UN PROTEST OF CHINA INVASION OF AYUNGIN SET FOR JULY 24
China's threatened invasion of the Philippines' Ayungin Reef, located just 105 nautical miles from Palawan, will be protested at the United Nations (UN) in New York City on July 24 in a rally sponsored by the US Pinoys for God Governance (USP4GG).
“China seized the Philippines’ Mischief Reef in 1994, then our Scarborough Shoal last year,” declared Loida Nicolas Lewis, the national chair of USP4GG and former national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA).“This year, China is set to invade and occupy the Ayungin Reef. This is unacceptable!”
SANSHA FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Lewis explained that July 24 marks the first anniversary of China’s establishment of the Sansha City Prefecture which was given mandate by Beijing to have jurisdiction over more than 2 million square kilometers of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) including those islands and reefs in the Spratlys that are within the 200 mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested the creation of the Sansha prefecture when it was formed after learning that its jurisdiction covered the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys, which “is an integral part of the Philippine territory falling under the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan province.”
“Sansha City has been a subject of a Philippine protest as its administrative jurisdiction encompasses Philippine territory and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea,” DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
CHINA VIOLATES DECLARATION OF CONDUCT
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario asserted that the creation of the Sansha prefecture was in “gross violation” of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), a 10-year-old document that aims to deter use of force and instead promote peace and self-restraint among countries claiming resource-rich territories in the South China Sea, including China, Vietnam,Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Beijing announced that beginning January 1, 2013, Chinese naval ships from the Sansha prefecture would begin patrolling the waters in the South China Sea under its jurisdiction.
PHILIPPINES FILES UNCLOS CLAIM
On January 22, 2013, the Philippines formally filed its claim against China before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal under Article 287 and Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Philippines asserted that China’s “nine-dash line” claim that encompasses virtually the entire South China Sea/West Philippine Sea is contrary to UNCLOS and is thus unlawful.
The Philippines also charged that “within the maritime area encompassed by the 9-dash line, China has also laid claim to, occupied and built structures on certain submerged banks, reefs and low tide elevations that do not qualify as islands under UNCLOS, but are parts of the Philippine continental shelf, or the international seabed and has interfered with the lawful exercise by the Philippines of its rights within its legitimate maritime zones, as well as to the aforementioned features and their surrounding waters.”
CHINESE SHIPS IN AYUNGIN
On May 8, 2013, three Chinese naval ships were spotted by Philippine maritime surveillance vessels surrounding the Ayungin Reef (Second Thomas Shoal), which is located just 105nautical miles from Palawan, well within the 200 mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. The Ayungin Reef is guarded by a Philippine marine detachment on board the BRP Sierra Madre ship that is permanently moored in the Ayungin Reef to protect it.
“We will not allow China to establish a blockade to prevent the Philippine Navy from replenishing the Philippine marine base at Ayungin with personnel and materials,” declared Ted Laguatan, spokesman of the USP4GG. “We support Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin’s vow to defend Ayungin to the last soldier standing.”
The Ayungin Reef is considered the gateway to the Recto Bank, which the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates to contain 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 25.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In his July 25, 2011 State of the Nation Address (SONA), Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III declared: “What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue.”
In a TV interview in Beijing last week, Major Gen. Zhang Zhaozhong of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced the PLA strategy to set up a blockade to prevent the Philippine marines stationed at Ayungin Reef from receiving fresh supplies. "Only a few troopers are able to station there," he said, "but there is no food or even drinking water there. If we carry out the ‘cabbage’ strategy, they will not be able to send food and drinking water onto the islands. Without the supply for one or two weeks, the troopers stationed there will leave the islands on their own. Once they have left, they will never be able to come back."
GLOBAL PROTEST ACTIONS PLANNED
The USP4GG announced that the July 24 action at the United Nations will include simultaneous town hall meetings to discuss the China threat in Filipino communities throughout the United States. It will also call on the US communities of the claimant countries whose territories are being invaded by Chinese ships from the Sansha prefecture.
Rep. Walden Bello of the Akbayan partylist announced that his group will join the July 24 mass action that will be planned for the Philippines and will encourage its supporters throughout the world to join in global actions to denounce the Sansha prefecture and its provocative actions in the Ayungin Reef.
USP4GG is calling on all patriotic Filipinos to join in the July 4 denunciation of China’s imperialist activities in the South China Sea.
For more information,log on to USPGG.org.
“China seized the Philippines’ Mischief Reef in 1994, then our Scarborough Shoal last year,” declared Loida Nicolas Lewis, the national chair of USP4GG and former national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA).“This year, China is set to invade and occupy the Ayungin Reef. This is unacceptable!”
SANSHA FIRST ANNIVERSARY
Lewis explained that July 24 marks the first anniversary of China’s establishment of the Sansha City Prefecture which was given mandate by Beijing to have jurisdiction over more than 2 million square kilometers of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) including those islands and reefs in the Spratlys that are within the 200 mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested the creation of the Sansha prefecture when it was formed after learning that its jurisdiction covered the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys, which “is an integral part of the Philippine territory falling under the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan province.”
“Sansha City has been a subject of a Philippine protest as its administrative jurisdiction encompasses Philippine territory and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea,” DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
CHINA VIOLATES DECLARATION OF CONDUCT
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario asserted that the creation of the Sansha prefecture was in “gross violation” of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), a 10-year-old document that aims to deter use of force and instead promote peace and self-restraint among countries claiming resource-rich territories in the South China Sea, including China, Vietnam,Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Beijing announced that beginning January 1, 2013, Chinese naval ships from the Sansha prefecture would begin patrolling the waters in the South China Sea under its jurisdiction.
PHILIPPINES FILES UNCLOS CLAIM
On January 22, 2013, the Philippines formally filed its claim against China before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal under Article 287 and Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Philippines asserted that China’s “nine-dash line” claim that encompasses virtually the entire South China Sea/West Philippine Sea is contrary to UNCLOS and is thus unlawful.
The Philippines also charged that “within the maritime area encompassed by the 9-dash line, China has also laid claim to, occupied and built structures on certain submerged banks, reefs and low tide elevations that do not qualify as islands under UNCLOS, but are parts of the Philippine continental shelf, or the international seabed and has interfered with the lawful exercise by the Philippines of its rights within its legitimate maritime zones, as well as to the aforementioned features and their surrounding waters.”
CHINESE SHIPS IN AYUNGIN
On May 8, 2013, three Chinese naval ships were spotted by Philippine maritime surveillance vessels surrounding the Ayungin Reef (Second Thomas Shoal), which is located just 105nautical miles from Palawan, well within the 200 mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. The Ayungin Reef is guarded by a Philippine marine detachment on board the BRP Sierra Madre ship that is permanently moored in the Ayungin Reef to protect it.
“We will not allow China to establish a blockade to prevent the Philippine Navy from replenishing the Philippine marine base at Ayungin with personnel and materials,” declared Ted Laguatan, spokesman of the USP4GG. “We support Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin’s vow to defend Ayungin to the last soldier standing.”
The Ayungin Reef is considered the gateway to the Recto Bank, which the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates to contain 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 25.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In his July 25, 2011 State of the Nation Address (SONA), Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III declared: “What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue.”
In a TV interview in Beijing last week, Major Gen. Zhang Zhaozhong of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced the PLA strategy to set up a blockade to prevent the Philippine marines stationed at Ayungin Reef from receiving fresh supplies. "Only a few troopers are able to station there," he said, "but there is no food or even drinking water there. If we carry out the ‘cabbage’ strategy, they will not be able to send food and drinking water onto the islands. Without the supply for one or two weeks, the troopers stationed there will leave the islands on their own. Once they have left, they will never be able to come back."
GLOBAL PROTEST ACTIONS PLANNED
The USP4GG announced that the July 24 action at the United Nations will include simultaneous town hall meetings to discuss the China threat in Filipino communities throughout the United States. It will also call on the US communities of the claimant countries whose territories are being invaded by Chinese ships from the Sansha prefecture.
Rep. Walden Bello of the Akbayan partylist announced that his group will join the July 24 mass action that will be planned for the Philippines and will encourage its supporters throughout the world to join in global actions to denounce the Sansha prefecture and its provocative actions in the Ayungin Reef.
USP4GG is calling on all patriotic Filipinos to join in the July 4 denunciation of China’s imperialist activities in the South China Sea.
For more information,log on to USPGG.org.
Amb. Jose Cuisia
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