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China Blames Vietnam And Says It Won't Give Up An Inch Of Disputed Territory

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China Blames Vietnam And Says It Won't Give Up An Inch Of Disputed Territory

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  • China Blames Vietnam And Says It Won't Give Up An Inch Of Disputed Territory

    China Blames Vietnam And Says It Won't Give Up An Inch Of Disputed Territory
    PHIL STEWART AND DAVID ALEXANDER, REUTERS - MAY 15, 2014, 4:47 PM


    Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey (L) and
    Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Fang Fenghui
    hold a joint news conference after their meeting at the Pentagon in Washington May 15, 2014.

    A top Chinese general on Thursday defended China's deployment of an oil rig in the disputed South China Sea that has triggered deadly protests in Vietnam, saying Beijing can't afford to "lose an inch" of territory.

    Anti-China riots broke out this week in Vietnam, killing up to 21 people and setting fire to factories perceived to have been Chinese-owned, after China towed a giant oil rig into waters claimed by both nations.

    General Fang Fenghui, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, said in Washington that the drilling rig was operating in China's territorial waters, activity he vowed to protect.

    He also pointed blame at U.S. President Barack Obama's so-called pivot to Asia, saying some countries in the region seized upon it as an opportunity to create trouble in the South and East China Seas. At different points, he singled out disputes with U.S. allies the Philippines and Japan.

    Standing alongside the top U.S. military officer, General Martin Dempsey, Fang said Vietnam was at fault for stirring up trouble by dispatching ships in an attempt to "disrupt" Chinese drilling activity.

    "I think it's quite clear ... who is conducting normal activity and who is disrupting it," Fang told a Pentagon news conference after talks with Dempsey.

    Speaking broadly about regional tensions, Fang said Beijing did not create trouble, but was also unafraid of it and suggested China was ready to defend its territorial integrity.

    "Territory which has passed down by our ancestors into the hands of our generation - we cannot afford to lose an inch," he said.

    Dempsey did not explicitly criticize China but left no doubt about his concerns over the growing regional tensions.

    Asked whether China was behaving provocatively in the dispute with Vietnam and whether he saw the risk of conflict in the region increasing, Dempsey said: "We spoke about the fact that the use of military assets to resolve disputes is provocative and it does increase risk."

    "We had a rich discussion about what exactly is the status quo and who has been seeking to change it," he added.

    The dispute in the South China Sea has sparked anger on both sides. Dozens of vessels from the two countries are around the oil rig, and both sides have accused the other of intentional collisions, increasing the risk of a confrontation.

    (Reporting by Phil Stewart and David Alexander; Editing by Eric Beech)

  • #2
    Philippines May Offer US Naval Base on Western Palawan Island



    US and Philippine marines storm the beach as they simulate an amphibious landing during the joint
    US-Philippines military exercise dubbed Balikatan 2014, at the Naval Training Exercise Command,
    a former U.S. naval base, at San Antonio township, Zambales province, northwest of Manila, Philippines, May 9, 2014.

    MANILA — The Philippines, aiming to boost its ability to defend offshore areas, wants to ensure U.S. warships are closer to the disputed South China Sea by offering the United States an underdeveloped naval base on a western island, its military chief has said.

    China has stepped up its activities to assert its extensive claim over the energy-rich South China Sea.

    Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims over the sea, or parts of it, through which about $5 trillion of ship-borne goods pass every year.

    Last month, the Philippines and the United States signed an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) allowing U.S. forces wider access to Philippine bases and building facilities for joint use in maritime security and disaster response.

    “Oyster Bay is still underdeveloped but we need to improve it for our armed forces,” armed forces chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista said in a television interview late on Wednesday, referring to a base on Palawan island to the west of main Philippine islands.

    “Perhaps with the EDCA that can be facilitated and further improvement in Oyster Bay will be made.”

    Bautista said he was hoping the U.S. would help pay for the development of the base, where the Philippines has begun work, and help develop it into a major operating base for both navies.

    Oyster Bay is only 160 km (100 miles) from the disputed Spratly islands, where China has been reclaiming a reef known as Johnson South Reef, and building what appears to be an airstrip on it.

    The Philippine foreign ministry released on Thursday aerial surveillance photographs of the reef showing some work had been done.

    In October, the Philippine navy commander on Palawan told Reuters the force had a plan to convert Oyster Bay into a “mini-Subic” where the country's two former U.S. Coast Guard cutters would be based.

    Subic Bay is a former U.S. naval base which is now a commercial free port, where U.S. warships dock because of its deep harbor. There are plans to convert parts of the free port into an air and naval base.

    Bautista said the Philippines was also offering the United States the use of a base in the Zambales area and an army jungle training base in Fort Magsaysay in the Nueva Ecija area.

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