Philippine President Benigno Aquino III vowed yesterday that his country would not back down from any challenge to its sovereignty and territory amid a maritime dispute with China.
He said in a speech marking the 115th anniversary of the country’s independence from Spain that the Philippines has not claimed territory that clearly belongs to another country, but only asks that “our territory, rights and dignity be respected.”
“Aggression does not run in our veins, but neither will we back down from any challenge,” Aquino told government workers, diplomats and supporters at a public square named after Philippine revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio, where he also led a flag-raising ceremony.
Aquino said in the next five years, 75 billion pesos (US$1.74 billion) would be spent to modernize the armed forces.
He did not mention China by name, but the two countries have an ongoing territorial row in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), also claimed by Taiwan.
Last month, the Philippines protested the presence of a Chinese warship, two surveillance vessels and fishing boats off a shoal occupied by Philippine troops in the Spratlys in the latest territorial squabble between the two nations.
Ayungin Shoal lies 196km from the southwestern Philippine province of Palawan. It is guarded by a Philippine marine unit based in a rusty warship that ran aground on a coral outcrop several years ago. The shoal is near Mischief Reef (Meiji Reef, 美濟礁), which the Philippines had claimed, but which was occupied by China in 1995, sparking intense protests from Manila.
Chinese maritime surveillance ships have also taken control of the Scarborough Shoal. The shoal is known as Huangyan Island (黃岩島) in China and Taiwan, which also lay claim to it.
China has roped off the entrance to the shoal’s vast fishing lagoon following a two-month standoff with Philippine government ships last year.
The chain of reefs and rocks 230km west of the northwestern Philippine province of Zambales falls under its 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone, Philippine officials say.
Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the Spratlys, a chain of islands, islets and reefs.
On Tuesday, about 30 protesters wearing colorful fish masks gathered outside China’s consular office in Manila to demand a stop to Chinese intrusions into Philippine-claimed islands in the Spratlys.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS