alt

 

Activities of the Claimants

China

China rejects Philippine accusation of Scarborough incidents

Responding to Philippine allegation saying that three Philippine-flagged fishing vessels were rammed and damaged by a Chinese coast guard vessel, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei on February 2nd stated: “The Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal) is an integral part of China. Upon checking with relevant authorities, we find out that on January 29th, multiple Philippine fishing vessels illegally lingered at shallow waters off the Huangyan Island and disobeyed instructions from the Chinese side. The Chinese coast guard sent a dinghy to lawfully drive away the Philippine vessels, and the dinghy slightly rubbed against one of the vessels during its operation. The Chinese side urges the Philippine side to strengthen supervision and education of its own fishermen and prevent similar incident from happening again.”

The Philippines

Philippines to buy 3 naval landing craft from Australia

The Philippines will buy three surplus naval landing craft from Australia in addition to two vessels Canberra has donated to deal with future relief efforts following typhoons, a defense official said on February 2nd. The three 44.5-meter-long craft, which are designed to carry heavy supplies, will be acquired and refurbished at a cost of around 726 million pesos (US$16.5 million), said Defense Department public affairs chief Arsenio Andolong. "By market standards, these are almost giveaway prices," he told AFP.

Philippines accuses China of ramming its ships

alt

In a statement released on February 4th, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) critised Chinese recent moves at Scarborough Shoal. In the first incident, three Philippine-flagged fishing vessels, namely F/V Og Barbie, F/V Ocean Glory 2 and F/V Ana Marie, were intentionally rammed by Chinese Coast Guard Vessel 3412 on January 29th, causing damage to the vessels and endangering the lives and safety of the Filipino fishermen on board. In the second incident, at least twenty-four (24) Chinese Utility Boats (CUBs) were seen collecting giant clams in the lagoon of Scarborough Shoal. The DFA handed over two protest notes to representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

Philippines urges China to show respect in South China Sea

After Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs released an statement saying that China had rammed Philippine ships at Scarborough Shoal, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on February 5th told "The Philippines continues to urge China to respect the Philippines' sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal)". China must "desist from undertaking activities that not only imperil the lives, safety and livelihood of Filipino fishermen but also damage the fragile marine environment in that area", del Rosario added.

Manila says China starts dredging at another reef in disputed waters

China has started dredging around the disputed Mischief Reef (Vanh Khan Reef) in the South China Sea, a Philippine navy commander said on February 5th, signalling Beijing may be preparing to expand its facilities in the area. Rear Admiral Alexander Lopez, commander of the Philippine military's western command, told reporters a Chinese dredging ship was spotted at Mischief Reef, about 135 km southeast of the island of Palawan. "We don't know what they plan to do in Mischief," he said. "They have long been doing that, only that it was Fiery Cross that got a lot of attention because that was on a bigger scale." Lopez did not say when China started the dredging work or give any details on the extent of reclamation at Mischief Reef, saying only the work had been "substantial".

Singapore

Singapore’s PM discussed about maritime dispute

In an interview with German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung on February 3rd, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that “between countries, not everything can be win-win, but overall if you take the relationship as a whole, I think we are much better off with a prosperous China than a problematic one. We are trying to work towards a code of conduct which is going to be binding and which will be more effective. We are in the process of talking about this code of conduct with the Chinese but I think it will take some time. I do not think any of the countries will likely agree to bind themselves. But if we can achieve a code of conduct, that will be a positive development. It does not mean we solve the problem, but at least we minimise the chance of that leading to a real showdown.”

Japan

Japan says South China Sea security impacts national interests

Security in the South China Sea impacts Japan's interests and could warrant a rethink of military patrol aircraft deployments, the defence minister said after a U.S. Navy officer said Washington would welcome a Japanese presence in the region. "We currently do not patrol there or have a plan to do so, but we are deepening our cooperation with the U.S. and the situation in the South China Sea has an impact on our national security, and we are aware that we will need to consider our response," Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters on February 3rd.

The U.S.

U.S. concerned China’s behaviour in the South China Sea

Speaking at Washington on February 4th about "U.S. Policy Priorities for the East Asian and Pacific Region in 2015", Daniel R. Russel , U.S. Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that regarding the South China Sea “we do have and we have expressed concerns about some behavior that is unilaterally altering the status quo in a fraught and tense area. We’ve made that known directly and constructively to the Chinese. We also have concerns about the unintended effect of that behavior on China’s relationships with its neighbors. As the President, the Secretary, and others have made clear, we benefit when China has good and stable relations with its neighbors, including important neighbors like Vietnam, like the Philippines, like Malaysia, et cetera. It’s for that reason that we have advocated for the exercise of self-restraint by claimants in – particularly in terms of large-scale reclamation activities to transform rocks and shoals into outposts that could easily be militarized. According to Russel, 2015 is also going to be a big year and an important year for Asia Pacific.

U.S. helping strengthen Vietnamese Coast Guard

alt

A senior U.S. diplomat has confirmed that Washington has transferred five fast patrol vessels to Vietnam as part of a plan to assist the former foe’s maritime forces. “We have been doing a lot of cooperation in terms of supporting the development of Vietnam’s Coast Guard," said The assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs, Puneet Talwar. "We are very proud of that work and we hope that it is also appreciated by the Vietnamese counterparts.  Yes, we have been providing vessels, and we will continue to do that to help improve Vietnam’s Coast Guard’s capabilities." The provision of $18 million and five boats was first announced by Secretary of State John Kerry during his 2013 visit to Vietnam.

Regional Snapshots

The 7th China-US Consultation on Strategic Security and Multilateral Arms Control Held in Beijing

On February 2nd, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong and Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller of the US held the 7th China-US Consultation on Strategic Security and Multilateral Arms Control in Beijing. Both sides exchanged in-depth views on the current situation of international strategic security, the construction of the new model of major-country relationship between China and the US and bilateral cooperation on international and regional security, expressing that on the basis of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, they are willing to continue to enhance dialogue and communication, deepen practical cooperation, further strategic mutual trust, and promote a sustainable and sound development of the China-US relations so as to jointly safeguard international and regional peace and stability.

Indonesia, Japan will agree to defense partnership

Indonesia and Japan will be agreeing to partnerships in the field of defense, particularly in the transfer of Japan-manufactured defense equipment to Indonesia, a top envoy has said. “There will a memorandum of understanding [MoU] in the field of defense between Indonesia and Japan that will be signed,” Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Yusron Ihza Mahendra said as quoted by Antara news agency in Jakarta on February 3rd. He refused to provide details on when the MoU on Indonesian-Japanese defense cooperation would be signed, except to say that the signing of the agreement would be conducted during upcoming President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s visit to Japan.

Malaysia, Indonesia to seek resolution of sea disputes

alt

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo held talks on February 6th and later told a joint press briefing they agreed to set up a new mechanism for resolving territorial issues. Najib said the effort was necessary because years of negotiations had seen "no significant advancement". Widodo added that maritime disputes had "lingered for too long." The tension has centred on competing claims to potentially energy-rich seabeds in the Celebes Sea off the eastern coast of the vast island of Borneo, which the two nations share along with Brunei.