Global protest set at UN against China ‘expansionism’
A U.S. group critical of China’s claim on islands off the Philippines will hold a protest rally at the United Nations headquarters here on July 24.
A U.S. group critical of China’s claim on islands off the Philippines will hold a protest rally at the United Nations headquarters here on July 24.
Along the northwestern coast of Luzon, poor children with claw hammers clamber aboard an abandoned fishing vessel to pry loose and steal rusty nails from its deck. It’s become a familiar sight in villages where some fishermen have been forced to give up their livelihoods since China took control of their fishing haven last year.
Defense Chief Voltaire Gazmin on Friday said China had maintained its presence in the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea a year after the standoff between the Philippine Navy and Chinese vessels.
President Benigno Aquino has accused China of harassing two Philippine fishing boats in disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) waters, allegedly driving out one that had sheltered from rough seas.
The Philippines is confident it has a strong case to win the international arbitration case challenging China’s claim to most of the South China Sea.
Amid heightened tensions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) disputes, a state-owned Chinese news agency has called the Philippines a “trouble maker in the region,” and warned the country against losing its “credibility” if “Manila insists on playing more tricks.”
The dispute in the West Philippine Sea, otherwise known as the South China Sea, is threatening to become “Asia’s Palestine” as it devolves the whole of Southeast Asia into violent conflict among sharply divided nations.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said that it hoped that China would listen to the “voice of international community” after it sought Beijing’s clarification of a reported plan to board foreign ships sailing through what it claims to be its territory in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the country’s foreign posts have been provided with the circulars about the new visa rules regarding the controversial Chinese e-passports bearing the image of a map that includes areas in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
The government should reject Chinese nationals entering the country with their new electronic passports featuring a map of China’s territory that includes the West Philippine Sea, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Wednesday.
President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday said a war with China “over uninhabitable rock formations” was not imminent even as he reiterated the government position that the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) was part of the country’s territorial waters.
China’s defense minister and the US Navy secretary on Tuesday discussed security at sea and plans to bolster the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region that have been sharply criticized by Beijing.
