The presumptive winner of the Philippine election on Monday said that if he became president he would settle rows over the South China Sea with multilateral talks that would include allies the United States, Japan and Australia as well as claimant nations. Rodrigo Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of Davao City, said China should respect the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone granted to coastal states under international law and should team up with the Philippines to jointly exploit offshore oil and gas. "I would say to China, 'do not claim anything here and I will not insist also that it is ours'. But then I will just keep (turn) a blind eye," he told reporters, as results of an unofficial vote count came in showing him winning a hefty 40 percent of the votes. "If you want joint ventures, fine, we can get the gas and the oil," he said. "I believe in sharing." Tensions between the Philippines and China have risen as an international tribunal in the Hague prepares to deliver a … [Read more...]

A U.S. navy warship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) on Tuesday, a U.S. Department of Defense official said, days after China warned criticism of its claims in the crucial waterway would rebound like a coiled spring. The freedom of navigation operation by the USS William P. Lawrence, travelling within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-occupied Fiery Cross Reef, was to "challenge excessive maritime claims of some claimants in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea)", Defense Department spokesman Bill Urban said. "These excessive maritime claims are inconsistent with international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention in that they purport to restrict the navigation rights that the United States and all states are entitled to exercise," Urban said in an emailed statement. Facilities on Fiery Cross Reef include a 3,000-metre (10,000-foot) runway and Washington is concerned China will use it to press its extensive territorial claims at … [Read more...]

Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said. "The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview on Monday. He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas. "So, like the South China Sea and the borders in North Kalimantan, we need to have some activities there," he said. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, with overlapping claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. Its reclamation of rocky outcrops and development of infrastructure there has caused alarm around the region. Indonesia is not a claimant and has projected itself as … [Read more...]

ASEM takes place soon after key court ruling on S.China Sea. The South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) is not on the agenda and should not be discussed at a major summit between Asian and European leaders in Mongolia at the end of the week, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday. The Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, will be the first important multilateral diplomatic gathering after the July 12 ruling by an arbitration court hearing a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea. Tensions and rhetoric have been rising ahead of the ruling in the Dutch city of The Hague, a case which China has refused to recognise or participate in. Beijing says the court has no jurisdiction and China cannot be forced to accept dispute resolution. China has repeatedly blamed the United States for stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, where its territorial claims overlap in parts with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister … [Read more...]