US Defense Sec. Esper slams China in meeting with ASEAN counterparts

BANGKOK - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper rebuked China's behavior in the South China Sea in a meeting Sunday with his Southeast Asian counterparts.

Esper, speaking at the ASEAN-US ministerial meeting of the annual ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus, also cast doubts on Beijing's sincerity in forging a "meaningful" Code of Conduct with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"China's activities there are a threat not only to other claimants and to many Southeast Asian nations, but to all trading nations who value freedom of the seas, and the peaceful settlement of disputes," Esper said at the meeting.

"(China's) maritime claims in the South China Sea, exemplified by the illegitimate nine-dash line, are both unlawful and unreasonable, and counter to the July 2016 ruling of the UNCLOS Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague," he said.

The nine-dash line refers to a demarcation used by China for its claim in the South China Sea, where ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam also have claims. UNCLOS stands for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In a bid to clarify its maritime entitlements in the South China Sea amid China's aggressive assertion of its claims over almost the entire body of water, the Philippines sought arbitration in 2013 with the international tribunal and eventually won the case in 2016.

Rejecting the arbitration process and the ruling, China reclaimed disputed features in the South China Sea and fortified them with military installations, and has been driving away foreign fishermen, coast guards and militaries.

Esper said China has "stepped up its use of what it calls 'maritime militia vessels'" to ward off Filipino, Indonesian, Malaysian and Vietnamese sailors, and fishermen, as well as employing its coast guard to prevent Vietnam from "drilling oil and natural gas off its own shores."

"Through repeated provocative actions to assert the nine-dash line, Beijing is inhibiting ASEAN members from accessing over $2.5 trillion in recoverable energy reserves, while contributing to instability and increasing the risk of conflict," Esper said.

"This behavior contrasts sharply with the rules-based order we have all worked together to build for more than 70 years," he added.

Esper said Beijing's "actions in the South China Sea present a maritime challenge that requires a multilateral solution."

"I encourage you to use your sovereign spaces, as well as international ones, or risk losing them," he told his ASEAN counterparts, stressing, "multilateral approaches are key" and reaffirming Washington's intention to continue flying, sailing and operating "where international law allows."

"Together, we must stand for lawful uses of air and maritime spaces to push back against coercion and intimidation," he said.

Expressing skepticism over Beijing's "sincerity to negotiate a meaningful Code of Conduct that reinforces international law," Esper urged ASEAN not to allow the proposed set of guidelines "to be manipulated by the PRC to legitimize its egregious behavior and unlawful maritime claims, or to evade the commitments" it has signed up to.

He warned that "if this were to happen, the Code of Conduct would be counterproductive and harmful to all who value the freedoms enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea." The United States is not a signatory to the 1982 accord.

ASEAN and China last year agreed on the text, which will form the basis of future COC negotiations. Aimed at managing tensions in the South China Sea, the envisioned Code of Conduct is hoped to be fully negotiated by 2021.

China has initially proposed in the COC that nonparty militaries who wish to hold exercises with ASEAN and China must have their approval, in an apparent swipe at the United States.

Esper underscored his country's freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, which he said has been most frequent this year compared to any in the past 25 years, as "particularly important in responding to steps Beijing has taken to militarize outposts" there.

"America's sustained military presence in the region is an enduring source of stability," he said, eliciting approval from Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen, who spoke on behalf of all ASEAN ministers.

"I encourage all of us to work together to push back on this unacceptable behavior, to ensure we do not cede space or abdicate our rights," Esper said.

"For our part, the United States raises its concerns about Chinese behavior directly with the Chinese government. And we hope our words and actions provide you space to do the same."

The rivalry of the United States and China, the world's current leading powers, has extended to the influence they have over ASEAN, with each country holding a maritime exercise once with the bloc over the last two years.

At the ASEAN-China defense ministerial meeting earlier in the day, the South China Sea issue was also raised.

The two sides agreed in principle to conduct a second joint maritime exercise following their inaugural drills in 2018, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu told reporters afterward.

Mohamad said ASEAN again requested that the COC be respected and that Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe responded that China is willing to work with ASEAN in addressing the sea dispute.

The two-day ADMM-Plus opened Sunday in Bangkok, as Thailand is this year's chair of ASEAN, which also includes Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Singapore.

At an informal retreat of the ASEAN defense ministers following their meeting with Wei, some voiced concerns over the South China Sea row, but overall there was optimism about the progress of the COC negotiations.

The ADMM-Plus meeting also involves the defense chiefs from the ASEAN's eight regional partners -- Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.

(Chananthorn Kamjan contributed reporting.)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US defense chief says China threatens Asia's stability

SINGAPORE - Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan suggested on Saturday that China was responsible for a range of destabilizing activities in Asia, stirring already heightened tensions between the world's 2 largest economies.

In a wide-ranging speech in front of regional defense chiefs at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Shanahan called on Asian allies to increase their security spending, while emphasizing the United States' commitment to the region.

He did not specifically name China when making accusations of "actors" destabilizing the region.

"Perhaps the greatest long-term threat to the vital interests of states across this region comes from actors who seek to undermine, rather than uphold, the rules-based international order," Shanahan said in his first major speech since taking over as acting defense secretary in January.

"If the trends in these behaviors continue, artificial features in the global commons could become toll booths, sovereignty could become the purview of the powerful."

His reference appeared to be to artificial islands built by China in the disputed South China Sea, a strategic waterway claimed almost wholly by Beijing.

While naming China, Shanahan said it was in Beijing's interests to have a constructive relationship with the United States.

But he added: "Behavior that erodes other nations' sovereignty and sows distrust of China's intentions must end."

"Until it does, we stand against a myopic, narrow, and parochial vision of the future, and we stand for the free and open order that has benefited us all - including China."

Shanahan's comments come as the United States and China are locked in an escalating trade war and at odds over a range of issues, from the South China Sea to democratic Taiwan, which China says is part of its sacred territory.

CHINA TO RESPOND

China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is due to address Asia's marquee security summit on Sunday when he is expected to criticize the United States over its implied support for a democratic Taiwan.

On Friday, Shanahan held talks with Wei that both sides called "constructive," although their teams later reverted to type with critical comments on each other's defense strategies.

Along with the expected warnings aimed at China, Shanahan referred to cooperation between the two countries in areas like military-to-military exchanges, counter-piracy and joint efforts to reduce the "extraordinary threat" posed by North Korea's military ambitions.

Shanahan also called on US allies to contribute more to their own defenses. Burden sharing, from Asia to Europe, has long been a demand of US President Donald Trump's administration.

"We need you to invest in ways that take more control over your sovereignty and your own ability to exercise sovereign choices."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

For China, Trump perhaps better the devil they don't know

* Clinton's tough line on S.China Sea, human rights riles Beijing

* Trump an unknown quantity in China, seen as "hands off" in Asia

* Adviser says Trump presidency would lead to respect

* Clinton as president would stand up to China - adviser

BEIJING - In 2010, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton provoked outrage in Beijing when she pushed the South China Sea to the top of the regional and U.S. security agendas.

Now as an international court prepares to hand down a ruling that threatens China's sweeping claims in the vital waterway, Beijing is watching Clinton's presidential run with trepidation.

Combined with her tough line on human rights and role in leading President Barack Obama's Asia "rebalancing", Clinton is well-known in China - but not well liked.

While presidential rival Donald Trump has irritated Beijing with comments such as comparing the U.S. trade deficit with China to rape, he is largely an unknown quantity, a person who even privately officials shrug their shoulders over.

"Clinton will be a difficult partner," one senior Chinese diplomatic source told Reuters, having just admitted to not knowing much about Trump or what he stands for.

China remembers clearly a 2010 Southeast Asian security summit in Hanoi, when Clinton waded into the South China Sea dispute, saying open access and legal solutions were a U.S. "national interest" and "pivotal to regional security".

In a strongly worded response, China stressed the South China Sea as one of its "core interests", putting the issue up there with Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang in terms of its importance to Beijing.

China warned its rival claimants and neighbours not to be emboldened by U.S. support - a line it has repeated ever since.

An arbitration court hearing the dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is set to hand down its ruling on in the Dutch city of The Hague on Tuesday. Legal experts expect at least some substantive findings to go against China, which has vowed to ignore the ruling.

STRENGTH, RESPECT

China's military, which is ramping up its presence in the South China Sea as part of a major modernisation programme, is also watching the election closely.

"Hillary is very fierce when it comes to China," a Chinese official close to the military establishment told Reuters.

While the Chinese government has been largely quiet about the U.S. election, state media has not been so restrained, with one paper even equating Trump to Hitler.

In May, China's official Xinhua news agency noted Trump's more isolationist campaign compared to Clinton's, who it described as an "old foreign policy hand" and important backer of the Asia-Pacific "pivot" that China considers a threat.

"As far as she's concerned, being tough on foreign policy is perhaps the best way to show America's so called 'leadership'," it said in a commentary.

Laura Rosenberger, a Clinton campaign foreign policy adviser who worked with her in the State Department, told Reuters Clinton would remain tough on the South China Sea issue.

"She believes that we need to be very strong in terms of standing up to many of the actions the Chinese have taken," Rosenberger said.

"She believes in the principles of freedom of navigation in international waters, that commerce on the high seas in incredibly important to the United States, and that these are really very direct interests that we need to continue to stand up for."

Trump adviser Peter Navarro, an economist at University of California Irvine and the author of the book, "Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World," said a Trump presidency would lead to respect.

"The central difference between a Trump administration and the current administration or a Clinton administration is respect. The leaders of Russia, the leaders of China will respect Mr. Trump, will respect America because we will be strong economically, militarily and politically."

UNKNOWN QUANTITY

Trump may actually find some sympathy in China, even if he is seen as an unknown quantity.

"Who is Trump? We don't really know. We do know he hates Muslims though - and that will be well received in some circles here," said the Chinese official with ties to the military, pointing to what China views as its war on terror in its Muslim-populated far western region of Xinjiang.

China also views Trump as a businessmen with whom they can probably negotiate.

"It would be very transactional for the Chinese," said a senior Western diplomat in Beijing. "He's a businessman they think they'll be able to strike a deal with."

Trump may also be less tough on China over human rights than Clinton, who has frequently clashed with Beijing on the issue.

In 2011, Clinton said China was on a "fool's errand" to try to halt the march of freedom, while in 2012 she was deeply involved in efforts to get blind dissident Chen Guangcheng out of China after he fled to the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

Trump advisor Navarro said Clinton's record on human rights abuse was "sketchy at best and abysmal at worst", highlighting her first trip to Asia as Secretary of State in 2009, where other issues were given priority.

"So it's difficult to see how she would have someone would view her as credible on that issue."

Rosenberger, the Clinton adviser, rejected that view, highlighting comments from Trump in a 1990 interview referring to the "strength" of the Chinese government in its bloody crackdown of student-led protests in Tiananmen Square a year earlier.

"It's ironic for Trump's adviser to criticize Hillary's statement there when Trump himself has actually praised the Chinese for the Tiananmen massacre," Rosenberger said.

Still, China is hoping that whoever wins they will understand that both countries need each other and will have to work closely, a source with ties to the Chinese leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

"It is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. China needs the United States and vice versa," the source said. "We don't know who will be the lesser of two evils."

(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim and Michael Martina in Beijing, Greg Torode in Hong Kong, and Alana Wise and Caren Bohan in Washington)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pentagon: U.S. bomber flew over artificial Chinese islands

WASHINGTON - A U.S. B-52 strategic bomber flew over artificial Chinese islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) recently and was contacted by Chinese ground controllers but continued its mission undeterred, the Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday.

"We conduct B-52 flights in international air space in that part of the world all the time," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a news briefing in response to a question about the flight. "There was one B-52 flight...there was an effort made by Chinese ground controllers to reach out to that aircraft and that aircraft continued its mission unabated. Nothing changed."

Cook said he was not sure when exactly the flight occurred.

Last month, a U.S. warship challenged territorial limits around one of China's man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago with a so-called freedom-of-navigation patrol, the most significant U.S. challenge yet to territorial limits China claims around its new islands.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. The United States has said it will continue conducting the patrols.

U.S. and Chinese warships and aircraft regularly communicate when operating near each other in Asian waters, U.S. military officials say.

source: www.abs-cbnnnews.com

Malaysia says jet may have turned back, search expanded

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian authorities were looking into the "possibility" that an airliner which vanished with 239 people on board had attempted to turn back, the country's air force chief said Sunday.

Authorities also said they were expanding their search for wreckage to the west coast of Malaysia. Searches so far had concentrated on waters to the country's east, in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).

"There is a distinct possibility the airplane did a turn-back, deviating from the course," said General Rodzali Daud, citing radar data.

"One of the possibilities is that it was returning to Kuala Lumpur."

Malaysian Airlines flight 370 vanished early Saturday, with the last known location of the Boeing 777-200 recorded over waters somewhere between Malaysia and southern Vietnam.

No debris has yet been found though Vietnam has said its search planes spotted oil slicks near where contact with the plane was lost.
Rodzali said a turn-back was "corroborated by civil radar", giving no further details.

But Malaysian Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the plane's systems would have set off alarm bells.

"When there is an air turn-back the pilot would be unable to proceed as planned," he said, adding authorities were "quite puzzled" over the situation.

Officials also said authorities were expanding a search operation to Malaysia's western coast, facing the huge Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Rodzali, the air force chief, said Malaysia had "requested our Indonesian friends to assist us in that matter".

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Chinese fishing ban takes effect

The summer fishing ban declared by China over the South China Sea, which Manila calls the West Philippine Sea, takes effect Wednesday, May 16, amid that country’s continuing standoff with the Philippines over Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal.

But when asked if the ban would mean the withdrawal of Chinese government vessels at Scarborough, the Chinese government would only say they are committed to “diplomatic consultations.”

Although President Benigno Aquino III expressed gratitude for the ban, saying it would allow the replenishment of marine resources in the rich fishing grounds and adding that the Philippines might take similar action, the Department of Foreign Affairs has stressed that it does not recognize the Chinese initiative.

News5 reported that Vietnam has voiced its opposition to China's fishing ban, calling it unilateral and invalid. Vietnam is also a claimant to several areas in the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, in response to emailed questions coursed through the Chinese embassy in Manila, said: “China has expounded on our positions on the Huangyan Island incident for many times. Our position of committing to diplomatic consultation to settle the issue remains unchanged.”

Huangyan is what China calls the rock formation 120 miles off Zambales.

The Philippines also calls it Bajo de Masinloc.

Hong said the May 16 to August 1 fishing ban has been an administrative measure undertaken by China’s Ministry of Agriculture-Bureau of Fishery Administration “for many years” that is meant “to protect the maritime biological resources in the related waters, having nothing to do with the current Huangyan Island incident.”

On resolving the standoff

He also urged the Philippines to stop publicizing its diplomatic plans and actions after Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s latest announcement of a new bilateral initiative to resolve the standoff.

“We have already made it very clear about China’s principles and position on the Huangyan Island issue. The Chinese side urges the Philippine side to concretely respect China’s territorial sovereignty, refrain from any practice that may magnify and complicate the situation, and in particular, keep to diplomatic consultation to address the situation instead of continuing to stir up public opinion and deliver self-contradictory information,” Hong said.

Asked to comment about the public uproar in China over the standoff, with some citizens calling for a military solution to the problem, Hong maintained that China will pursue the diplomatic track.

“The Chinese government is firmly determined to defend China’s territorial sovereignty over the Huangyan Island. At the same time, we are committed to addressing the current situation at the Huangyan Island through diplomatic consultation,” he said.

He gave a similar response when asked about Aquino's pronouncement that he sees a resolution soon.

“We have just read the related report. Our related stance remains unchanged. The Chinese side hopes that the Philippine side will address the current situation at the Huangyan Island through diplomatic consultation with the Chinese side,” he said. (with a report from News5)

source: interaksyon.com

Biggest Phl warship on patrol in Spratlys

SAN FERNANDO, La Union, Philippines – The Philippine Navy is sending its biggest warship BRP Rajah Humabon for patrol operations around Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

The deployment of the Humabon came after China dispatched its largest maritime patrol ship into the area in a move likely to raise tensions with neighbors staking rival claims to waters believed to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.

Chinese state media reports yesterday said the Haixun-31 left Wednesday and will stay in Singapore for two weeks of exchanges on search and rescue, anti-piracy and port management operations.

The ship is passing the Paracel and Spratly island groups at the heart of disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and other nation claimants around the region.

The Chinese media reports appeared to stress the deployment of its biggest patrol ship in the region.

“Our country’s biggest maritime patrol ship patrols the South China Sea,” said the headline in the official Beijing Daily.

Such type of ships has been accused of harassing foreign shipping in the South China Sea, including a US Navy surveillance vessel.

China, Vietnam and the Philippines have traded diplomatic barbs recently over maritime claims to the resource-rich island groups. Vietnam’s navy conducted live fire exercises on Monday after accusing Chinese boats of disrupting oil and gas exploration in its waters.

Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama gave assurance that no provocative actions would be made in the West Philippine Sea.

He said the Navy would implement pro-active defense measures all within its territorial waters in the area.

The Humabon, which has 68 crewmembers and eight officers, was docked Thursday at the Poro Point seaport here before sailing to the Scarborough Shoal.

“We will observe and check if there are security threats in the area and also to inspect if there are illegal poachers taking advantage in our jurisdiction,” said the ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Celestino Abalayan.

Abalayan was quick to clarify that their mission has nothing to do with the issue on the Spratlys. He said they were just on routine patrol.

Scarborough Shoal is situated in the West Philippine Sea, 198 kilometers west of Subic Bay with an estimated area of 150 square kilometers. The Shoal, which is rich in maritime resources, is also being claimed by China.

Pama also said the Navy, along with other military units committed to secure the country’s territorial waters in Palawan, will maintain its presence within the Kalayaan Island Group, part of the island group of the Spratlys occupied by the Philippines.

“We will strictly adhere to our rules of engagement and if a shooting war breaks out (among contending forces in the Spratlys) in the area, it will not start or come from us first,” Pama said.

Pama though stressed the mandate of the troops to stand down against possible armed hostilities.

“We are not to going start (the shooting) but it is also within our right to defend ourselves. We could not just scamper away or simply watch them (foreign forces) shooting at us,” Pama said.

Pama brushed aside suggestions that the Philippine Navy should also take an aggressive stance and take the cue from Vietnam conducting live fire exercises in the region.

“We are doing our own. We have our own strategy. We have our own (military) plahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn,” Pama said but declined to elaborate.

The Philippine Navy has taken the aggressive measure of dismantling the markers presumably placed by China on some of the islands and reefs that are within the country’s territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea.

Pama said removal of the markers would continue with the assistance of the Philippine Coast Guard.

“We are doing these operations if only to emphasize that these markers are within the country’s exclusive economic zone,” Pama said. – With Jaime Laude, AP

Article Source: philstar.com