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Category: Foreign Affairs

China declares “people’s war” to control Tibet

Published by Ellen on March 16, 2008

china_tibet.jpg
A Tibetan monk pleads for mercy as the police arrested them during anti-China protests in front of the United Nations office in Kathmandu March 15, 2008.
(Deepa Shrestha/Reuters)

By Benjamin Kang Lim and Chris Buckley


BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese officials have declared a “people’s war” of security and propaganda against support for the Dalai Lama in Tibet after riots racked the regional capital Lhasa, and some sources claimed the turmoil killed dozens.

Residents of the remote city high in the Himalayas said on Sunday that anti-riot troops controlled the streets and were closely checking Tibetan homes after protests and looting shook the heavily Buddhist region

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Trillanes’ statement on baseline bills

Published by Ellen on March 13, 2008


Re: Sabotage of Philippine Baseline Bills

I would like to express my outrage over how the pending House and Senate Bills relating to the definition of Philippine territory are being sabotaged and mishandled, apparently because the said bills include our claim of sovereignty over the Kalayaan Island Group (“KIG”), internationally known as the Spratlys, and the Scarborough shoal.

Yesterday, I was informed that House Bill No. 3216 was reverted to the Committee level upon the direction of Malacanang, so that it could be tampered with to completely remove our claims over the KIG and Scarborough shoal. This is despite the fact that the bill was already passed on Second Reading last December 2007 by the House Plenary.

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China protests

Published by Ellen on March 13, 2008

Related item: remarks-of-chinese-embassys-spokesman.doc

Aide Memoire of the People’s Republic of China delivered to the Philippine Embassy in Beijing

Talking Points
(December 2007)

It is learned that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the Philippines recently passed a revised draft of Act to Define the Baselines of the Territorial sea of the Philippines, which puts Scarborough Shoal and some other NANSHA reefs and islands (referred to as so-called “Calayan Islands”) inside the baseline of Philippine territorial sea, and would be submitted to the plenary of Senate and House of Representatives for review and adoption. China is shocked by and gravely concerned with this negative development. We request clarification from the Philippine side.

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Beijing letter opposing RP territory bill bared

Published by Ellen on March 12, 2008

by Wendell Vigilia
Malaya

The chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs said yesterday China’s opposition to the bill defining the Philippines’ boundaries prevented the chamber from approving the measure despite the deadline set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Lakas, Cebu) said Beijing expressed its objection to House Bill 3216 in a “note” to the Philippine embassy in Beijing last December.

“China is shocked by and gravely concerned with this negative development. We request the clarification from the Philippine side,” said the two-page letter which was faxed to Cuenco’s office by Ambassador Sonia Brady.

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Seismic survey is exploration – Mañalac

Published by Ellen on March 11, 2008

My concerns were addressed – Gutierrez

Golez asks if the Philippines is getting correct information from Chinese group.

Former President of the Philippine National Oil Corporation Eduardo Mañalac, the signatory in the controversial Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking with China and Vietnam admitted that the seismic survey being undertaken in the South China Sea and in the territorial waters of the Philippines can be considered exploration.

“If you ask me as a geologist it (seismic survey) is one part of the overall exploration,” Mañalac said in his press conference Monday even as he insisted that the tripartite agreement is aboveboard. He said he signed the agreement after he was told that the agreement was legal.

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Bentahang ukay-ukay ng Pilipinas

Published by Ellen on March 10, 2008

Hindi naman yata tama ang sinabi ng dating presidente ng Philippine National Oil Corporation na si Eduardo Mañalac na wala raw legal na boundary and Pilipinas kaya hindi raw masabi kung talagang may nakasama sa Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking na teritoryo ng Pilipinas na hindi naman kasama sa pinag-awayan sa Spratly islands.

Lumabas kasi sa pag-aaral ng marunong magbasa ng mapa, na ang kontratang pinasukan ng pamahalaang Arroyo sa pamamagitan ng PNOC sa China at Vietnam noong 2004 at 2005 ay nagsasakop ng 24,000 square kilometers sa loob ng teritoryo ng Pilipinas.

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Palace eyes U-turn on Spratly Deal 2

Published by Ellen on March 10, 2008

Binay: Review an admission of agreement’s infirmities

by Regina Bengco
Malaya

A Malacañang legal team is studying whether to push through with the 2005 Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) agreement with China and Vietnam on the disputed South China Sea.

Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol said the study was prompted by the “political noise” that President Arroyo might have committed treason by allowing the joint exploration of the disputed islands in exchange for loan agreements worth billions of dollars from China.

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A stinking deal

Published by Ellen on March 9, 2008

Related stories:

Statement of former DOE and PNOC heads

GMANewsTV: Seismic study showed 3 trillion cubic meters of oil in agreement area

GMANewsTV: Senate to start Spratlys probe

Siazon denies Drilon story

ABS-CBN:Political noise endangers Spratlys deal

How important is the JMSU (Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking) in the Spratly islands to China can be seen by how the Asia-Pacific superpower broke its traditional practice of spacing state visits to accommodate Gloria Arroyo in September 2004.

Continue readingA stinking deal