AFP will buy 6 New Fighter Jets to defend the Archipelagic Islands – Spratlys

Italy's M-346 - Price = € 20 Million Euros (Each)

Korea's TA-50 Golden Eagle - Price = $ 21 Million US Dollars (Each)

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) military plans to acquire six jet fighters for interdiction missions against intruders into Philippine waters and air space, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said (July 1, 2011).

"We're giving so much priority to our internal security operations, but lately the equation has shifted because we realize we've also to assess our external defense capability," Gazmin told reporters at the sidelines of the Air Force's 64th anniversary celebrations.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. said senior military officials had recommended an initial six multi-role planes to be acquired within the term of President Benigno Aquino III.

He said the Air Force was looking at either Korea's TA-50 Golden Eagle or Italy's M-346, and depending on their arms and in-flight instrumentation would cost about P1 billion each.

The Air Force retired its last seven F5 fighter jets in 2005 after having been in service for 40 years.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, meanwhile, said President Aquino's planned visit to China did not mean the Philippines was backing down from its assertions Chinese forces had been intruding on Philippine waters.

The Philippines claims that Chinese forces intruded at least nine times into Manila-claimed areas in the Spratly Islands since February, allegations that sparked an exchange of diplomatic protests and verbal jabs. Mr. Aquino has strongly criticized China, saying two weeks ago that his country would not be bullied by China in the disputed region.

The presidential trip would likely take place in late August or early September, Del Rosario said.

The Spratlys, a chain of barren, largely uninhabited islands, reefs and banks in the South China Sea, are claimed wholly by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and partly by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The islands are believed to be atop vast oil and gas deposits.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao has denied his government committed any intrusions, but acknowledged that Chinese vessels were exercising Beijing's sovereign rights in one incident at the Reed Bank near the Spratlys. Philippine officials complained the Chinese vessels harassed a local oil exploration ship into leaving the Reed Bank in March.

Just before he traveled last week to Washington, Del Rosario said he was told that the military was verifying another foreign intrusion into the Spratlys area.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave strong assurances that the US was committed to the defense of the Philippines, and would provide affordable weaponry amid mounting tensions in the Spratlys, Del Rosario said.

He said he separately gave US defense officials a list of equipment the Philippines needed to improve its capability to monitor foreign intrusions in its territorial waters near the Spratlys.

Clinton assured del Rosario that the US would honor its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines that calls on each country to help defend the other against an external attack by an aggressor in their territories or in the Pacific region, he said.

Del Rosario said he told US officials that if the Philippines received defense equipment, "we become a stronger ally for you

 

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How Taiwan Can Upstage China over disputes in Spratlys of the West Philippines' Sea

The recent confrontations in the South China Sea between China, Vietnam and the Philippines, and the subsequent street demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are an unwelcome reminder that long simmering tensions in the waters off Southeast Asia could boil over at any time.

The past month has seen diplomats and officials in Beijing, Hanoi and Manila engage in a round of accusations, protests and denials, with even usually quiet Singapore prompted to call on China to clarify its territorial claims.

Taiwan, meanwhile, reiterated its position, emphasizing its sovereignty over the contested territory. According to a June 15 statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan noted ‘that the Nansha Islands, the Shisha Islands, the Chungsha Islands and the Tungsha Islands, as well as their surrounding waters, sea beds and subsoil are all an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China (Taiwan).’ Moreover, on June 22, as reported by Channel News Asia, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy C.Y. Yang spoke of increasing military patrols on Taiwan-held islands.

Odd as it may seem given their history of animosity, the South China Sea territorial claims of the governments of China and Taiwan are nearly identical. Both the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China base their modern day claims on the so-called ‘nine-dotted’ or ‘U-shaped’ line visible on maps issued by the then Nanjing-based Republic of China government in 1947.

In the years since 1947, Taiwan has issued periodic statements regarding its claims. In 1993, it asserted sovereignty over the bulk of the South China Sea, including the Spratly, Pratas, and Paracel islands. In 1995, Taipei both reiterated its claim to the ‘U-shaped line’ and initiated construction on Itu Aba Island (Tai Ping Tao) in the Spratlys despite longstanding territorial claims to that tiny island by the Philippines and Vietnam as well as China.

The current Taiwanese position hasn’t changed in any fundamental way in the years since 1947, despite both Taiwan and the region having evolved dramatically in that time.

But hewing to the nine-dotted line claim of 1947 in 2011 imposes a needless liability on modern day Taiwan. Taiwan needs good relations with its Southeast Asian neighbors. Democratic Taiwan wants to, as it should, be perceived as a responsible international actor both in Asia and globally. The excessive maritime claims embodied by the 1947 declaration, however, fly in the face of this. Taipei’s continued adherence to China’s maritime territorial claims is therefore inimical to Taiwan’s long-term regional and international interests.

By holding to outdated and legally untenable claims, Taiwan risks alienating its ASEAN neighbors while its already deep economic ties to them continue to grow. By siding with Beijing on the excessive maritime claims inherited from 1947, an already isolated Taipei risks alienating neighbors that are increasingly wary of China, and that could potentially become more sympathetic to Taiwan.

Taiwan has now, in the choppy waters of the South China Sea, an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to international harmony and to being a constructive force for regional stability. Taipei ought to modify its maritime territorial claims in a manner that’s both more acceptable to its Southeast Asian neighbors, and in accordance with international law.

Taiwan would be wise to adopt a modified claim based on the 200 nautical mile limit as enunciated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in its definition of exclusive economic zones. By adopting this stance, Taipei would be able to maintain a claim to a substantial portion of the South China Sea while stepping back from those territorial claims that are particularly aggressive, ambitious and intellectually offensive to its neighbors. Doing so would also bring Taipei’s positions – unlike those of Beijing – into compliance with international law and the UNCLOS.

 

 

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China rejects the U.S. Senate's criticism over its sea dispute in Spratlys with Vietnam & Philippines

U.S. Senate resolution critical of Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea “doesn’t hold water” and its sponsors should promote peace in other ways, China said Tuesday.

Disputes over the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully through talks between “directly concerned parties,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters, a reference to what Beijing considers to be meddling by Washington.

The resolution adopted Monday by the U.S. Senate deplored China’s “use of force” in recent incidents between Chinese vessels and those of other claimants in the potentially resource-rich waters.

The Philippines accuses Chinese vessels of intruding repeatedly into Philippine waters in recent months, while Vietnam says Chinese vessels have hindered its oil exploration surveys in an area 200 nautical miles off its central coast that it claims as its economic exclusive zone. China says it has sovereign rights over the South China Sea.

“The relevant resolution adopted by the U.S. Senate doesn’t hold water,” Hong said. “We hope the relevant senators can do more to promote peace and stability of the region.”

Democratic Sen. Jim Webb led a bipartisan group of four senators who introduced the resolution. Webb said Southeast Asian countries were worried about China’s “pattern of intimidation,” and that the United States had a strategic interest in facilitating multilateral negotiations.

The Obama administration supports multilateral negotiations, but has been less strident in confronting China.

Hong added that China wants disputes to be handled through “friendly consultations” between the parties directly concerned.

“Others without a direct stake should respect the efforts made by those directly concerned to resolve South China Sea disputes through dialogue and in a peaceful manner,” he said.

More than 1,200 U.S. and Philippine navy personnel, meanwhile, began 11 days of exercises Tuesday that would include live-fire drills, tracking and interdiction, and patrolling maneuvers in the Sulu Sea off the western Philippine province of Palawan, which lies near the disputed Spratly Islands.

The annual maneuvers were unrelated to recent spats between China and the Philippines over the Spratlys. They aim to generally improve both navies’ ability to deal jointly with any naval threat, Philippine navy spokesman Lt. Noel Cadigal said.

The U.S. Navy deployed the guided missile destroyers USS Chung-Hoon and USS Howard, along with the diving and salvage ship USNS Safeguard and 800 personnel, including Navy Seabees and Riverine forces. Two Philippine navy patrol ships and more than 450 Filipino sailors joined the exercises, officials said.

Aside from the three ships, the U.S. Navy would deploy SH-60 Seahawk aircraft and the P-3c Orion, a long-range anti-submarine warfare patrol and surveillance plane.

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