February 25, 2009 Wednesday

Chinese naval expert on measures for tackling Philippines-China dispute

Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao (Đại Công Báo) website on 20 February

[Report by staff reporter Ma Haoliang: "China Should Do Three Things To Counter the Philippines' Provocations in the South China Sea" - first paragraph is a summary of the article]

The Chinese government has lodged a stern protest with the Philippines for its brazen, provocative conduct of incorporating Huangyan and the islands of the Nansha Archipelagos into its domain. An expert on naval affairs in Beijing pointed out to Ta Kung Pao that China may make three moves simultaneously to safeguard the country's legitimate maritime rights and interests: 1) speeding up the process of demarcating the baselines of China's territorial waters; 2) tightening up effective administrative management and control of the islands; and 3) intensifying readiness for naval operations, such as training on operating weaponry.

Beijing, 19 Feb - The Chinese government has lodged a stern protest with the Philippines and expressed strong displeasure over the country's provocations. Vice Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Guangya (Vương Quang Á) urgently summoned Philippine charge d'affairs in China and Foreign Ministry spokesman has also repeatedly reiterated China's sovereignty over the relevant islands, demanding the Philippines to stop encroaching on China's sovereignty.

The disputes with Japan over Diaoyu Islands and the disputes with South Korea on Suyan Reefs in recent years have already angered our fellow countrymen. The Philippines' recent unilateral and illegal move has infuriated all the Chinese people. Media of all descriptions continue to receive messages condemning the Philippines. The focus of attention of the people is: What effective countermeasures China should take? This is because protests and expression of displeasure alone can no longer pacify the angry people.

Speed up Demarcating the Baselines of Territorial Waters

Liu Jiangping, a noted expert on naval affairs in Beijing, indicated when Ta Kung Pao interviewed him not too long ago that the first thing China has done, namely making representations with the Philippines through diplomatic channel, usually is also the first thing to do. This is because the Philippines has violated the intergovernmental agreement on the South China Sea issue -the agreement of "shelving disputes and developing together" - that China reached with ASEAN members; and encroached on China's sovereignty. Because China is on the right side, China must express a forceful position on this issue first.

Aside from diplomatic representations, China has also three other moves to make. Liu Jiangping pointed out: First of all, China must speed up the work of demarcating the baselines of the country's territorial waters. This is crucial for waging diplomatic struggles with other countries and for debating with them on the negotiation table. All the territorial waters of the People's Republic of China must have their coordinates.

In fact, he said, China has been doing this all along. Relatively rapid progress has been made in determining the geographical coordinates, longitudes and latitudes in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. But the progress of the work is quite slow in disputed waters. The Philippines' recent move to demarcate the baselines of its territorial waters through legislation should have alerted China to speed up the work in this respect so that there will be a law to safeguard China's rights and also the basis for diplomatic representations.

Second, China must tighten up its jurisdictional administration on its South China Sea islands. Today China has established an office - the Xisha [Paracel], Nansha [Spratly] and Zhongsha [Macclesfield] Office - in the South China Sea to administer those islands. It was reported that the state had decided in late 2007 to create the Sansha City on the basis of the office and place the city under the jurisdiction of Hainan Province. The project, however, made no progress afterward. Liu Jiangping indicated that the government should now consider strengthening the administrative jurisdiction over those islands.

Liu Jiangping pointed out: The Chinese navy, a navy that obeys the command of the central authorities, must be well prepared for waging all forms of military struggles, making sure that it will win once the state issues the order to wage the struggles. The navy must especially strengthen its weaponry and other military respects.

Be Well-Prepared for Military Struggles

He pointed out: The navies of countries in the South China Sea areas have developed very rapidly in recent years. The pace of their development has been expeditious. The large numbers of warships and airplanes that these countries have purchased from other countries are highly modern. The weapons that the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei have purchased from the United States, Russia and Europe include light escorts and all types of modern aircraft, such as the US-built Hornets and the Russian-built MIG-29s and Su-27s. Vietnam has also purchased the Russian-built Black Widow-class missile destroyers.

Liu Jiangping said: We cannot afford to be optimistic over the situation in the South China Sea areas. While China will neither take part in arms race nor threaten other countries with force, China must consider its own security. China must take appropriate measures for safeguarding its maritime rights and interests. China needs to tighten up its naval modernization, upgrade military training, and modernize its weaponry.

Source: Ta Kung Pao website, Hong Kong, in Chinese 20 Feb 09