A Chinese vessel used its water cannon, “directly hitting the starboard astern of the BFAR vessel…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese coastguard ships on Tuesday fired water cannons at Filipino vessels bringing supplies to fishermen in waters near a disputed South China Sea shoal that is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, the Philippine Coastguard said.
A Philippine coastguard ship and a vessel from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) were carrying out “a legitimate maritime patrol in the waters near Bajo De Masinloc,” the local name of Scarborough Shoal, “to distribute fuel and food supplies” for fishermen.
“During the patrol, the Philippine vessels encountered dangerous manoeuvres and obstruction from four China coastguard vessels and six Chinese maritime militia vessels,” the coastguard said in a statement.
A Chinese vessel used its water cannon, “directly hitting the starboard astern of the BFAR vessel,” it added. The Chinese also targeted the Philippine coastguard vessel from both sides, “resulting in damage to the railing and canopy.”
“This damage serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China coastguard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels,” the Philippine coastguard said.
Scarborough Shoal, also known to the Chinese as Huangyan Dao or Democracy Reef, is 230 kilometres from the Philippines’ north-western coast. It is claimed by both China and the Philippines.
The shoal was the focus of a military incident between the two countries in 2012, after which Beijing summarily occupied the reef. Although a court ruled in 2016 that China’s historical claims to the area were invalid, Beijing does not recognise the ruling.
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says the presence of US troops was in response to China’s moves…reports Asian Lite News
The Philippine president said Monday his administration has no plan to give the United States access to more Philippine military bases and stressed that the American military’s presence in several camps and sites so far was sparked by China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, allowed American forces and weapons access to four additional Philippine military bases, bringing to nine the number of sites where US troops can rotate indefinitely under a 2014 agreement.
The Biden administration has been strengthening an arc of security alliances in the region to better counter China, a move that dovetails with Philippine efforts to shore up its external defense, especially in the South China Sea.
Marcos’ decision last year alarmed China because two of the new sites were located just across from Taiwan and southern China. Beijing accused the Philippines of providing American forces with staging grounds, which could be used to undermine its security.
“The Philippines has no plans to create any more bases or give access to any more bases,” Marcos said, without elaborating in response to a question during a forum with Manila-based foreign correspondents.
Asked if he was concerned that allowing the US military access to Philippine bases had provoked Chinese actions in the South China Sea, Marcos said the presence of US troops was in response to China’s moves.
“These are reactions to what has happened in the South China Sea, to the aggressive actions that we have had to deal with,” he said, mentioning Chinese coast guard vessels using water cannons and lasers to deter Philippine ships from the area Beijing claims as its own.
He also mentioned collisions, blocking of Filipino fishermen and sea barriers to block ships from Scarborough Shoal, which lies in the Philippine economic zone.
Under Marcos, the Philippines has adopted a strategy of publicizing the incidents by allowing journalists to board its patrol ships to witness China’s assertive actions.
“It is crucial that the media … continue to expose these actions that not only threaten the peace and stability of the region but also undermine the rules-based order that has underpinned global development and prosperity over the previous century,” Marcos said.
China has blamed the Philippines for sparking the confrontations by intruding into what it says were Chinese territorial waters and reneging on an alleged agreement to pull away an old Philippine navy ship, which now serves as Manila’s territorial outpost in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
Marcos said he was not aware of any such deal, and added that he considers the deal rescinded — if it ever existed.
Last week, President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to defend Pacific allies in a summit with Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. He reiterated that the US is obligated to defend the Philippines if its forces, aircraft or ships come under an armed attack.
Asked when the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the US and the Philippines could be invoked amid territorial hostilities between China and the Philippines, Marcos cited Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as saying that could happen “if any Filipino serviceman is killed on an attack from any foreign power.”
US deploys midrange missile system in Indo-Pacific
The US Army has deployed its new Typhon midrange ground-based missile launcher to the Indo-Pacific region for the first time, for joint military exercises in the northern Philippines — a move likely to unnerve China.
In a statement released Monday, the U.S. Army said it had sent the launcher, which is capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 missiles, to the Northern Luzon area of the Philippines for the Salaknib 2024 joint military exercises.
“In a historic first, the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force successfully deployed the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system to Northern Luzon, Philippines, on April 11, 2024, as part of Exercise Salaknib 24,” the statement said. “This landmark deployment marks a significant milestone for the new capability while enhancing interoperability, readiness, and defense capabilities in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
While the army did not give an exact location where the launcher was deployed for the exercises, the US military currently has access to five different sites on the island of Luzon, the Philippine archipelago’s largest and most populous island.
Considering that Tomahawk missiles have a range of more than 1,600 kilometers, any deployment there would cover not only the entire Luzon Strait, the launcher could also hit portions of the Chinese coast as well as various People’s Liberation Army bases in the disputed South China Sea and its periphery.
Gen. Charles Flynn, the US Army’s commanding general in the Pacific, recently reiterated comments he made in December that the United States would deploy an intermediate-range missile launcher to the region.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sworn in as Philippines' 17th President.(photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbidV2368058591112&set=pb.100044537672013.-2207520000 )
The 17 Filipino seafarers were among the crew members of a cargo vessel taken hostage by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the Red Sea…reports Asian Lite News
The Philippines will send a high-level delegation to Iran for assisting the release of 17 Filipino seafarers who were taken hostage last week by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, President Ferdinand Marcos said on Thursday.
In a post on X, the President said: “In light of important developments in the hostage situation involving 17 Filipino seafarers in the Red Sea, I have made the decision not to attend COP28 in Dubai tomorrow (Friday).
“Today, I will be convening a meeting to facilitate the dispatch of a high-level delegation to Tehran, Iran, with the aim of providing necessary assistance to our seafarers.”
The 17 Filipino seafarers were among the crew members of a cargo vessel taken hostage by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the Red Sea.
The Houthis confirmed on November 19 their hijacking of the “Israeli cargo ship”.
Citing “government sources”, Teresita Daza, spokesperson for the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs, said that “the hostages are in good condition and will eventually be released”.
“Efforts are ongoing for this to happen as soon as possible,” Daza added.
Mumbai : Rs 30 cr helicopter put on sale for Rs 4 cr in Rajasthan.
The President, in the statement, added that it will also be “a big contribution for PCG’s maritime operations”…reports Asian Lite News
The Indian government is offering the Philippines at least seven helicopters that will be used for the rescue and humanitarian efforts of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) during disasters in the country, President of the Philippines said in an official statement on Sunday.
President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr said that India’s offer to provide helicopters to the PCG will be a big help to the Philippine government’s efforts to build up the country’s capabilities in terms of rescue and humanitarian efforts.
The President, in the statement, added that it will also be “a big contribution for PCG’s maritime operations”.
“We’re trying to build up our capacity – our capabilities in terms of our coast guard, in terms of our – of course, the search and rescue is always the primary consideration,” President Marcos said.
“As you heard the news, there is a continuing problem really that we have to deal with and we have to increase our capabilities,” the President added.
President Marcos made the remarks during the courtesy call of the Indian Ambassador to the Philippines, Shambhu Kumaran, last week where he discussed the continuing efforts to strengthen the bilateral relations between the Philippines and India.
For his part, Kumaran said that there are already ongoing talks between the Indian government, the PCG and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for the supply of seven helicopters for the agency’s maritime search and rescue operations and humanitarian services.
The PCG is an attached agency of the DOTr.
“The discussion is going on very well. The Coast Guard is very interested – they’ve flown the helicopter … I would request your consideration because that would be a very positive (programme),” Kumaran told President Marcos.
Kumaran said that the helicopters that will be provided to the PCG are built for India’s Navy and Coast Guard and can be used for more active security operations that can carry more people and load.
“So, these [seven helicopters] is really an optimal solution, given the changing requirements for the Philippine Coast Guard to play a more active role and its security,” Kumaran added.
President Marcos said that he will discuss India’s offer to the PCG with DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista, the official statement read.
The recruiters and lenders pull off the schemes, the documents and workers allege, by rushing workers through a smoke-and-mirrors process that hides key details about their employment and loan contracts….reports Katie McQue
Employment agencies and loan companies in the Philippines have worked together to cheat thousands of women seeking domestic worker jobs overseas in schemes that combine labor exploitation and predatory lending, interviews with workers and thousands of pages of confidential complaints filed with Philippine authorities show.
These companies play on workers’ hopes for better lives for themselves and their families, pressuring them into paying illegal recruiting fees and taking out loans with interest rates often exceeding 130%, workers and complaint documents allege.
These Philippines-based labor firms tell job seekers they can’t get coveted positions as household workers in Hong Kong or Taiwan unless they pay fees ranging between $800 to $1,700, according to interviews with 15 workers. Those fees represent huge sums for workers from impoverished backgrounds. They are also illegal under Philippine law, the complaint documents allege.
To make sure they collect their money, the workers and documents say, employment firms steer workers to lenders that advance them money to cover the hefty fees. The interviews and documents reveal that these lenders promise low interest rates but the actual interest charges are much higher — with annual interest rates ranging between 61% and 578%. Those rates are far above the Philippines’ 8% per year legal limit on what lenders can charge on loans to overseas workers.
The recruiters and lenders pull off the schemes, the documents and workers allege, by rushing workers through a smoke-and-mirrors process that hides key details about their employment and loan contracts. The complaints say some lenders blackmail borrowers by coercing them into signing over blank checks — and then threatening to “bounce” the checks and file criminal charges against them if they complain to government authorities or don’t keep up with their payments.
“I’m so afraid of that blank check, because maybe one day they arrest me because of that,” said Merry Criz Renayong, whose loan with a Philippine lender carries an interest rate of more than 180%. “I’m so afraid I might go to jail.”
In a nation where poverty pushes as many as one in 10 adults to seek employment abroad each year, the money overseas workers send home helps their families survive, boosts the Philippine economy and earns them praise as “modern-day heroes.” But their financial needs and uncertain immigration status when they go abroad leave them vulnerable to mistreatment not only by employers but also by recruiters and lenders, workers and labor experts say.
“Of course, we want to work abroad, so they charge workers huge amounts of money,” said Annabelle Gutierrez, 38, who described paying a large recruiting fee with a high-interest loan from a lender she’d been directed to by an employment agency. “We grab it because we don’t have a choice.”
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sworn in as Philippines’ 17th President.(photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbidV2368058591112&set=pb.100044537672013.-2207520000 )
Crippling debts
This article is part of a reporting collaboration organized by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Trafficking Inc. ICIJ, The Guardian, NBC News, Reuters and other media partners are examining human trafficking and labor abuses in many parts of the globe.
This story is based on interviews conducted by ICIJ over several months as well as complaint documents obtained by ICIJ that total 2,741 pages and name 12 licensed loan companies operating in the Philippines. The complaints were filed in 2020 and 2021 with at least 10 Philippine government entities, including the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission.
The complaints were prepared by Migrasia, a Hong Kong-based non-governmental organization run by legal scholars and researchers who focus on issues related to migrant workers throughout Asia.
The complaints have not been previously reported on by news outlets. Officials with Migrasia said collusion between labor firms and lenders has been going on for many years, but their working relationships have never been the subject of wide public exposure.
The choreographed double dealing alleged in the interviews and the complaints provides a fresh example of the kinds of traps and hazards that workers from around the world face when they leave their home countries and seek opportunity elsewhere.
A lack of action by authorities in their home and destination countries leaves workers who cross national borders at the mercy of players who don’t have their best interests in mind. These workers are often burdened with crippling debts owed to recruiters, go-betweens, traffickers and others involved in their journey to what they hope will be better lives.
Along with alleging illegal tactics by lenders and recruiters based in the Philippines, the complaint documents criticize Philippine authorities for failing to crack down on the firms’ practices.
A 2020 filing with government agencies said “little progress has been made” in fighting these schemes despite “numerous complaints made across several months” to the Philippines SEC, whose authority includes regulating consumer lenders.
“The SEC has merely acknowledged receipt of the complaints and has not made any attempt to follow up on the substance of the complaints,” the document asserted.
A 2021 filing naming multiple employment agencies said the Philippine government had failed to even issue warnings to these companies and other labor firms despite “overwhelming complaints and evidence verified by numerous independent parties.”
In a written statement provided to ICIJ, Migrasia said the problem has continued to increase in recent years.
“We hope that authorities in the Philippines and Hong Kong start to take these issues more seriously and listen to community leaders and experts so that they can permanently eliminate these illegal fees and debts from arising,” the statement said.
Borrowing trouble
In October 2019, Merry Criz Renayong left her hometown of San Jose and headed to Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
If she could persuade an employment agency in Manila to get her a job as a housemaid for a good family in Hong Kong, she thought, she could make more money than she was earning in San Jose waiting tables. She could send money home to her family. And she could save enough to send her son and daughter to college, helping them fulfill their dreams of becoming flight attendants.
In a third-floor office in a concrete building along downtown Manila’s United Nations Avenue, staffers with Rapid Manpower Consultants, a recruitment agency licensed by the Philippine government, told her she needed to pay nearly $1,200 to secure a position in Hong Kong, Renayong said in an interview with ICIJ.
Recruitment agencies in the Philippines are prohibited from charging placement fees to applicants seeking domestic worker jobs abroad. But migrant workers can be charged for mandatory training and medical exams under Philippine law and experts say they are often overcharged by agencies seeking to pass their recruitment costs on to the workers.
When Renayong told staffers at Rapid Manpower that she couldn’t pay what the labor firm was demanding, she says, they had a solution — they led her outside the building and around a corner to the offices of Hoya Lending Investor Corp.
Hoya, she says, offered her a loan that would cover the fees demanded by the recruiter and told her the loan contract carried a low interest rate. But she says they wouldn’t give her a copy of the contract she signed, snatching the original away when she tried to take pictures with her phone.
A complaint document prepared by Migrasia said Hoya “generally refuses” to provide borrowers with their loan contracts and other required disclosures, telling them that they can have a copy of their contracts only after their loans are fully paid. During this process, the complaint said, borrowers “are under extreme stress” and “are unable to ask questions or make informed choices” because they know that if they don’t comply, the employment agency working in collaboration with Hoya would block their chance at getting a job in Hong Kong.
After she finished signing the loan documents, Renayong says, Hoya staffers took her to a bank on a different floor of Hoya’s building and helped her set up a checking account. Then, she says, they had her sign a blank check and told her that if she was late with a payment, they’d cash the check for the whole amount she owed — a move that could overdraw her account and lead to criminal charges against her under the Philippines’ “bouncing check” law.
It wasn’t until she started her new job in Hong Kong, she says, that she learned the loan contract required her to pay the lender $365.41 a month — more than three-fifths of the monthly wages she was going to earn in Hong Kong.
The actual annual interest rate on the loan was 188%, according to calculations by ICIJ and the Center for Responsible Lending, a U.S.-based non-profit that monitors high-cost loan products. Hoya charges an average interest rate of 143%, according to a sample of loans reviewed by Migrasia.
The dream job Renayong went into debt for didn’t last. Her employers in Hong Kong, a three-generation household, complained about how she cooked chicken and about the make-up and hair products she wore inside the house, she says. They let her go after three months.
She couldn’t afford to pay another fee to get a job with a different employer in Hong Kong and had no way to keep up with her payments to Hoya, she says. She found a job as a domestic helper in Qatar without having to pay a placement fee. She worries about what Hoya Lending will do when she comes home to the Philippines after she completes her Qatari labor contract in August.
“I’m trying to earn to pay them back in case they file a legal case against me,” she said.
Rapid Manpower did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and when reached by phone, Hoya declined to comment on the allegations.
Powerful connections
The links between Philippine labor firms and lenders go beyond informal working arrangements. The 2021 complaint that names several employment agencies said the Philippine government has allowed “very powerful families” and a “circle of friends” to own or control multiple companies that work in concert to shake down these workers.
In one example, the complaint alleged, a recruiting firm called A&W International Manpower Services Specialist also controlled two lenders — PJH Lending Corp. and Prosperity and Success Lending Investor Corp. — as well as medical diagnostic and training centers and other ventures that profit from migrant workers’ efforts to gain employment overseas.
Gutierrez, the 38-year-old Filipina worker, said in an interview that after she applied with A&W for a household worker position in Hong Kong, the recruiting agency told her she needed to take out a loan with Prosperity and Success Lending to cover more than $900 in fees.
To stop her from looking elsewhere for a loan, she says, A&W’s staff demanded she turn over her identification papers, including her passport.
“I was telling them I wanted to take the loan from another lending company, but they held my documents until it was time for me to fly,” she said. “They forwarded my documents to the lending company, and the loan was ready before my flight.”
Gutierrez and 12 other borrowers interviewed for this story say they felt misled about the costs of their loans, because their lenders falsely promised low interest rates or withheld information about the rates they’d be paying.
A complaint document said loans made by Prosperity and Success Lending generally carried annual interest rates that were “around 90% and often exceeding 100%.”
Gutierrez is from Tarlac City, in a region of the central Philippines known for its vast sugar and rice plantations. Like many others, she said, she has no way to earn an adequate living unless she can work overseas.
In addition to being told to sign blank checks, she says, Prosperity and Success Lending also required her to appear in a video stating she owed $900 to the lending firm.
“I was nervous about getting on the plane to Hong Kong because I was thinking what if my job is not okay, then they would spread that video,” she says.
A&W did not provide a response to ICIJ’s requests for comment. Prosperity and Success Lending declined to comment.
Poverty and Hope
More than 18% of the population of the Philippines are unable to meet their basic food and non-food needs, pushing millions of Filipinos to leave the country to find better jobs and better wages. A recent survey found that 7% of Philippines households have a member working overseas and 7% of adults still living in the country say they’re seeking jobs overseas.
The money overseas workers send back is a vital driver of the country’s economy. In 2022, Filipinos working overseas sent home a record $36.1 billion in cash remittances, accounting for about 9% of the gross domestic product. Social and political reformer Corazon Aquino popularized calling the nation’s overseas workers “modern-day heroes” during her term as president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992.
There are hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia. Household jobs involving cooking, cleaning and caring for children in Hong Kong are coveted by Filipinos because there’s a relatively generous minimum wage of more than $600 a month, and the treatment of household workers is more regulated than in other common employment destinations, such as the Persian Gulf countries. In Hong Kong, the law requires that they get a day off each week, a rarity for domestic workers in the Middle East.
Despite Hong Kong’s draw, human rights groups say exploitation and abuse of foreign household workers in the Asian metropolis is all too common. In a 2019 survey of Hong Kong domestic workers, 15% said they had been physically abused during employment. Hong Kong media highlighted concerns about heavy debts owed by domestic workers after three Filipino household helpers died in debt-related suicides in early 2016 and again in 2020 when local police announced they’d busted a “loan shark syndicate” preying on Filipina domestic workers.
An Amnesty International report submitted in January to the United Nations said Hong Kong’s policies on domestic workers’ immigration status and living conditions leave them vulnerable to exploitation by their employers and job-placement firms. The report noted that migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong are “commonly heavily indebted” due to “excessive and illegal” fees charged by employment agencies.
In response to questions from ICIJ, Hong Kong’s Department of Labor said it “does not tolerate any exploitation or abuse” of foreign household workers. On the issue of debt, the agency said it works to help them “carefully assess their repayment ability when taking out loans.”
Fear and intimidation
When workers are unable to keep up with their loan payments, harassment and intimidation by lenders and debt collectors is common, according to interviews and the complaint documents.
Hoya, for example, reveals photos and full names on Facebook of borrowers who have missed payments, according to posts viewed by ICIJ and a complaint document focusing on Hoya. The lender also suggests online that it will file criminal charges against borrowers who fall behind, even though it isn’t a crime in the Philippines.
One post recently visible on a Hoya Facebook page displays copies of two arrest warrants with the names of the persons being arrested covered up.
“Two new love letters[s],” the post says, along with a toothy smiley face emoji. It says the warrants are “for those who don’t want to talk to us and continue to not know how to pay voluntarily. Don’t be surprised if you get one of these.”
One of the complaint documents crafted by legal experts at Migrasia charges that Philippine authorities have allowed Hoya to abuse the criminal court system by fabricating “bouncing check” cases against borrowers. The document alleges that the lender “works with complacent prosecutors and known to be favorable judges in order to fabricate these cases by confiscating bank checks, colluding with bank staff, and conspiring with members of the judicial system.”
The complaint said it’s estimated that more than 60 borrowers are arrested and prosecuted each year in the Philippines by lenders that abuse the judicial system as a tool for collecting predatory debts.
The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Philippine government’s Department of Migrant Workers, which is responsible for the protection of the rights and promote the welfare of overseas workers and their families, also did not provide a response to the allegations presented to it by the ICIJ.
Another Manilla-based lender, CASH4U, tried to blackmail victims into making payments by threatening them with criminal charges and impersonating law enforcement, a borrower’s affidavit and two complaints Migrasia filed with Philippine authorities alleged.
A July 2020 complaint prepared by Migrasia claimed CASH4U representatives “falsely threatened borrowers that legal action will be taken, despite acting illegally themselves.” The complaint said CASH4U also threatened that a partner company in Hong Kong would send a “demand letter” to a borrower’s employer — a move that would violate the borrower’s privacy and put them at risk of being fired from their job and sent home.
Another complaint filed a month later included a screenshot of a message that it said CASH4U had sent to a borrower with this epithet: “YOUR [sic] USELESS BITCH.” It was accompanied by a photograph of a CASH4U staffer’s middle finger. According to the complaint, CASH4U sent another borrower a threat of legal action that will “greatly affect your local or international employment in the future.”
One CASH4U borrower, Venus Macaraeg, claims that the lender hounded her for more money even though she’d repaid the loan, plus interest, forking over more than $1,200.
“They would not explain why I owe additional money,” she said in an interview. “They said that if I did not pay the penalty interest, I would be subject to a criminal investigation or blacklisting from working in Hong Kong.”
A former director of CASH4U told ICIJ that the company was put out of business by the pandemic, but it has outsourced its debt collections to a collection agency.
Fighting back
Macaraeg hasn’t been able to see her own child for five years, but she is bringing up someone else’s. In Hong Kong, she’s employed as a domestic worker and a nanny to a 4-year-old boy she refers to as “my baby here.”
The 39-year-old has been supporting herself and her sister since they were orphaned as teenagers. Her sister is now looking after Macaraeg’s 16-year-old daughter, and Macaraeg sends part of her monthly salary home to support them.
Macaraeg says she was coerced by a recruitment firm called Angelex Allied Agency into taking out a loan of nearly $800 from CASH4U. The money was to pay for her training — and Angelex refused to return her passport to her until she paid, she says.
Angelex Allied Agency did not respond to the ICIJ’s requests for comment.
Macaraeg has fought back by volunteering for Migrasia and other groups that work to protect migrant workers, helping other workers targeted for unfair loans get refunds from their lenders. She recently founded her own Hong Kong-registered NGO to assist migrant workers who’ve been stuck with illegal recruitment fees.
Macaraeg is also advocating for herself, lodging a complaint against CASH4U with Philippine authorities. She says the lender stopped bothering her after she sent it a torrent of emails listing the laws she said the company had violated when it gave her the loan.
“I send lots of emails, so they are so scared,” she says.
Many overseas workers, she says, aren’t able to defend themselves in the same way because they aren’t yet aware of their rights.
“These companies keep intimidating the borrower,” she says, “so they can keep collecting money from them.”
(Publishing in association with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)
The Chinese ship crossed the bow of the PCG ship at a distance of 7.4 km (4 nautical miles) as if to warn BRP Malapascua to stop or alter course…reports Asian Lite News
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has accused a China Coast Guard ship of pointing a “military grade” laser at some of its crew, temporarily blinding them, reported CNN.The incident took place in contested waters of South China last week.
The PCG vessel was supporting a rotation and resupply mission of the Philippine Navy in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea in the Spratly Islands chain, known in China as the Nansha Islands, China calls the shoal Renai Reef, on February 6. The Chinese ship also “made dangerous maneuvers” in approaching within 150 yards (137 meters) of the Philippine vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard alleged in a statement posted on its official Facebook page, with photos purporting to show the laser’s green beam, reported CNN.
The China Coast Guard (CCG) ship with bow No. 5205 illuminated a green light twice toward the BRP Malapascua, causing temporary blindness to crew members on duty at the bridge or main command center at past 6 p.m. as the ship reached 19.5 kilometers (10 nautical miles) from the shoal, the PCG said.
“The PCG condemns any actions that harm and jeopardize the safety of everyone regardless of nationality,” PCG commandant Adm. Artemio Abu said.
The Chinese ship crossed the bow of the PCG ship at a distance of 7.4 km (4 nautical miles) as if to warn BRP Malapascua to stop or alter course.
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday the Philippine vessel “trespassed into the waters of Renai Reef without the permission of the Chinese side,” reported CNN.
“The Chinese maritime police vessel defended China’s sovereignty and maritime order in accordance with China’s domestic law and international law,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, without specifying what action the Chinese side took.
Notably, China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3 million square miles South China Sea, as well as most of the islands within it. That includes the Spratlys, an archipelago consisting of 100 small islands and reefs also claimed in full or part by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
The Philippines calls the area the West Philippine Sea and in 1999 intentionally grounded a navy transport ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on Second Thomas Shoal, which is still manned by Filipino marines to enforce Manila’s claim to the area.
Beijing has been trying for years to prevent the Philippine Navy’s resupply missions in Ayungin Shoal and has displayed new tactics over the past few months.
Except for the small wooden boats chartered by the Navy, the CCG has been preventing Philippine military and law enforcement vessels from entering the shoal.
The reported incidents, disclosed to the public for the first time, follow a pattern of Chinese forces harassing other countries with lasers.
Last year, the Australian government said a Chinese warship aimed its laser at a Royal Australian Air Force jet 105 km from Australia’s northern coast. But China denied this.
In February 2022, Australia alleged a People’s Liberation Army Navy warship “illuminated” an Australian P-8A aircraft, a reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare plane, as it was flying over the Arafura Sea, the body of water between Australia’s Northern Territory and the island of New Guinea to the north.
At the time, China said the Australian claims were “not true,” reported CNN. (ANI)
US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin said the US and the Philippines remained committed to strengthening their mutual capacities to resist armed attack….reports Asian Lite News
To counter China’s aggressive territorial posturing in the South China Sea, the Philippines agreed to provide the United States with expanded access to its military bases, implying US forces will have a greater strategic footing on the southeastern edge of the South China Sea close to self-ruled Taiwan, CNN reported.
According to CNN, the newly announced deal will give the US access to four more locations under an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) dating 2014, allowing the US to rotate troops to a total of nine bases throughout the Philippines. The US has in recent months, stepped up efforts to expand its Indo-Pacific security options amid rising concerns over China’s growing activities in the region.
US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin, while speaking during a visit to the Philippines capital Manila on Thursday, said the US and the Philippines remained committed to strengthening their mutual capacities to resist armed attack.
“That’s just part of our efforts to modernize our alliance. And these efforts are especially important as the People’s Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea,” Austin said, as quoted by CNN.
He, however, did not give the location of the bases to which the US military will gain new access.
The announcement which came on Thursday followed a wave of high-profile US military agreements throughout the Indo-Pacific region, including plans to share defence technologies with India, and plans to deploy new US Marine units to Japanese islands.
Last week, the US Marine Corps opened a new base on Guam, a strategically important US island east of the Philippines. The location, known as Camp Blaz, is the first new Marine base in 70 years and one day is expected to host 5,000 Marines.
According to CNN, increased access to military bases in the Philippines would place US armed forces fewer than 200 miles south of Taiwan, the democratically ruled island of 24 million that the Chinese Communist Party claims as part of its sovereign territory despite never having controlled it.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has refused to rule out the use of military force to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control, but the Biden administration has been steadfast in its support for the island as provided by the Taiwan Relations Act, under which Washington agrees to provide the island with the means to defend itself without committing US troops, according to CNN.
US Vice President Kamala Harris had in November, visited the Philippines to discuss expanded US base access with the recently elected President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. Her visit, according to experts, sent a clear message to Beijing that the Philippines is moving closer to the US, reversing the trend under the previous president, Rodrigo Duterte.
A mutual defence treaty signed in 1951 binds Washington and Manila. This makes it the oldest bilateral treaty alliance in the region for the United States. (ANI)
Maritime authorities on Wednesday reported that there were 287 Chinese maritime militia vessels scattered in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea….reports Asian Lite News
President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said that Philippine ships in the West Philippine Sea will not move an inch backward following reported incursions by nearly 300 Chinese militia vessels in the disputed territory.
“Our vessels are now there in Pag-asa and in other areas, we will not move an inch backward,” said Duterte in his public address, reported Manila Times.
Maritime authorities on Wednesday reported that there were 287 Chinese maritime militia vessels scattered in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr on Wednesday ordered the filing of another diplomatic protest against Beijing over the recent incident.
China-ship
Despite his pronouncement, Duterte also reiterated that he does not want a quarrel with China.
I don’t want to quarrel with China. I really don’t want to. I repeat, we owe them a big debt of gratitude,” said Duterte.
Last month, Philippines had conducted maritime exercises in the disputed West Philippine Sea, as Chinese coast guard ships continue to amass near a disputed reef in the South China Sea.
Members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources began their “intensified” maritime training.
Eight capital ships of the national government had been deployed for the maritime exercises in Bajo De Masinloc and Pag-asa Island. The exercises covered navigation, small boat operations, maintenance, and logistical operations.
The vessels were also used to perform maritime drills in the Batanes Group of Islands, Benham Rise, as well as in the southern and eastern portions of the Philippines.
“We are supporting the whole-of-nation approach in securing our maritime jurisdiction, especially the efforts of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea to undertake maritime security, maritime safety, maritime law enforcement, maritime search and rescue, and marine environmental protection roles in our country’s waters,” PCG spokesperson Commodore Armando Balilo said.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has overlapping territorial claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
China has been increasing its maritime activities in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea over the past few months, partly in response to Beijing’s concerns over the increasing US military presence in the region because of escalating Sino-US tensions.
Beijing’s rising assertiveness against counter claimants in the East and South Sea has resulted in unprecedented agreement across the Indo-Pacific. (ANI)
