Latest news with #Philippine-held
Straits Times
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Philippine official says China trying to influence its elections
Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. PHOTO: AFP Philippine official says China trying to influence its elections MANILA – A Philippine national security official said China is 'attempting to influence' its midterm elections after it declared sovereignty over an uninhabited reef in the South China Sea just ahead of polls in May. 'To me, it also validates the findings of the security and intelligence sector, it also validates our position that they are attempting to influence our elections because the timing is suspect insofar as I am concerned,' National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said in a briefing on April 28. Mr Malaya said there is 'no truth whatsoever to the claim of the Chinese coast guard that the Pag-asa cays have been seized'. China state-broadcaster CCTV reported on April 26 that its coast guard 'implemented maritime control and exercised sovereign jurisdiction' over Sandy Cay in mid-April in an escalation of tensions in the disputed waterway. Bloomberg Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
27-04-2025
- General
- The Star
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost: report
This handout photo taken on March 21, 2024 and received from the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR) shows an aerial view of Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Chinese coast guard seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, according to Beijing's state media, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. The Chinese coast guard "implemented maritime control" over the Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, during the middle of April 2025, state broadcaster CCTV reported on April 26, 2025. - Philippine Coast Guard/AFP BEIJING: The Chinese coast guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, according to Beijing's state media, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other regional countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is currently taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the United States that Beijing has slammed as destabilising. The Chinese coast guard "implemented maritime control" over the Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, during the middle of April, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday (April 26). The tiny sandbank, part of the Spratly Islands, lies near Thitu Island, also called Pag-asa and the site of a Philippine military facility. CCTV said the coast guard landed on Sandy Cay to "exercise sovereignty and jurisdiction" over the reef, carry out an "inspection" and "collect video evidence regarding the illegal activities of the Philippine side". The broadcaster published a photograph of five black-clad people standing on the uninhabited reef as a dark inflatable boat bobbed in the nearby water. Another shot showed four coast guard officials posing with a national flag on the reef's white surface, in what CCTV described as a "vow of sovereignty". The group also "cleaned up leftover plastic bottles, wooden sticks and other debris and garbage on the reef", the broadcaster said. The Financial Times reported an unnamed Philippine maritime official as saying that the Chinese coast guard had left after unfurling the flag. There do not appear to be any signs that China has permanently occupied the reef or has built a structure on it. In recent months, Beijing and Manila have blamed each other for causing what they describe as the ecological degradation of several disputed landforms in the South China Sea. China's state news agency Xinhua on Friday cited a report from the natural resources ministry that it said "debunked" Manila's allegations that Beijing's land reclamation projects had harmed the local environment. Philippine forces are present on Thitu Island and Manila inaugurated a coast guard monitoring base there in 2023 in an effort to counter what it describes as Chinese aggression. On Monday, the Philippine and US militaries launched three weeks of annual joint exercises called "Balikatan", or "shoulder to shoulder", which will include an integrated air and missile defence simulation for the first time. US Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Glynn said at the opening ceremony in Manila that the two side would "demonstrate not just our will to uphold our mutual defence treaty in existence since 1951 but our matchless capability to do so". "Nothing builds bonds more quickly than shared adversity," he said, without specifying a common threat. Beijing said the manoeuvres "undermine regional strategic stability" and accused Manila of "collusion with countries outside the region". - AFP
Japan Times
27-04-2025
- General
- Japan Times
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost
China has 'enforced maritime management and exercised sovereign jurisdiction' over an uninhabited reef in the disputed South China Sea, planting the country's flag on the tiny sand bank just kilometers from a key Philippine military outpost. Photographs released by Chinese state-run media on Saturday showed China Coast Guard officers unfurling the flag as part of an effort to effectively seize Sandy Cay reef, which Beijing calls Tiexian Jiao, earlier this month. The reef, located in the flash point Spratly Island chain, is also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Sandy Cay also sits just over 3 kilometers from Thitu Island, known as Pag-asa by Manila, which is home to Philippine military facilities — including a military-grade runway — and some 250 residents. China's Global Times newspaper said the coast guard officers had landed on Sandy Cay 'to conduct on-reef inspection and video-recording of illegal activity,' while also cleaning up 'plastic bottles, wooden sticks and other debris scattered across the reef flat.' Beijing in January claimed that the Chinese side had intercepted and 'repelled' Philippine naval vessels that had 'intruded' into the waters near the reef that it said were attempting 'an illegal landing and sand sample collection.' The Philippines has said it has sent coast guard vessels into the area to monitor and study whether China is attempting to conduct small-scale island reclamation in the area. China claims the roughly 200-square-meter Sandy Cay is a natural feature and not man-made — entitling it to a 12-nautical-mile (22-km) territorial sea under international law that would overlap with Thitu Island. Philippine scientists inspect Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea on March 21, 2024. | Philippine Coast Guard / VIA AFP-JIJI Between 2013 and 2016, China undertook a large-scale land reclamation program in the South China Sea, building up a number of military outposts in a concerted bid to reinforce its claim to some 90% of the resource-rich waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade flow every year. Many of those claims, which come under what Beijing calls the "nine-dash line," overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. But China is not known to have conducted reclamation projects in the waterway in recent years, and its focus on sovereignty over Sandy Cay reef adds to already high tensions in the strategic waterway, where fears over a clash have surged as Manila pushes back against Beijing's moves there. Last June, updated China Coast Guard regulations went into effect that allow it to board foreign vessels and detain foreign nationals suspected of trespassing in waters it claims for up to 60 days. The updated regulations expanded on China's 2021 coast guard law, which allows it to use weapons against foreign ships deemed to have illegally entered Chinese-claimed waters. A territorial sea claim around Sandy Cay would provide a boost for nearby Subi Reef — one of China's reclaimed-and-militarized features in the South China Sea that hosts missiles, a deep-water port, aircraft hangers and a 3,000-meter airfield. Subi Reef, which was underwater at high tide before reclamation activities, is classified as a low-tide elevation and is not entitled to a territorial sea under international law. 'One of the ironies is that China's interest in annexing Sandy Cay is about buttressing the legality of their claims to nearby Subi Reef, now host to a major artificial port & airfield. Lawfare, resulting in further expansionism,' Euan Graham, a regional security expert with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, wrote on X. It's unclear if China plans to build up more of the unoccupied reefs and other features it controls, but observers say this is unlikely considering its military and coast guard presence in the South China Sea is already robust.
