After the Reuters report was published, the USA said it’s aware of the report.
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Philippine-Chinese ties have frayed in recent years due to tensions over Beijing’s claims to nearly all the South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, believed to be rich in energy deposits.
China sent hundreds of fishing ships accompanied by a number of Chinese coast guard vessels into disputed waters around the Senkaku Islands in early August. It would also be a culmination of some of China’s worst fears, as the move would bring South Korea closer into a trilateral alliance involving the United States and Japan.
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.
Kishida said Japan would continue providing patrol vessels to Philippines.
On whether India will raise the recent incident of transgression in Uttarakhand at the meeting, Swarup said, all global, regional and bilateral issues of mutual interest will be discussed. Beijing reciprocated Tokyo’s humane gesture and thanked them for the rescue operation, despite ongoing tensions between the two countries over maritime rights on the East China Sea.
China also stalled India’s Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership bid at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping in June on the ground that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In the South China Sea, Chinese land reclamation and construction on contested reefs over the past year has raised alarm in the region and beyond.
“What it does is that its resources will be put in the area for policing and the area will be monitored”, Lagman said.
Existing structures can only be used for marine scientific research and eco-tourism, he said, citing a similar model such as the 1994 peace agreement between Israel and Jordan that created the Red Sea Marine Peace Park in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Filipino counterpart, Perfecto Yasay, agreed Thursday to strengthen bilateral cooperation to bring a peaceful solution to territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
“These realities are not just unsustainable, but unacceptable”, he said at the same forum.
Yasay stressed, the Philippine government was elated over Japan’s promise.
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“Some things we cannot reverse, but at least we should not aggravate the destruction”, Del Rosario said.
