking into other options,” Lorelei Fajardo, deputy presidential spokesperson, said in a press briefing on Monday. “If we really need to ask the help of our allies and the other countries in the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], then we might be forced to do so.”
But Fajardo maintained that diplomacy would still be the first option in resolving the problem and that the issue of conflicting claims to the Spratlys Islands should be resolved at the level of the United Nations.
Still, she added, “as much as we would like this to be settled in the United Nations, of course the Philippine government has also to be prepared for whatever will happen.”
“We cannot just depend on the United Nations as much as that should be the first line of defense [which is] diplomacy, but of course we have to protect our sovereignty as much as China is doing now,” she said


Solons downplay China’s ‘muscle-flexing’

March 16, 2009 11:29:00
Leila Salaverria Lira Dalangin-Fernandez lira.fernandez@inquirer.net
Philippine Daily Inquirer INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Lawmakers at the House of Representatives has downplayed China’s deployment of patrol ships into the South China Sea as mere “muscle-flexing” and should not be cause for alarm, even as one of them questioned the possible role of the United States in the dispute.
“China patrol ships have always been there since they occupied part of the regime of islands claimed by other countries as well. It’s no big deal for us because we also have our own claims,” Speaker Prospero Nograles said in a text message.
Nograles said that countries claiming territory in South China Sea should remember that the problem was “diplomatic and not military,” and thus, the diplomatic process should take its course.
Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, said China was just doing its “usual muscle-flexing” when it deployed its state-of-the-art gunboats but added that he believed this would not resort to war with the Philippines or other claimants.
“There’s nothing to be alarmed about. China has always been allergic to adverse claims to South China Sea but I don’t think it will make any provocative action,” he said in a phone interview.
He also said National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales was “paranoid” and “nervous” and advised him to “relax,” assuring the official that the dispute would be settled in a “friendly way.”
He added that if the country had its own gunboats, it would probably have deployed the same.
Cuenco believed China would not attack the Philippines because of the latter's mutual defense treaty with the United States.
"I don't think the Chinese will attack. They won't attack if we use our heads. They'll be attacking a country with which the USA has a mutual defense treaty," he said.
He added that there was a “code of conduct” signed by China and the other claimants and would use “diplomatic channels.”
Parañaque Representative Roilo Golez, in a separate text message, also allayed fears about China’s moves, adding that the Philippines should be more alarmed if the US would send its fleet to South China Sea.
“The South China Sea has long been a potential flashpoint and events are converging. Remember there was a warning during the election about a power testing Obama's mettle early in his term should he get elected. I pray that the diplomats are hard at work now burning the wires,” he said.
Muntinlupa Representative Rufino Biazon, however, views the situation differently.
“China’s deployment of a warship is a step closer to acts of aggression by China,” he said in a text message.
He said the Philippine government should use all diplomatic channels to register its opposition to the move.
In the light of the recent commitment of US President Barack Obama to the Visiting Force Agreement (VFA), Biazon said it should be clarified how the US would assist the Philippines should it come into conflict with China.
“In light of President Obama's commitment to the VFA, the US must also clarify the role it will play in case the South China Sea controversy will escalate into a conflict,” he said.
But Cuenco said there was no need for the US to intervene in the South China Sea dispute although, he added, that the Mutual Defense Treaty would obligate the US to come to the Philippines’ defense if it would be attacked by another country.
What the government should do would be to use its diplomatic channels to remind China about the agreement among claimant nations to territories in South China Sea, Cuenco said.




What can you say about this issue? Kay kinsa man jud ning Spratlys?

[islesv]

Ato man gyod ni, kay perti man tawong layoa anang China.

[neoraising]

apil pud ang vietnam ug claim aning Spratlys uban sa China ug Philippines..sus tabla ra gihapog wa kay bulalo man kaau a2ng navy..lata jud ta if maabot sa gubat ever..