Philippines sends warship after China boat heads to disputed sea
The Philippines announced it will send its biggest warship, a World War II vessel, to a disputed part of the South China Sea after China said it was deploying one of its new coastal patrol vessels in the waters, Bloomberg reported.
The BRP Rajah Humabon, used by the U.S. against German submarines in World War II, will patrol around Scarborough Shoal, within waters claimed by China, the Philippine Star reported on its website. China sent the Haixun 31, a 3,000 ton vessel with a helicopter landing pad, to inspect foreign ships and oil facilities in disputed waters of the South China Sea, Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported yesterday.
“The Navy conducts regular offshore patrols and we should not connect the deployment of Rajah Humabon to the deployment of this maritime vessel of China,” Eduardo Batac, spokesman of the Philippines’ department of defense, said in a press briefing today. “It’s part of routine patrols that are being conducted by the Navy.”
Tensions in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes have increased as the Philippines and Vietnam press ahead with oil and gas projects against China’s wishes. Exxon Mobil Corp., Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM), Forum Energy Plc (FEP) and Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, have operations in areas of the South China Sea claimed by China.
Commander Miguel Jose Rodriguez, the spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the vessel was being deployed off the island of Luzon. Officials on the Chinese ship will discuss anti-piracy and sea rescue issues with Singaporean officials when it arrives, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Defense Treaties
The U.S., which has patrolled Asia-Pacific waters since World War II, has defense treaties with the Philippines and Thailand, and guarantees Taiwan’s security. U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington is “on a routine patrol of waters in the Western Pacific,” U.S. Navy spokesman Commander Jeff Davis said, without providing details of its planned route.
“The South China Sea is international waters and we transit through there routinely,” Davis said by phone today from Jakarta. The carrier “has been through there many times before in the past and it’ll be through there many times in the future.”
The U.S. sold a 378-foot Coast Guard vessel equipped with a helicopter launching pad and missile system to the Philippines earlier this year that will be its largest naval vessel when delivered in August, according to a May 12 statement by the Philippine Navy. Later this month, the U.S. Navy will send three ships to conduct joint exercises off of Palawan island “in a combination of Philippine waters and international waters,” Davis said.
‘What’s Ours is Ours’
The Philippine Navy removed territorial markers placed by China on three reefs in the South China Sea near Palawan island in May, Armed Forces Naval Forces West commander Edgardo Tamayo said yesterday. Two months earlier, Chinese vessels chased away a survey vessel working in the area for Forum Energy, a U.K.- based company majority owned by Philex Mining Corp. (PX)
“We are very concerned about these markers being placed in waters and areas, features that are clearly ours,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario told reporters in Canberra yesterday, where he met with Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd. “What’s ours is ours. We are free to do with that as we please.”
Chinese ships have rammed survey vessels operated by PetroVietnam twice in the past month, according to Vietnam’s foreign ministry, with one incident occurring in an area where Calgary-based Talisman Energy planned a seismic program this year. China has disputed that version of events, saying it’s committed to maintaining peace in the seas.
Beefing Up Forces
China will beef up its maritime surveillance force, increasing the number of personnel from 9,000 to 15,000 by 2020, the China Daily reported today, citing an unidentified official with the China Maritime Surveillance Force. The number of surveillance vessels being operated by the CMS will increase from 260 to 350 by 2015, the report said.
China has bolstered its forces over the past decade, procuring nuclear-powered submarines and developing an aircraft carrier, according to a U.S. Defense Department report in August. Its missile patrol craft, destroyers and frigates in the South Sea fleet “could alter regional balances,” the report said.
The BRP Rajah Humabon, used by the U.S. against German submarines in World War II, will patrol around Scarborough Shoal, within waters claimed by China, the Philippine Star reported on its website. China sent the Haixun 31, a 3,000 ton vessel with a helicopter landing pad, to inspect foreign ships and oil facilities in disputed waters of the South China Sea, Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported yesterday.
“The Navy conducts regular offshore patrols and we should not connect the deployment of Rajah Humabon to the deployment of this maritime vessel of China,” Eduardo Batac, spokesman of the Philippines’ department of defense, said in a press briefing today. “It’s part of routine patrols that are being conducted by the Navy.”
Tensions in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes have increased as the Philippines and Vietnam press ahead with oil and gas projects against China’s wishes. Exxon Mobil Corp., Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM), Forum Energy Plc (FEP) and Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, have operations in areas of the South China Sea claimed by China.
Commander Miguel Jose Rodriguez, the spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the vessel was being deployed off the island of Luzon. Officials on the Chinese ship will discuss anti-piracy and sea rescue issues with Singaporean officials when it arrives, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Defense Treaties
The U.S., which has patrolled Asia-Pacific waters since World War II, has defense treaties with the Philippines and Thailand, and guarantees Taiwan’s security. U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington is “on a routine patrol of waters in the Western Pacific,” U.S. Navy spokesman Commander Jeff Davis said, without providing details of its planned route.
“The South China Sea is international waters and we transit through there routinely,” Davis said by phone today from Jakarta. The carrier “has been through there many times before in the past and it’ll be through there many times in the future.”
The U.S. sold a 378-foot Coast Guard vessel equipped with a helicopter launching pad and missile system to the Philippines earlier this year that will be its largest naval vessel when delivered in August, according to a May 12 statement by the Philippine Navy. Later this month, the U.S. Navy will send three ships to conduct joint exercises off of Palawan island “in a combination of Philippine waters and international waters,” Davis said.
‘What’s Ours is Ours’
The Philippine Navy removed territorial markers placed by China on three reefs in the South China Sea near Palawan island in May, Armed Forces Naval Forces West commander Edgardo Tamayo said yesterday. Two months earlier, Chinese vessels chased away a survey vessel working in the area for Forum Energy, a U.K.- based company majority owned by Philex Mining Corp. (PX)
“We are very concerned about these markers being placed in waters and areas, features that are clearly ours,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario told reporters in Canberra yesterday, where he met with Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd. “What’s ours is ours. We are free to do with that as we please.”
Chinese ships have rammed survey vessels operated by PetroVietnam twice in the past month, according to Vietnam’s foreign ministry, with one incident occurring in an area where Calgary-based Talisman Energy planned a seismic program this year. China has disputed that version of events, saying it’s committed to maintaining peace in the seas.
Beefing Up Forces
China will beef up its maritime surveillance force, increasing the number of personnel from 9,000 to 15,000 by 2020, the China Daily reported today, citing an unidentified official with the China Maritime Surveillance Force. The number of surveillance vessels being operated by the CMS will increase from 260 to 350 by 2015, the report said.
China has bolstered its forces over the past decade, procuring nuclear-powered submarines and developing an aircraft carrier, according to a U.S. Defense Department report in August. Its missile patrol craft, destroyers and frigates in the South Sea fleet “could alter regional balances,” the report said.
