Philippines Challenges China Over Disputed Atoll - NYTimes.comPhilippines Challenges China Over Disputed Atoll - NYTimes.com






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Asia Pacific 
Philippines Challenges China Over Disputed Atoll

By KEITH BRADSHERMAY 14, 2014
 
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HONG KONG — The Philippines said on Wednesday that it had protested signs of land reclamation by China aimed at expanding a disputed coral atoll near the southern Philippines, the latest in a series of disputes pitting China against its neighbors in the South China Sea.The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it had lodged a protest with China on April 4, nearly five weeks ago, regarding the Chinese activity, but Beijing had rejected the protest. The Philippines also raised the issue at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit meeting over the weekend in Myanmar, and has included the dispute in a legal case against China filed with a United Nations tribunal, demanding arbitration of territorial disagreements. 

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China Targeted by Vietnamese in Fiery RiotsMAY 14, 2014







The land reclamation dispute involves Johnson South Reef, a tiny coral atoll also known as Mabini or Yongshu. It is part of the Spratly Islands and is near southern Vietnam, Palawan Island of the Philippines and the north coast of Borneo. It is nearly 700 miles southeast of the southern end of China’s Hainan Island.Charles Jose, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said there was no sign yet that China was undertaking construction on the atoll, which has a single small structure on it, but added that the Philippines was nonetheless concerned.“They are still in the process of reclaiming the land, but judging by the size of it, they could be planning to build an airstrip,” Mr. Jose said.Johnson South Reef is a potato-shaped atoll about two miles long that until now has barely stuck up above sea level. An airstrip on it would give Chinese planes convenient proximity to the oil fields and gas fields of Brunei and Malaysia on the north coast of Borneo, as well as Ho Chi Minh City.The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was silent about Johnson South Reef at its daily briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. The official Xinhua News Agency had no immediate report on the Philippines’ announcement, which is sometimes an indication that a development is being studied closely in Beijing.But the Philippines has an unsteady record in monitoring Chinese activity off its shores. The Philippines accused China last fall of beginning construction at Scarborough Shoal, 440 miles northeast of Johnson South Reef, only to withdraw the accusation a month later and declare that new concrete blocks apparently seen at the shoal were not actually new and might even be a natural formation.The dispute over Johnson South Reef coincided with anti-Chinese rioting in southern Vietnam, after a state-owned Chinese oil company set up a $1 billion oil drilling rig off the coast of southern Vietnam and near another disputed coral atoll, Triton Island. China is also upset after the Philippines police seized 11 Chinese fishermen a week ago and accused them of illegally poaching hundreds of rare, legally protected sea turtles off the west coast of the Philippines.Two of the fishermen were found to be minors and released while the rest are being prosecuted and could face long jail sentences unless a diplomatic deal is reached.Continue reading the main story
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China says that Johnson South Reef, Triton Island and much of the rest of the South China Sea nearly to the shores of Borneo, including where the fishermen were detained near the Philippines coast, represent an ancient fishing area for southern Chinese communities and belong to China.A Xinhua commentary on Wednesday carried a strong warning for the Philippines and Vietnam. “All parties should also be reminded that ignorance of China’s resolve to defend its sovereign land will induce consequences too severe for certain countries to bear,” it said.The Chinese military seized Johnson South Reef in 1988, killing dozens of Vietnamese military personnel who were there at the time. During an earlier confrontation with Vietnam in 1974, Chinese forces seized the Paracel Islands, about 450 miles north of South Johnson Reef and near where the drilling rig has now been erected.Peter Dutton, the director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the United States Naval War College in Newport, R.I., said that China’s historical behavior in the South China Sea suggests that its recent actions should not be taken lightly. “The Chinese, in a previous policy era, have been willing to use military force,” he said.


Floyd Whaley contributed reporting from Manila.







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