News Story: Japan's Okinawa gov't to file fresh lawsuit to block U.S. base relocation amid fears for ecosystem

TOKYO, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Okinawa prefectural government will file a fresh lawsuit against Japan's central government on the relocation of a controversial U.S. Marine base within the southern island prefecture, local media said Friday.

The lawsuit is expected to be filed as early as Monday and the Okinawa government will once again try to halt the central government's plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to the less populated Henoko coastal region of Nago.

The lawsuit will argue that the government has not secured permission from Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga for construction work that will damage rocks on the sea bed, where reclamation work has been going on, sources close to the matter said Friday.

Onaga himself is a staunch opponent of the U.S. base being relocated within Okinawa.

The prefectural government also believes that fishing rights have been granted in the Henoko region, meaning the central government's construction work is infringing on these too.

The Okinawa government has requested the central government to renew its permit to work in the area, which expired in March, although the central government maintains that it does not need permission as legal matters concerning fishing rights have already been dealt with.

The legal action to be taken is also partly based on the premise that the construction work will irrecoverably damage the region's delicate ecosystem by crushing rocks as part of the land reclamation work.

Prefectural opponents to the construction work fear that sediment to be poured inside the seawalls being constructed for the replacement facility in Oura Bay, which according to the central government's plans will eventually see 157 hectares of land reclaimed from waters off the Henoko area and the building of a V-shaped runway, will be extremely detrimental to the environment.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: DND checking reports on Chinese military structures in South China Sea

By Alexis Romero

MANILA, Philippines - The defense department is verifying reports that China is continuously building military structures on disputed areas in the South China Sea despite improved ties with the Philippines. 

New satellite images published by Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies-Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (CSIS-AMTI) show that China has built new missile shelters, communication facilities, radar and other structures on Kagitingan (Fiery Cross), Panganiban (Mischief) and Zamora (Subi) reefs. These are areas that are being claimed by the Philippines. 

The report about China’s expansion in the South China Sea came even as Manila and Beijing vowed to enhance diplomatic ties, which had been strained because of the maritime dispute. 

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said his agency is validating if the structures in the satellite photos are really new. 

“We are still studying if there are additional (defense facilities),” Lorenzana said in a chance interview yesterday in Malacañang.

“Based on the CSIS photo that I saw, nothing much has changed. But the experts are looking at it now,” he added. 

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: 13 Marines killed in Marawi fighting

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)

By Jaime Laude

MANILA, Philippines - Thirteen Marines have been killed in 14 hours of gunbattle with Maute militants in Marawi City since Friday, officials said yesterday.

Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera, the Army’s 1st Infantry Battalion spokesman, said 40 other troops were wounded in the firefight.

“We are saddened with the result... we have fatalities on the government side. We have incurred 13 killed in action,” Herrera said at a news conference in Marawi.

He said about 30-40 militants used civilians as human shields, making it hard for troops to operate, and also positioned themselves in the city’s many mosques.

The Marines were conducting a house-to-house search for militants allied with the Islamic State group who are still occupying parts of Marawi when the battle erupted Friday night in Barangay Lilot Madaya in the city’s Bangolo district.

The fresh casualties brought to 58 the number of government troops killed in the fighting, he said.

At least 138 militants and 20 civilians have also been killed.

Herrera said they are validating reports that the brothers Omar and Abdullah leading the Maute group were killed during the battle to control Marawi.

“We are still awaiting confirmation. We are still validating those reports but there are strong indications,” he said.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Japan's Okinawa eyes taking fresh legal action over contentious U.S. base relocation

A map showing the current & future locations of the US Marine Air Station

TOKYO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Prefectural officials in Japan's southern-most prefecture of Okinawa are gearing up to take fresh legal action against the central government in an effort to block relocating a controversial U.S. military base within the prefecture, local media said Tuesday.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK said that while work is already underway in the coastal Henoko area in Nago, Okinawa, to build a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station and move it from a densely populated area, Okinawa officials may look to block the issuance of a permit needed by the central government to proceed with the work.

The Okinawa prefectural government has indicated it may ask the prefectural assembly's approval to file a lawsuit seeking the central government's immediate cessation of the work.

Local media also reported Tuesday that Okinawa government officials also plan to seek a court injunction ordering the construction work remain suspended until the court has ruled on the situation.

The injunction may be filed for even before the court hands down its ruling, local media also said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Carpio launches e-book challenging China's sea claims

By Jim Gomez

MANILA, Philippines — Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio launched a book on Thursday that questions China's historic claims to most of the South China Sea and said he will distribute it online to try to overcome China's censorship and reach its people.

Carpio said his e-book can be downloaded for free in English now and will be made available online later in Mandarin, Vietnamese, Bahasa, Japanese and Spanish to help more people understand the basis of the Philippines' stand against China's territorial claims.

Carpio said public opinion, including in China, can help pressure Beijing to comply with an arbitration ruling last year that invalidated China's historic claims based on a 1982 maritime treaty. Carpio helped prepare the arbitration case, which the Philippines largely won.

China has dismissed the ruling and continued to develop seven artificial islands in the South China Sea's Spratly archipelago. China's construction of the islands on disputed reefs has alarmed rival claimants and the United States.

"This book in its printed form can never be distributed in China. It will be banned," Carpio said at the launch of his book in Manila late Thursday. "The only way this e-book can reach the Chinese people is in electronic format through the internet."

"I believe that like all other people of the world, the Chinese people are inherently good but their government has drilled into their minds that they own the South China Sea since 2000 years ago. This is, of course, utterly false and the world will never accept this," he said.

Chinese Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment.

Read the full story at PhilStar

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PacificSentinel: Just in case the link vanishes from the above story I've placed it below.

Ebook: The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea

News Report: US to Prevent China From Using Man-Made Islands to Stop S China Sea Travel

The United States will not allow China to use the islands it is creating in the South China Sea to stop navigation of others in the region, US President Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, said in his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Branstad, who is a governor of Iowa, noted that the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever it is allowed by international law.

"On the South China Sea, China cannot be allowed to use its artificial islands to coerce its neighbors or limit freedom of navigation or overflight," Branstad stated, according to his prepared remarks.

News Story: Chinese naval fleet to arrive in Manila

By Pia Lee-Brago

MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese naval fleet will arrive in Manila next month at the invitation of the Philippine government, the Chinese embassy said yesterday.

“As invited by the Philippine government, task group 150 of the People’s Liberation Army Navy of China will arrive in Manila this May,” said Edrich Lim of the political section of the embassy.

Relations between China and Philippines have improved under the Duterte administration. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said China-Philippines relations have been turned around. 

Questions were raised on the Philippines’ willingness to enforce the United Nations arbitral tribunal ruling as Manila seemed to be on a track to relinquish the gains that have been made.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Pyongyang Calls on UN Secretariat to Hold Forum on UN Resolutions

North Korean UN mission said that the UN Secretariat should hold a forum of legal experts to discuss the legal grounds for the UN Security Council resolutions on the country.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The UN Secretariat should hold a forum of legal experts to discuss the legal grounds for the UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea, the country’s UN mission said in a statement.

"The Permanent Mission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations takes this opportunity to reiterate its strong request that … the Secretariat of the United Nations accept our proposal to hold international forum of legal experts at earlier possible date," the Thursday statement says.

In January, North Korea proposed to the UN Secretariat to convene an international forum of legal experts in order to review the legal basis for the UN resolutions on North Korea. However, the UN Security Council and the Secretariat have failed to respond to their demand to date.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been escalating amid Pyongyang’s missile activity and nuclear tests conducted in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

According to the Thursday statement from North Korea’s UN mission, the real cause of tensions on the Korean peninsula is the aggressive policy of the United States, including recent joint military exercises held by the United States and South Korea.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Report: Discovery of More Chinese Ships Adds Pressure on Normally Passive Malaysia

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — The discovery of new and persistent Chinese coast guard activity in a tract of sea claimed by Malaysia adds public pressure on the Southeast Asian government to resist China, but is not seen as a tipping point in relations.

Three Chinese coast guard vessels patrolled waters off the Malaysian coast of Borneo over 60 days from December through late February, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative under U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies said this month.

Pressure on Malaysia for response

That finding will add public pressure on the Malaysian government of Prime Minister Najib Razak to step up resistance against China, analysts expect.

“I think certainly these are issues (that) will become a sticking a sticking point for Najib,” said Collin Koh, maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“He wouldn't want to put foreign policy on center stage because this is going to become a particularly problematic issue that he will find very hard to deal with,” Koh said.

News Story: China concerned over Rody order on SCS

By Jaime Laude

MANILA, Philippines -  China has expressed concern over President Duterte’s directive to the military to occupy nine islands in the Spratlys under the Philippines’ control.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying raised her country’s concern at a regular press briefing yesterday as Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Eduardo Año declared the military’s readiness to carry out Duterte’s order, as well as its plans to upgrade and improve facilities on islands already occupied by the AFP.

“We hope the Philippi ne side can continue to properly manage maritime disputes with China and safeguard together the sound and stable situation of China-Philippines relations,” Hua said.

She also aired Beijing’s resolve to “firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty, its maritime rights and interests” in the South China Sea, which is rich in resources and hosts vital shipping lanes. 

“That’s an order from the President and I intend to carry that out. As per arbitration ruling that’s ours, so we don’t see any problem,” Año said, referring to a ruling by a UN-backed arbitral tribunal reaffirming the Philippines’ maritime entitlements and invalidating China’s excessive nine-dash line claim.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Beijing Concerned Over Duterte's Order to Deploy Troops in South China Sea

China is concerned about the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's order to deploy troops on islands that are claimed by the Philippines in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Duterte reportedly said he ordered the deployment of military forces onto nine Philippines-claimed islands and reefs in the South China Sea and announced his intention to raise the Philippines' flag on Pagasa Island in the Spratly island chain.

"We express our concern in this regard. We hope that the Philippines will continue to handle maritime disputes with China properly," Hua told the regular press conference.

She added that China was firmly committed to the protection of its sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea as well as to maintaining peace and stability there. According to the spokeswoman, in general, the situation in the South China Sea is stabilizing and improving.

The region of the South China Sea has been the site of several territorial disputes between a number of countries. In particular, China, the Philippines and Vietnam. The Spratly Islands, also known as the Nansha Islands, are contested by Beijing, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi and Taipei.

In July 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of Manila after it challenged Beijing's claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea. However, China refused to recognize the tribunal's ruling.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Report: Philippine President Orders Military to Seize Islands in South China Sea

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to seize and occupy a group of uninhabited islands in the South China Sea, a move sure to inflame a long-running territorial dispute with China.

Duterte revealed his plans Thursday during a visit to a military camp in the western province of Palawan, telling reporters he plans to raise the Philippine flag on "about nine or 10" islands in the hotly contested Spratly Island region.

China has claimed sovereignty over the entire 3.5-million-square-kilometer, resource-rich South China Sea — ignoring competing claims from such neighbors as Manila, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia — and has aggressively begun converting many reefs into artificial islands that can be used as military bases.

NewsStory: S.Koreans file petition with constitutional court against THAAD deployment

SEOUL, April 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korean residents and civic group activists on Thursday filed a petition against the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system, which they depicted as unconstitutional.

Residents from Seongju county and Gimcheon city in southeast South Korea and peace activists gathered outside the constitutional court in central Seoul, holding a press conference before submitting the constitutional appeal.

According to the petition document, the residents and activists said the THAAD deployment violated many of the constitution clauses while failing to follow any appropriate procedures.

Seoul and Washington abruptly announced a decision in July last year to install one THAAD battery in the county by the end of this year. Just three days before the announcement, Defense Minister Han Min-koo told lawmakers that he hadn't been informed of any notice about the THAAD installation.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se visited a department store when the THAAD deployment decision was announced, indicating no advance discussions between ministers of defense and foreign affairs and the presidential office.

The petitioners said the decision-making process on THAAD was rough and ready as there was no approval in the cabinet meeting, and that it was unilaterally determined by the national security council of the presidential office.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Duterte orders military to occupy South China Sea areas

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 5:47 p.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said that he has ordered the military to occupy maritime features in the disputed South China Sea or West Philippine Sea.

During a press briefing in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Duterte said that there is a need to maintain jurisdiction over the disputed waters.

"I have ordered the Armed Forces to occupy all our territories in South China Sea," Duterte said after delivering a speech before soldiers at Camp Artemio Ricarte.

"It looks like everybody is making a grab for the islands there, so we better live on those that are still vacant," Duterte told reporters.

Duterte also said he "may" visit Pag-asa Island, controlled by the Philippines as part of Palawan province on June 12 to mark Independence Day.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Gov't works on new U.S. base site at Henoko for 1st time since permission expired

NAGO, Okinawa -- The government performed work off the coast of Henoko district here on April 3 as part of preparations to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the prefecture city of Ginowan, officials said.

This is the first time that the central government has conducted relevant work off Henoko since the prefectural government's permission to crush rock reefs in the area expired on March 31. The central government had declared that it would continue the work in April and later on the grounds that it does not need to gain permission to do so from the prefectural government, noting that the local fishermen's cooperative has abandoned its fishing rights in the area.

In response to the state's move, the Okinawa Prefectural Government dispatched vessels to areas surrounding the site to confirm if rock reefs have been crushed, creating heightened tensions between the national and prefectural governments over the relocation of the U.S. base.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Report: China Will be Able to Police Rival Countries in Disputed Sea

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — China’s near completion of artificial islets and combat aircraft facilities in the Spratly Islands will give it extra power to make other countries keep out of the widely disputed South China Sea or get Chinese permission to use it, analysts say.

Beijing is about to finish naval, air, radar and other facilities on the “big three” islets in the sea’s Spratly archipelago, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, a project of the Washington-based policy research organization Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The American think tank initiative’s monitoring over the past two years shows a near completion of “major construction of military and dual-use infrastructure” on Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross reefs held by China in the Spratlys, according to its website, which adds Beijing can now deploy combat aircraft and mobile missile launchers to the Spratly Islands anytime.

News Story: legal expert says Mexico has strong case to sue U.S. for lost territories

by Edna Alcantara

MEXICO CITY, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Never mind the border wall. Mexico has a strong case to sue the United States for territories its northern neighbor seized in the mid 19th century, according to a legal expert.

Armed with historical documents and testimony, Mexico could mount a legal case to annul the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ceded roughly half of the nation's territory to the United States in 1848, as part of a peace treaty that put an end to the U.S. occupation of Mexico during the Mexican-American War, Mexican criminal lawyer Guillermo Hamdan Castro told Xinhua in an interview.

Over the past three decades, Hamdan has headed a group of legal experts studying the infamous deal, hoping to see the case debated at the Hague-based International Court of Justice.

Hamdan, who says his campaign has the support of Mexican intellectuals, historians and three-time presidential candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, seeks nothing less than to have the treaty "totally nullified."

Mexico "has all of the legal elements to demand the restitution of the more than 2 million square kilometers that were snatched by the United States through the treaty," Hamdan told Xinhua.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Come Again? Manila Seeks Answers After China Admits to Building on Its Islands

The Philippines is asking China for answers following reports that China plans to build on the disputed Scarborough Shoal (called Panatag in the Phillipines).

A spokesperson for the administration of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said they had asked Chinese authorities to "clarify the accuracy of the report" in the Hainan Daily newspaper that said the country would begin building "environmental monitoring stations" on a number of islands this year, the Manila Times reports.

The statement was made by the mayor of Sansha City on Woody Island in the Paracels, from which China exerts its control over a number of disputed islands in the South China Sea. Woody Island itself is also claimed by Taiwan and by Vietnam.

The monitoring stations are said to be part of erosion control and restoration efforts, according to the Washington Times.

News Story: Australia reasserts stance vs South China Sea militarization

Julie Bishop (Image: Flickr User - UN Geneva)

By Patricia Lourdes Viray

MANILA, Philippines —  Australia's top diplomat on Thursday stressed that they oppose the scale of China's reclamation and reconstruction activities in the disputed South China Sea.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that Australia "certainly does not support militarization of any part of the features of the South China Sea."

The Australia's top diplomat, however, acknowledged that they are not a claimant state in the disputed waters.

"Australia's position on the South China Sea has been consistent throughout. We are not a claimant state and we recognize the need for claimant states to resolve the differences... necessary to resort to international law," Bishop said in a lunch event with members of the press at The Manila Peninsula in Makati City.

Bishop noted that the ruling released by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the Philippines' complaint against China's nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea sends a clear advice on how to resolve the maritime dispute.

The arbitral ruling could be a basis of a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea, which is being discussed by China, and claimant states with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: China claims right to decide on Scarborough's fate

By Patricia Lourdes Viray

South China Sea arbitration award brushed aside

MANILA, Philippines — Ignoring the arbitral ruling anew, Beijing insisted that it is within their sovereignty what to do with Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal following reports that Americans stopped them from reclaiming the Filipino fishing ground.

Last week, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that China was set to reclaim Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea but was instructed by the Americans not to do so.

"It is China's sovereignty to decide what to do or not to do on Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal). Without a doubt, China will properly handle the relevant issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said in a press briefing last Friday.

Geng considered Lorenzana's claims as "groundless speculation" and stressed that China-Philippines relations are developing.

"It is hoped that individuals in the Philippines will stop groundless speculation and make more efforts to promote mutual trust and bilateral relations," Geng said.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua recently reported that the China has extended its maritime jurisdiction to cover all seas "under its jurisdiction."

Read the full story at PhilStar