Protests erupt after Philippines accuses China of building secret military base on disputed territory in South China Sea
Oliver Teves, Associated Press | May 16, 2014 | Last Updated: May 16 11:07 AM ET
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Filipinos and Vietnamese residents in the Philippine capital staged a joint protest Friday against “destabilizing” China’s incursions into South China Sea territories claimed by their countries.
The Philippine government on Thursday released military surveillance photos of Chinese land reclamation on a reef claimed by Manila in the South China Sea that it said showed Beijing violated a regional agreement not to escalate territorial disputes.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday that it was not clear what China would build on the reclaimed land, but that an airstrip was a possibility.
A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the issue, said it could also be used as a military base and a resupply and refuelling hub. The official said the reclamation was first detected by air force planes six months ago.
Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Philippine military has been monitoring Chinese activities at the reef for several months. “For whatever purpose [the reclamation was done] we still do not know, but we are almost sure that there will be a base,” he told reporters Thursday.
Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Charles Jose said the pictures show Chinese aggressiveness in asserting its claims over the entire South China Sea.
An airstrip or a military base on the reef would boost the mobility of Beijing’s naval and air forces in the South China Sea region, far from the Chinese mainland.
The aerial photographs were accompanied by a caption stating that they were obtained from “Philippine intelligence sources.” The caption said the “extensive reclamation” by China on the Johnson South Reef, called Mabini by Manila and Chigua by Beijing, was “destabilizing.”
The Chinese Embassy in Manila had no immediate comment, but a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing has said that the area is part of China’s territory, and that any Chinese activities at the reef should be of no concern to Manila.
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, a busy sea lane and fishing ground atop what is believed to be rich oil and gas reserves. Chinese and Vietnamese ships have been locked in a standoff since early this month after Beijing deployed an oil rig near the Paracel Islands claimed by Hanoi. Anti-China protests in Vietnam have turned violent, killing at least one Chinese worker at a Taiwanese steel mill.
Chanting “China get out,” more than 100 Filipinos and Vietnamese picketed the Chinese consulate in Manila Friday carrying banners, including one that urged Manila and Hanoi to “join hands” against Beijing.
Philippine Congressman Walden Bello said the protesters were denouncing Beijing’s moves as provocative. “This protest is all about telling China, ’Please stop your aggressive moves in our territories. Please respect the rule of international law,”’ he said.
Bello also accused China of allowing its fishermen to catch and butcher endangered turtles in Philippine waters. Philippine police charged nine Chinese fishermen who were apprehended last week for catching more than 500 turtles near a reef claimed by Manila.
The United States said it was aware of the reports that China is reclaiming land on a disputed reef in the South China Sea. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf urged self-restraint in activities that could escalate or complicate disputes.
“Major upgrades or the militarization of disputed land features in the South China Sea by any claimant has the potential to raise tensions,” she said.
Jose noted that a 2002 nonbinding agreement between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations calls for restraint in conducting activities in the region that would “complicate or escalate disputes” and to not inhabit uninhabited areas
“We want to show people that [China’s] actions are part of its aggressive behaviour to assert its claim in violation of the DOC,” or Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which was signed by China, Philippines and nine other ASEAN members, Jose said.
Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Charles Jose said Friday that turning the reef into an island in effect shrinks the Philippines’ territorial claim. Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, the maritime entitlement for a rock is 12 nautical miles while it is 200 nautical miles for an island.
The Philippines said the change jeopardizes Manila’s international arbitration case, which primarily seeks clarification on maritime jurisdiction and entitlements.
“If you will change the character or nature of that feature, from a rock to an island, of course, the maritime entitlement will become different, it will be bigger,” Jose said. “So our area shrinks, so we are jeopardized.”
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday the Philippines lodged the protest last month after surveillance aircraft confirmed and took pictures of the reclamation and dredging by Chinese vessels at the reef.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said a stronger accord and international arbitration would offer more lasting solutions to the territorial conflicts. A proposed legally binding “code of conduct” between China and Southeast Asian countries is seen as a mechanism to prevent a major armed conflict in the disputed waters. Manila sought international arbitration against Beijing in January 2013 after Chinese government ships took control of a shoal claimed by the Philippines off its main island of Luzon.
The pictures released Thursday showed “before-and-after” images — from an untouched reef in 2012, followed by another showing a concrete building jutting out of the water, and the reclaimed land two years later. Philippine aircraft helping search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane in March reported reclamation work was continuing, Jose said.
Del Rosario said Manila lodged a protest against China last month, but that Beijing has ignored it.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing on Wednesday that the reef was part of China’s territory and any construction there is covered by its “sovereignty rights.”
The Philippine government estimates that the Chinese have reclaimed a land mass of at least 30 hectares (74 acres) from the reef, which Manila says is part of its western Palawan province. What has emerged from the coral outcrop appears like a vast tree-less island of white sand in the middle of turquoise blue waters.
One of the released pictures shows a long pipe connected to a large dredging vessel on the northwestern edge of the reef. A concrete building, likely to be China’s outpost on the reef, stands on the southern edge of the emerging islet. A ship is anchored close by.
The reef, part of the Spratly Islands chain, is also claimed by Vietnam, which fought a deadly naval battle against China in the area in 1988.
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