Latest news with #Inter-ParliamentaryAllianceonChina
Daily Mail
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Satellite image exposes China's use of structures in land grab efforts
China is using a series of steel structures to lay claim to a disputed area of the Yellow Sea, South Korea has claimed. Seoul is considering setting up countermeasures to three Chinese installations erected off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's Foreign Ministry expressed 'deep concern' over what some experts have referred to as an encroachment on their territorial waters. Satellite images show that the sea rig has been installed in an area where the two nations' exclusive economic zones overlap. The structure, which is an old French oil rig with a helicopter landing pad, is located near the Chinese Shenlan-1 and Shenlan-2 platforms. They are all built in the Yellow Sea, which serves as a vital corridor for trade, fisheries and military navigation. South Korean officials said they conveyed their concerns to Chinese officials during a scheduled meeting on Wednesday. Beijing have insisted the structure is a fish farm support facility and dismissed any notion that it has to do with territorial rights. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said yesterday that the facility was 'in compliance with domestic and international law,' and 'unrelated to bilateral maritime delimitation.' 'The construction does not contravene the agreement between China and South Korea,' Guo told reporters, adding that Beijing was 'willing to work with Seoul to enhance dialogue and communication and properly address relevant issues.' 'The structure is within both Chinese and international law and does not violate the China-South Korea fisheries agreement,' the Chinese embassy in Seoul said in a statement last month. But South Korea's public broadcaster KBS have reported that Seoul's survey vessels have been prevented from approaching the strcutures by the Chinese coast guard. There are now growing worries among South Korean politicians and anti-Beijing campaigners that China is quietly infringing on foreign territory. Luke De Pulford, the Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told MailOnline: 'Beijing pretends not to be expansionist yet expends huge resources making ludicrous claims to other countries' territories and international waters. The Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea, and now this. If we fail to deter this aggression, we will only have ourselves to blame when escalation follows.' The structures are located in the provisional measures zone, a disputed area where, under an agreement signed in 2001, fishing boats are permitted to operate. The agreement, however, expressly forbids the construction of facilities as well as searching for or developing natural resources in the area. In 2020, Beijing unilaterally declared the zone to be its 'internal waters'. Na Kyung-won (pictured), a member of parliament from South Korea's ruling People Power Party, said: 'What China is doing — installing artificial structures in disputed waters and blocking access — is a gangster-style tactic used in the South and East China Seas. It's clear they are now trying to turn the Yellow Sea into a grey zone to support their territorial claims. A firm and stern response is needed to address China's unfair attempts to change the status quo.' In 2014, China sparked similar fury after a Chinese oil platform carried out drilling within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone in the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. After a standoff between the two nations, China withdrew the platform a month earlier than originally planned. Beijing has also anchored large buoy's within Japan's exclusive economic zone, claiming they are weather and ocean monitoring devices. 'This is a clandestine tactic to claim our waters inch by inch and restrict the operations of the US-South Korea alliance,' Jaewoo Choo, head of the China Research Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Security think-tank in Seoul, told the Financial Times. Nam Sung-wook, a professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration at Korea University, added: 'We should have taken action sooner. 'If any country doesn't respond to such territorial issues immediately, it becomes a fait accompli.' Both countries agreed to continue consultations on the matter at all levels, with a mutual understanding that the issue should not hinder broader bilateral relations, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said. Last month UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: 'We are concerned by dangerous and destabilising activities by China in the South China Sea. The UK and world economy depends on these trade routes being safe and secure.'
Daily Mail
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Satellite images reveal China's mysterious structures being used for territorial land grab
China is using a series of steel structures to lay claim to a disputed area of the Yellow Sea, South Korea has claimed. Seoul is considering setting up countermeasures to three Chinese installations erected off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's Foreign Ministry expressed 'deep concern' over what some experts have referred to as an encroachment on their territorial waters. Satellite images show that the sea rig has been installed in an area where the two nations' exclusive economic zones overlap. The structure, which is an old French oil rig with a helicopter landing pad, is located near the Chinese Shenlan-1 and Shenlan-2 platforms. They are all built in the Yellow Sea, which serves as a vital corridor for trade, fisheries and military navigation. South Korean officials said they conveyed their concerns to Chinese officials during a scheduled meeting on Wednesday. Beijing have insisted the structure is a fish farm support facility and dismissed any notion that it has to do with territorial rights. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said yesterday that the facility was 'in compliance with domestic and international law,' and 'unrelated to bilateral maritime delimitation.' 'The construction does not contravene the agreement between China and South Korea,' Guo told reporters, adding that Beijing was 'willing to work with Seoul to enhance dialogue and communication and properly address relevant issues.' 'The structure is within both Chinese and international law and does not violate the China-South Korea fisheries agreement,' the Chinese embassy in Seoul said in a statement last month. But South Korea's public broadcaster KBS have reported that Seoul's survey vessels have been prevented from approaching the strcutures by the Chinese coast guard. There are now growing worries among South Korean politicians and anti-Beijing campaigners that China is quietly infringing on foreign territory. Luke De Pulford, the Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told MailOnline: ' Beijing pretends not to be expansionist yet expends huge resources making ludicrous claims to other countries' territories and international waters. 'The Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea, and now this. If we fail to deter this aggression, we will only have ourselves to blame when escalation follows.' The structures are located in the provisional measures zone, a disputed area where, under an agreement signed in 2001, fishing boats are permitted to operate. The agreement, however, expressly forbids the construction of facilities as well as searching for or developing natural resources in the area. In 2020, Beijing unilaterally declared the zone to be its 'internal waters'. Na Kyung-won, a member of parliament from South Korea's ruling People Power Party, said: 'What China is doing — installing artificial structures in disputed waters and blocking access — is a gangster-style tactic used in the South and East China Seas. 'It's clear they are now trying to turn the Yellow Sea into a grey zone to support their territorial claims. 'A firm and stern response is needed to address China's unfair attempts to change the status quo.' In 2014, China sparked similar fury after a Chinese oil platform carried out drilling within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone in the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. After a standoff between the two nations, China withdrew the platform a month earlier than originally planned. Beijing has also anchored large buoy's within Japan's exclusive economic zone, claiming they are weather and ocean monitoring devices. 'This is a clandestine tactic to claim our waters inch by inch and restrict the operations of the US-South Korea alliance,' Jaewoo Choo, head of the China Research Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Security think-tank in Seoul, told the Financial Times. Nam Sung-wook, a professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration at Korea University, added: 'We should have taken action sooner. 'If any country doesn't respond to such territorial issues immediately, it becomes a fait accompli.' Both countries agreed to continue consultations on the matter at all levels, with a mutual understanding that the issue should not hinder broader bilateral relations, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said.
South China Morning Post
18-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Denying anti-China MP entry may be bad press but perfectly justified
British politicians like Wera Hobhouse make a living by kicking up a fuss. So when Hong Kong authorities denied her entry at the airport, naturally, it presented the perfect opportunity. Advertisement Now the Liberal Democrat member of parliament has made so much noise even the Foreign Secretary David Lammy is on the case, demanding an explanation. She said it was because China wanted to shut her up. What, by giving her a perfect excuse to broadcast her 'ordeal' for the UK media to lap it up? Well, I have an explanation for Lammy and Hobhouse. The Lib Dem is a key member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), a malignant propaganda outfit filled with European and US political hacks pretending to be activists. Usually, you have activists fighting politicians but these guys like to cosplay as they are heavily funded by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, essentially an outlet for the island's independence, and the National Endowment for Democracy, a US congressional-funded body pretending to be an independent NGO – according to a 2021 investigation by Junge Welt, a German left-wing publication. The way Hobhouse told it, you would have thought Hong Kong immigration officials strip-searched and cattle-prodded her. Officials said she was questioned but refused to cooperate. She said she behaved like a perfect lady. In the event, her husband was allowed into the city but decided to join her on the flight back home. She said it was supposed to be a private visit to see their son and newborn grandchild. Advertisement I don't want to second-guess immigration officers, but I would have let her in after questioning. She would still have made a fuss just for being questioned but it would have perfectly exposed her hypocrisy and that of Ipac. Apparently her son has decided to work and raise a family in Hong Kong since 2019. But isn't Hong Kong supposed to be like George Orwell's 1984 now?
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ed Davey urges China to ‘publish the tapes' after MP denied entry to Hong Kong
Sir Ed Davey has called on China to release the tapes of the interrogation of a Liberal Democrat MP who was denied entry to Hong Kong to visit her family. The party leader also urged Foreign Secretary David Lammy to summon the country's ambassador to Britain to demand an explanation for Wera Hobhouse's deportation, saying the UK should not be 'kowtowing' to Beijing. Ms Hobhouse, the MP for Bath who is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) which has been critical of Beijing's human rights record, has said she believes the action was taken to silence her. She had flown to Hong Kong to see her son and newborn grandson but was held at the airport, questioned and sent back to the UK. Asked whether he agreed that she had been detained to 'shut her up', Sir Ed told the PA news agency: 'I think it's very likely the case. 'Liberal Democrats have stood up for the people of Hong Kong against oppression from Beijing, stood up for human rights, and I don't think the Chinese government likes that. 'And this may be a part of retaliation, even though Wera was only on a family visit, but I think that shows you that they behaved in a shocking way – they need to back down.' He added: 'I very much hope the British Government, the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, will call in the Chinese ambassador and demand an explanation. We shouldn't be kowtow(ing), I'm afraid, to Beijing.' Speaking during a local election campaign visit to manufacturing business LJA Miers & Co in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, the party leader challenged China to be transparent about what had happened. 'They're trying to blame Wera,' he said. 'Let them publish the tapes. Let them be open. It's not like the Chinese, but they should be, because I'm afraid they're guilty of a very big mistake here. 'It's against the rights of (the) family, and… it actually should worry anyone in any part of the political sphere in Britain. This is not the way to expect MPs to be treated by China.' The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region released a statement late on Monday saying: 'It is the duty of immigration officer to ask questions to ascertain that there is no doubt about the purpose of any visit. 'The person concerned knows best what he or she has done. It will be unhelpful to the person's case if the person refuses to answer questions put to him or her for that purpose.' Ms Hobhouse accused Chinese authorities of attempting to 'smear' her by appearing to suggest she had failed to co-operate, and asked them to publish recordings of her interview. 'I was polite and co-operative throughout the interview, answering every question asked of me,' she said. 'I even volunteered personal information I wasn't asked for, such as showing officials a picture of my baby grandson who was waiting for me on the other side.' She added: 'Following these damaging attempts to smear me, I hope the Foreign Secretary will now summon the Chinese ambassador in person to give a full and clear account of why I was refused entry to Hong Kong last week. 'Until that request is answered, it will have a chilling effect on all parliamentarians who stand up for freedom and democracy.' In a piece for The Guardian, Ms Hobhouse later said there should be no ministerial visits to China until the UK had been given answers. 'We must be direct: if you will not be straight and don't answer legitimate questions we cannot engage with you on the basis of mutual trust,' she said. 'That's why, until we get a clear answer on why I was deported, no Government minister should be visiting China on official business.' The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
The Independent
15-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ed Davey urges China to ‘publish the tapes' after MP denied entry to Hong Kong
Sir Ed Davey has called on China to release the tapes of the interrogation of a Liberal Democrat MP who was denied entry to Hong Kong to visit her family. The party leader also urged Foreign Secretary David Lammy to summon the country's ambassador to Britain to demand an explanation for Wera Hobhouse's deportation, saying the UK should not be 'kowtowing' to Beijing. Ms Hobhouse, the MP for Bath who is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) which has been critical of Beijing's human rights record, has said she believes the action was taken to silence her. She had flown to Hong Kong to see her son and newborn grandson but was held at the airport, questioned and sent back to the UK. Asked whether he agreed that she had been detained to 'shut her up', Sir Ed told the PA news agency: 'I think it's very likely the case. 'Liberal Democrats have stood up for the people of Hong Kong against oppression from Beijing, stood up for human rights, and I don't think the Chinese government likes that. 'And this may be a part of retaliation, even though Wera was only on a family visit, but I think that shows you that they behaved in a shocking way – they need to back down.' He added: 'I very much hope the British Government, the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, will call in the Chinese ambassador and demand an explanation. We shouldn't be kowtow(ing), I'm afraid, to Beijing.' Speaking during a local election campaign visit to manufacturing business LJA Miers & Co in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, the party leader challenged China to be transparent about what had happened. 'They're trying to blame Wera,' he said. 'Let them publish the tapes. Let them be open. It's not like the Chinese, but they should be, because I'm afraid they're guilty of a very big mistake here. 'It's against the rights of (the) family, and… it actually should worry anyone in any part of the political sphere in Britain. This is not the way to expect MPs to be treated by China.' The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region released a statement late on Monday saying: 'It is the duty of immigration officer to ask questions to ascertain that there is no doubt about the purpose of any visit. 'The person concerned knows best what he or she has done. It will be unhelpful to the person's case if the person refuses to answer questions put to him or her for that purpose.' Ms Hobhouse accused Chinese authorities of attempting to 'smear' her by appearing to suggest she had failed to co-operate, and asked them to publish recordings of her interview. 'I was polite and co-operative throughout the interview, answering every question asked of me,' she said. 'I even volunteered personal information I wasn't asked for, such as showing officials a picture of my baby grandson who was waiting for me on the other side.' She added: 'Following these damaging attempts to smear me, I hope the Foreign Secretary will now summon the Chinese ambassador in person to give a full and clear account of why I was refused entry to Hong Kong last week. 'Until that request is answered, it will have a chilling effect on all parliamentarians who stand up for freedom and democracy.' In a piece for The Guardian, Ms Hobhouse later said there should be no ministerial visits to China until the UK had been given answers. 'We must be direct: if you will not be straight and don't answer legitimate questions we cannot engage with you on the basis of mutual trust,' she said. 'That's why, until we get a clear answer on why I was deported, no Government minister should be visiting China on official business.' The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
