Thursday, June 19, 2014

Vietnam riots over China seas theft and Wider Grievances, while Philippines pressures UN on China complaints

                                     
    
* Behind Vietnam's Anti-China Riots, a Tinderbox of Wider Grievances:  "Some people used the riots as an excuse to act out on grievances, such as workers who had been fired from factories," said Johnny Liao, chief executive of Taiwanese label printing company Daily Full International Printing, who hid in a locked bathroom for seven hours as rioters ransacked his factory in southern Vietnam. "It wasn't just about the oil rig." The events began peacefully in early May, when the activists—largely urban academics, lawyers and writers attached to human-rights groups—began for the first time to plan a joint protest.

 China's rig was a convenient target."We picked the oil rig because it's the common issue that not only all the groups but the whole nation is very concerned [about]," said Vu Dong Ha, chief editor of independent news website Danlambao and one of the organizers. "Also we thought this issue gave us less pressure from the government."

* Philippines pressures UN to fast-track complaint: The Philippines has pressured the United Nations to fast-track a resolution on its complaint over China’s claim of the entire South China Sea, a senior official has said. Manila’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told Gulf News that the government has asked the UN to also respond to the Philippines’ recent discovery of China’s reclamation activities on five shoals off the contested sea lane, near southwest Philippines.“Since China is not participating in the complaint filed by the Philippines at the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague, the Netherlands, perhaps we could get a quicker resolution from the tribunal,” del Rosario said.

“Because the situation is getting worse every day in the South China Sea. At the same time, Manila’s foreign affairs department is planning to lodge more complaints against China, including for construction and reclamation on five shoals located near Palawan, in south west Philippines because they are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, within the South China Sea, del Rosario said.

 

China will do anything, now they are to build a school in contested Paracel Islands

BBC Map

China to build school in contested Paracel Islands:  China calls the island Yongxing and has been building up a settlement there for the last two years.The school is expected to serve just 40 children, whose parents all work on the tiny island.

Last month, Chinese and Vietnamese ships clashed over a drilling rig that China has placed near the islands. Beijing claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea that covers areas other South East Asian nations say are their territory.The issue has been rumbling in recent years amid an increasingly assertive stance from China over its claims.

China will not have to square off militarily or so they think, they are building their own island to get around it


Chinese oil rig Haiyang Shi You 981 is seen surrounded by ships of China Coast Guard in the South China Sea, about 210 km (130 miles) off shore of Vietnam May 14, 2014.  REUTERS-Nguyen Minh

A Chinese official said on Friday that China will never send military forces to the scene of an increasingly ugly spat with Vietnam over an oil rig in the South China Sea, and accused Hanoi of trying to force an international lawsuit.
China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, but parts of the potentially energy-rich waters are also subject to claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. 

China is also involved in a territorial dispute in the East China Sea with Japan.
Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coastguard vessels, have squared off around the rig despite a series of collisions after the platform was towed to the area in early May.

China to Build 'Artificial Island' in Disputed Waters to get around island dispute


                                 Image: A view of Johnson South Reef, known to China as Chigua Reef and which the Philippines calls Mabini Reef, in the South China Sea China May Build 'Artificial Island' in Disputed Waters:  That installation, located in the hotly contested Fiery Cross Reef – which China, Vietnam and the Philippines all claim – is already home to a Chinese observation post which provides logistical support for Chinese military assets in the region. In the article, Li Jie, a naval expert at the Chinese Naval Research Institute explained that the expansion plans could possibly include the construction of an airstrip and port.

If the proposal is approved, such facilities would provide China with a stronger hub from which to project its naval and air strength over other claimants in the region. 

China's State Enterprises Told to Stop Investing in Vietnam

China Confirms No Intention of Responding to Court's Approach or arbitration


 

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