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Activities of the Claimants

China

China respones to the Philippines’ decision to taking South China Sea dispute over South China Sea with China to the UN tribunal

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Ma Keqing reiterated China's principled position over the islands in the South China Sea and its adjacent waters, after the Philippines announced it had taken the disputes to the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. "The Chinese side strongly holds the disputes on South China Sea should be settled by parties concerned through negotiations," Ma said in a meeting with Assistant Secretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Theresa Lasaro.

Chinese submarines cruise South China Sea

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A submarine of a submarine flotilla of the Chinese South China Sea Fleet under the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is cruising in the South China Sea on a sunny day in mid-January 2013. The depth sensor finally read 200 meters. Luo Zuyun, captain of the submarine, said that in this depth we could eliminate the threat from satellite-sounding and the natural noises of the sea with a positive sound velocity gradient could drown out those of the submarine, therefore, the submarine could remain undiscovered in the sea

China opposes to Philippines’ decision to bringing South China Sea dispute to international arbitration

In a press conference on January 23rd, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei said that China has been firmly opposed to the Philippine asking for international arbitration on its dispute with China on the South China Sea. He added that solving relevant disputes through negotiation between directly-concerned sovereign states is also the consensus between China and ASEAN countries as stipulated in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). All the signatories to the DOC should stand by their solemn commitments.

Vietnam

Viet Nam response to the Philippines’ decision to takiong China to international arbitration

In response to questions from media regarding Viet Nam's reaction to the Philippines’ decision to bring China before an Arbitral Tribunal under Article 287 and Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Nguyen Duy Chien, Deputy Chairman of the National Border Committee, Foreign Ministry on January 24th said “Viet Nam’s consistent position is that all issues relating to the East Sea should be resolved by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations  Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Viet Nam believes that every country may take any peaceful mean to  resolve disputes in line with the UN Charter and international law, including UNCLOS.”

Hoang Sa–Truong Sa sovereignty maps placed in Hue

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The authorities of Thua Thien–Hue province will position maps demonstrating Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes at famous and crowded places across the former imperial city of Hue. The large-scale maps include “Dai Nam nhat thong toan do” (an 1834 map of Vietnam from the Minh Mang King era), “An Nam dai quoc hoa do” (a map of the great empire of An Nam, 1838), “Hoang trieu truc tinh dia du toan do” (Map of all Chinese provinces published in 1904 by China’s Qing dynasty), and Map of Indochinese weather stations (1940).

First children’s pictorial book of Truong Sa, Hoang Sa

The first pictorial book for children portraying Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagoes was launched in Hanoi. Entitled “To Quoc Noi Dau Song” (Fatherland on the High Seas), the book includes 200 photos and documents that reflect the archipelagoes’ history, geography, culture, nature, landscape and people. Readers will have a chance to “tour” the most interesting and special places of the two archipelagoes. They will see trees that grow in Truong Sa, like the square almond tree (barringtonia asiatica), as well as the daily life and fight of people and soldiers on the islands.

The Philippines

Philippines to take China dispute to UN tribunal

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The Philippine government announced on Tuesday, January 22nd, that it will elevate its territorial dispute with China to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said that the Philippines asserts that China's 9-Dash Line claim is against UNCLOS, of which both the Philippines and China are signatories, and thus "unlawful." "The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China... We hope that the arbitral proceedings shall bring this dispute to a durable solution," he told reporters.

Full statement by Philippine Foreign affairs Albert del rosario on the UNCLOS arbitral proceedings against China.

Philippine Senate, House support Aquino’s move vs China in shoal row

The Philippine House of Representatives and the Senate have adopted their respective resolutions supporting the move of President Aquino to file an arbitration case against China. “Arbitration is a peaceful way of settling disputes consistent with Asean’s Six-Point Principles, Asean Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and the Asean-China Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea,” the Senate said in adopting Resolution 931.

Aquino alleges China harassed Philippine boats

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Philippine Peresident Aquino said the two Scarborough Shoal incidents had led to Manila seeking United Nations arbitration over the territorial dispute. Aquino, who did not say when the incidents occurred, said “Chinese vessels” approached to within nine meters (10 yards) of a Filipino fishing boat near the shoal. “While they (Chinese vessels) were approaching, their horns were supposedly blaring at full blast, causing apprehension to our fishing vessel,” he said, according to a transcript released by the government on Saturday. A second Filipino boat was driven out by Chinese vessels shortly after it took shelter near the shoal, he added.

Campuchia

China to train Cambodian army

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China has signed a contract to train the Cambodian army and to supply Phnom Penh with new and updated weapons, starting with 12 helicopters. The ground-breaking deal, certain to shake up regional relations, was signed in Phnom Penh at a low-profile ceremony held Wednesday in Phnom Penh. It was signed by Moeung Samphan, Cambodian deputy defence minister and secretary of state of the defence ministry, and Gen Qi Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, with Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh looking on.

Regional Snapshots

Asian peace council debuts in Indonesia

The Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council (APRC) made its debut at a meeting in the headquarters of the Jakarta-based ASEAN Secretariat on January 23rd. The meeting saw the participation of the council’s Chairman, former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Thailand Surakiart Sathirathai, former high-ranking Asian leaders, and a number of diplomatic representatives and delegates from the ASEAN Secretariat and Indonesia.

United Nation urges ‘amicable’ end to Philippines, China sea dispute

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UN leader Ban Ki-moon on January 22nd called for an “amicable” settlement to a mounting West Philippine Sea territorial dispute between China and other Asian nations. Asked about the Philippines decision to refer the case to a UN tribunal, Ban told reporters he has been following the dispute “carefully”. “It is important for those countries in the region to resolve all these issues through dialogue in a peaceful and amicable way,” he said. The United Nations is ready “to provide technical and professional assistance, but primarily all these issues should be resolved by the parties concerned,” the UN leader added, carefully avoiding backing any country involved.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister: Legitimate right of Philippines to bring sea dispute to arbitration

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister believes it is the right of the Philippines to bring its dispute with China over the South China Sea to arbitration. Speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore-Thailand Civil Service Exchange Programme, Mr Surapong Tovichakchaikul echoed the view expressed by his Singapore counterpart Mr K Shanmugam. Both ministers emphasised that all parties should pursue peaceful means to settle the dispute.

Commentaries & Analyses

The impossible dream and the South China Sea

By Jay L. Batongbacal

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario's announcement that the Philippines is initiating UNCLOS Annex VII Arbitration has finally ended the suspense on the announced intentions of the Philippines of taking China to before an international tribunal. But it leaves many unanswered questions. The most obvious question is whether it is possible to take China to arbitration without its consent. The government believes so, relying on the fact that China, like the Philippines, accepted arbitration by default because it did not choose any other procedure upon ratification of UNCLOS. However, this is only one aspect of consent in international arbitration. The importance of consent of both parties cannot be underestimated; it is essential at each stage throughout the entire arbitration process, from the appointment of the arbitral panel, determination of jurisdiction to proceed, implementation of the process and trial on the merits, and compliance with the award. To achieve an unquestionably binding resolution, State consent is crucial at all these stages of the proceeding. The second question is what happens next, what might China do at each of these stages in the coming months or years? DFA says that the process will take 3-4 years. In reality many things can happen during that period.

The South China Sea: Flashpoints and the U.S. Pivot

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By Elsa Kania

From a U.S. perspective, a sustained American presence in the region has long been the underpinning of peace and stability. However, excessive U.S. intervention could disrupt the delicate balance that has been established. Although the U.S. has always sought to maintain a position of neutrality in territorial disputes, remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that referred to the South China Sea as the “West Philippine Sea” led China to challenge U.S. impartiality. If the U.S. engages with its regional allies without seeking enhanced engagement with China, then U.S. actions in the region may be perceived by China as efforts at containment. Moreover, as the U.S. strengthens ties to partners in the region, there is risk of entanglement if conflict were to break out. The South China Sea will likely remain a focal point of tension for years to come. China’s increased naval power may make a more assertive stance natural and inevitable. In this environment, Bonnie Glaser, Senior Adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies sees that “the U.S. is more welcome in the region today than it has ever been.” The United States must find a balance between accepting this welcome and not overreaching—maintaining a stabilizing presence without provoking further suspicion from China or arousing concerns among regional partners. All in all, the South China Sea may prove to be a test, not only of whether China will be a “responsible stakeholder” in its own neighborhood but also of American strategy as it relates to a rising China.

US, China Compete For The Role Of “King Of Sea”

By Konstantin Garibov

In 2012, the US announced that it is starting “to return to Asia” – that is, to broaden its military presence in the south of the Asia-Pacific region. This is the US’s response to China’s increasing military activity in disputable waters in the East China and the South China Seas. The US is going to move up to 60% of its navy to the Asia-Pacific region. That would increase the US’s military presence there 3 times in comparison with the current situation. At present, about 60 to 70 US military ships and from 200 to 300 planes are constantly present at US naval bases in Japan and South Korea. Besides, at least 2 US aircraft carriers are constantly keeping watch in the region. “In such conditions, the Chinese are starting to feel surrounded by US forces from all sides,” Russian expert in Eastern affairs Yuri Tavrovsky said in an interview with the Voice of Russia. “It is hard to deny that within the last few years, China’s economy has been rapidly developing, which has allowed China to considerably increase its military might. It would probably be an exaggeration to say that China is becoming aggressive, but it is obviously starting to realize that it is getting strong enough to afford dictating its will to other countries.” Another Russian expert, Evgeny Kanaev, is predicting that the US-Chinese relations will most probably aggravate even further: “I don’t think that China’s leaders today want to make compromises with the US. It is unlikely that China will agree to create a program of developing its navy that would satisfy the US. In its turn, the US also doesn’t want to be ousted by China from its positions in the Asia-Pacific region. Besides its military presence there, the US also wants to maintain control over all the transport routes in this region, and China is now becoming a serious rival for the US from this point of view as well.” Experts are concerned that the US’s policy of regaining military control over the Asia-Pacific region and its competition for this role with China may aggravate the situation in this region to a very dangerous point.

Toward a code of conduct for the South China Sea

By Termsak Chalermpalanupap

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As the Asean chair in 2013, Brunei faces no serious domestic pressure from its tiny population of 300,000 to "do something" about the South China Sea disputes, unlike Vietnam (with its 90 million population), which chaired Asean in 2010. Brunei sees no urgent issues to warrant convening the customary "retreat" or informal meeting of Asean foreign ministers in the first quarter of this year. It did host a "retreat" of Asean senior officials at the Ulu Ulu resort in early January. However, there has been no big breaking news about the South China Sea from Brunei. This means Asean will be content with the status quo for the time being and wait until after the completion of the Chinese leadership transition. In the meantime, one important event to watch is the Second Asean Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus in Bandar Seri Begawan, scheduled on May 7. Asean defence ministers will first meet among themselves for the 7th ADMM on May 6; after that, they will meet their counterparts from eight dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US. Some defence ministers might bring up South China Sea issues; then anything could happen.

China's Game Plan in Southeast Asia

By Ian Storey

Some Asean members like the Philippines want neighbors to agree on a binding code of conduct in these seas, but no matter how much they push for it, if China doesn't want to play it won't happen. And it doesn't. Despite agreeing in principle last year to a code, Beijing now believes that the "time is not ripe" to begin talks, according to China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. Instead, it prefers to focus on implementing a non-binding agreement it signed with Asean in 2002 which aims to reduce tensions and build mutual trust. China's intransigence is unsurprising. It calculates that it can parlay its growing economic and military clout into coercing its neighbors to eventually accept its claims. It has already achieved that outcome with Cambodia, which has surely emboldened it further. Even if China were to begin discussions with Asean this year, it would undoubtedly prolong the process and veto any provisions that would limit its sovereignty-building activities. The final product is, therefore, unlikely to look very different from the toothless 2002 agreement in place today. Conflict is not inevitable in the South China Sea. Barring an accidental clash at sea, the status quo will continue into 2013. Tensions will ebb and flow, friction will increase over access to maritime resources such as oil, gas and fish, and Asean and China will talk about talks. But nobody should expect any major breakthroughs under Brunei's chairmanship.

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