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OIL AND GAS
Philippines seeks speedy UN ruling on China sea dispute
by Staff Writers
Manila (AFP) June 19, 2014


Several held as Vietnam breaks up anti-China rally
Hanoi (AFP) June 19, 2014 - Vietnamese authorities broke up a small anti-China protest in Hanoi and detained several people Thursday, activists told AFP, a day after high-level talks over an oil rig in disputed waters ended in deadlock.

Around a dozen activists briefly waved banners and shouted "Chinese oil rig get out of Vietnam!" and "silence is cowardice" -- a dig at Hanoi's handling of the dispute -- before police forced them to disperse.

Around seven activists were detained by police, according to reports posted on activist blogs. Police did not confirm the detentions.

"It is not good for people to gather here... we need to avoid causing difficulties for the state. The state can protect Vietnam's sovereignty," Do Anh Vinh, 22, a communist youth volunteer helping security forces said.

Relations between the communist neighbours have plummeted to their lowest point for decades since China moved an oil rig into waters Vietnam claims, triggering a standoff with vessels from both sides colliding in contested seas.

The two sides have traded accusations in an increasingly heated territorial dispute, with each side claiming the other has engaged in aggressive behaviour against its ships, including by ramming them.

China's top foreign policy official, State Councillor Yang Jiechi met Vietnam's Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi Wednesday but the talks ended in deadlock.

Vietnam's communist leaders have struggled to balance strong domestic opposition to China's unilateral moves in the South China Sea with their traditionally friendly ties with a fellow communist country.

Anti-Chinese riots sparked by Beijing's dispatch of the deep-sea rig claimed three Chinese lives in Vietnam last month, according to Hanoi. Beijing says four Chinese citizens died.

Hanoi has since moved to muzzle public protest as it seeks to reassure nervous foreign investors that the country is a safe place to do business.

Vietnam says Chinese aircraft, minesweepers, near disputed oil rig
Hanoi, Vietnam (UPI) Jun 19, 2013 - A Vietnamese surveillance agency said Thursday it observed three Chinese aircraft patrolling the waters near an oil rig positioned in disputed waters.

The aircraft were observed by the Vietnamese Fisheries Surveillance Force. The official Vietnam News Agency said its reporters on board surveillance vessels observed the aircraft as well as two Chinese minesweepers patrolling the region.

The report said China has more than 100 vessels, including five military ships, stationed around the rig. Vietnamese boats were prevented from entering traditional fishing grounds and the report said Chinese Coast Guard vessels came within 65 feet of Vietnam's.

Both sides met in Hanoi this week in an effort to resolve tensions that erupted when China deployed an oil drilling rig to the contested waters in early May. Both sides say they have a legitimate right to the maritime territory.

China described the situation through its official Xinhua News Agency as complicated, but said both sides could work together to find a political and diplomatic solution to the issue.

Hanoi, for its part, said the need for a resolution was urgent. Both sides, the government said, could find a way to work together under the terms of international maritime law.

The Philippines said Thursday it would ask a UN tribunal to speed up its appeal to declare China's expansive claims to the South China Sea invalid.

A formal request would be filed seeking a resolution on the case within the year or early 2015, foreign department spokesman Charles Jose said.

"We are consulting our legal team to present a request to the tribunal if it can hasten its process earlier, rather than later," Jose told AFP.

China claims most of the South China Sea, including waters near the shores of its neighbours, which has led to escalating territorial disputes.

President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Herminio Coloma also confirmed Thursday that the Philippines would repair an airstrip on Thitu island, one of the disputed Spratly islands occupied by Philippine troops in the South China Sea.

"We have funds. We will finish repairs within the year," Coloma said in a statement.

Anticipating opposition from other claimants to the area, he quoted defence department spokesman Peter Paul Galvez as saying "China's reaction will always be unfavourable".

The island, called Pagasa (Hope) by the Philippines, has hosted a small town as well as an airstrip used for civilian and military flights. However in recent years the airstrip has been allowed to deteriorate.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said repair and maintenance work would take place "for the safety of our people there".

Coloma stressed that the airstrip had been there for years and its repair did not violate the "Declaration of Conduct" signed by most of the claimants including China and the Philippines in 2002.

The non-binding declaration effectively called on all parties to refrain from building new structures in the disputed area until the claims are settled.

New land reclamation by China was a contravention of the declaration, the statement said.

In recent months, the Philippines filed protests after it monitored reclamations in a number of outcrops that are within its exclusive economic zone but occupied by China.

On one, Johnson South Reef, the Philippines said the Chinese appeared to be reclaiming land that may turned into an airstrip.

Apart from the Philippines, China also has overlapping South China Sea claims with Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, a well as with rival Taiwan.

Manila lodged an appeal in March with the UN tribunal to rule the claims illegal, but China has resolutely refused to participate in the proceedings.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario separately said a speedier ruling was necessary "because the situation is getting worse by the day in the South China Sea".

"So we hope to be able to get the arbitration in place, that will be the goal line for all of us," he told reporters.

"Hopefully since China is not participating perhaps we can get a quicker resolution from the tribunal," said del Rosario.

Del Rosario has said he backs a US proposal for a fresh regional dialogue for a freeze on actions that could provoke tensions in the South China Sea amid fears that Beijing has increasingly become aggressive in staking its claims.

strs-mm/mtp

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