Sea dispute escalates as China and the Philippines deploy more warships

Sea dispute escalates as China and the Philippines deploy more warships

The standoff in the South China Sea between the naval forces of the Philippines and China is in danger of escalating, as the U.S. continues to watch anxiously.

China has now sent a third ship to support its claim to the area known as Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines.

Philippine warships attempting to arrest the crews of a Chinese fishing fleet that had entered the territory sparked the latest dispute between the two Asian countries.

They were stopped from doing so by the arrival of two Chinese surveillance ships, which then ordered the Philippine warships to leave the area.

They refused arguing that its Philippine territory and have since sent a second warship to the area.

"We're not retreating from our own territory," Alexander Pama, Chief Vice Admiral of the Philippine navy said.

China also claims the rich fishing ground as its own despite it being within 200 nautical miles of the Philippines.

"The timing of the dispute suggests China is keen to send a message to the Philippines and the U.S. ahead of their bilateral military exercise, and to assert its authority in the disputed area," Maria Patrikainen, a global insight analyst at IHS told Fox News.


Read more: www.foxnews.com...

So it begins... This incident is over fishing rights and already warships are being deployed.

Would anyone like to make a wager on how quickly this is going to erupt into shots being fired? Chinese vessels from the 1st article took up positions outside the area in disoute (atol If i remember right) to prevent vessels from entering / leaving the area in question.

The phillipines dispatched naval vessels and is now sending more to the area.

Originally posted by Xcathdra
Would anyone like to make a wager on how quickly this is going to erupt into shots being fired?

Shooting match between whom? A couple of unarmed Chinese surveillance ships and a Vietnam War era puddle pirate cutter?

I predict the two countries will come to a compromise fairly quickly.

The Filipino ship involved is over 40 years old, and was transferred from the USCG to the Filipino navy in the past few months. The vast majority of the remainder of their navy consists of WWII era light patrol craft, similar to the old US minesweepers. The Filipinos don't have a chance in a shooting match, and they know it.

Chinese surveillance ships:

reply to post by Xcathdra


The most serious antagonistic contradiction between Philippine and China. With china source, says China can finish the war with those South East Asia in 2 weeks.
The problem is, here, not only Philippine, but also Vietnam is getting ready for the war. Vietnam now associates Russia. That's a good move for Vietname....
would be very interesting to see how China is gonna deal with this situation now. And once the russia got involved, to China this's a very tough issue now. Cause Russia would very possible to betray "the happy picture of Russia n China" for its own benefit. But apparently he wouldn't do it by himself but use other countries..now South China Sea issue is a good timing..

reply to post by Xcathdra


Wtf? The Philippine's have warships? Really? Oh man, and now their in conflict with Chinese warships? I did not see this coming.

nice find X, this could be a deal breaker in the gulf standoff right now......
If the Chinese want a shooting war theywill have the US navy to get fiesty with.......
As i understand it US-Phillipine treaty of mutual defense....would bring the pacific fleet into the fray fast.
Not to mention US bases there......

Originally posted by stirling
nice find X, this could be a deal breaker in the gulf standoff right now......
If the Chinese want a shooting war theywill have the US navy to get fiesty with.......
As i understand it US-Phillipine treaty of mutual defense....would bring the pacific fleet into the fray fast.
Not to mention US bases there......

What bases? Clark, Subic and Cubi are long gone. The decision by the Philippines to run the US out of their country 20 years ago is why they have an old WHEC as their fleet flagship instead of something slighty more modern like a decommissioned Perry.

The main mount on their "flagship" is a 76mm, and realistically, in battle, they wouldn't last 30 seconds. ( i.e. a single hit)

Which of course begs the question,

on the Presidential Campaing Trail,,

the NUMBER ONE, question,, sorry caps,,
i mean we are talking nuclear capable WARships people,,, right??

i mean is WARship now slang for WArship,, with or without,,
escorts like submariens for instance?

There VICE_ ADMIRAL im sure would not have called them warships,, if they were,,

tugboats right,,, i mean,, wouldnt send warships without nukes ,,,you think?
cause that would be an important

Presidential Campaing Trail,

question,,right?

remove if u wish,,


Me.

There is already a thread about this:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

It's strange nobody dare to do anything. It's China who violate another country territorial sovereignity and something has to be done.

Originally posted by BobAthome

i mean we are talking nuclear capable WARships people,,, right??

The Chinese have them, the Filipinos don't.

escorts like submariens for instance?

The Chinese have those too. The Filipinos are looking at purchasing their first sub by 2020.

There VICE_ ADMIRAL im sure would not have called them warships,, if they were,,

tugboats right,,, i mean,, wouldnt send warships without nukes ,,,you think?

The Chinese Navy have a formidable fleet. The Filipino Navy is a bit on the old side, and mainly small/coastal patrol boats.

Let them shoot at each other. There are lots of Asians in the world anyway.

reply to post by ~Vixen~


As presidentof the usa for instance u want too take that chance,,

that the American subs are not already there?


and i know their nuclear....right or wrong?
about them being nuclear,, and now invisible too,,
too chinese raidar for instance,,,
ya,,ok,,,

but thats the NukeGame,,,will they???
or will they not??

tick tock
tick tock,,

has the clock moved???

Me.

Originally posted by Franz von Humboldt
Let them shoot at each other. There are lots of Asians in the world anyway.

edit on 13-4-2012 by Franz von Humboldt because: (no reason given)

Insanity can be cured.

Originally posted by BobAthome
reply to post by ~Vixen~

 

As presidentof the usa for instance u want too take that chance,,

that the American subs are not already there?


and i know their nuclear....right or wrong?
about them being nuclear,, and now invisible too,,
too chinese raidar for instance,,,
ya,,ok,,,

but thats the NukeGame,,,will they???
or will they not??

tick tock
tick tock,,

has the clock moved???

Me

What? This is near the Philippines, thousands of miles away from the US. The US isn't going to risk conflict with the Chinese to defend a Filipino fishing ground. THAT would be insane.

The Filipino fleet wouldn't last 3 minutes once conflict began and missiles started flying. They know that, which is why I said that they will work it out.

Edit to answer question:
The Chinese do have nukes, so yes. The Filipinos don't. The US isn't a party to the dispute, so us having a presence there is irrelevant.

reply to post by ~Vixen~


they are a territory of the united states and one of our older allies and aside from breifly bailing on them in ww2 we will defend them and their islands as if they are us soil

The Mutual Defense Treaty Between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America was signed on August 30, 1951 in Washington, D.C. between representatives of the Philippines and the United States. The overall accord contained eight articles and dictated that both nations would support each other if either the Philippines or the United States were to be attacked by an external party.

so yeah kinda makes us a relevant party in the situation


they fought with us in Iraq and Afghanistan and we shall stand with them if need be and they have more then a few "bigger" allies in the region...japan australia think they get along pretty well with vietnam and even spain(original colonizers of the islands) and a large population of ex pat south koreans located on the islands

en.wikipedia.org... got alot more friends then i originally thought

Originally posted by KilrathiLG
reply to post by ~Vixen~

 

they are a territory of the united states and one of our older allies and aside from breifly bailing on them in ww2 we will defend them and their islands as if they are us soil

The Mutual Defense Treaty Between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America was signed on August 30, 1951 in Washington, D.C. between representatives of the Philippines and the United States. The overall accord contained eight articles and dictated that both nations would support each other if either the Philippines or the United States were to be attacked by an external party.

so yeah kinda makes us a relevant party in the situation


they fought with us in Iraq and Afghanistan and we shall stand with them if need be and they have more then a few "bigger" allies in the region...japan australia think they get along pretty well with vietnam and even spain(original colonizers of the islands) and a large population of ex pat south koreans located on the islands

en.wikipedia.org... got alot more friends then i originally thought

The Philippines is not a US territory. They're an independent nation, which is why a defense treaty was signed with them.

Do you honestly believe that all these countries are going to spend millions of dollars, risk billions of dollars worth of equipment, and endanger thousands of lives to settle a petty dispute originating over illegal fishing and coral harvesting? Really?

The US finds itself in a hostile middle east environment and lacks international support. We've effectively alienated many former allies, and countries like Russia are signaling their support for the opposing side. We're already pushing it with China as we threaten Iran, (Iran exports more oil to China than to any other country) and even the talking heads know that we can't accomplish our deluded middle east missions if we get into a shooting war with China.

Tensions in the region are already strained on the Korean peninsula, and I maintain that the politicians will not allow it to escalate further. Not over a few boatloads of fish and couple of coral heads.

Here's an actual List of the vessels that make up the Philippine Navy. Click

Any "large scale" naval engagement would be over after 45 minutes at the latest. They do not pose a significant threat to the Chinese.

The Chinese are smart, and I doubt they would use blunt force to occupy a territory, there's something else behind this, trust me. It may be a tactic to apply pressure on a political negotiation, or a move to make the US feel uncomfortable having basically no major strike capabilities in the Chinese sea due to the Iran buildup.

China did use blunt force to occupy Tibet. And started war with India. And did attack Vietnam. And did send its soldiers to swim Usuri river and almost started war with USSR.

Originally posted by DangerDeath
China did use blunt force to occupy Tibet. And started war with India. And did attack Vietnam. And did send its soldiers to swim Usuri river and almost started war with USSR.

They didn't occupy Tibet, but they smacked down a revolutionary uprising. The Tibetans deserve it they've been warmongers themselves 2000 years ago when they were the big kid on the block.

The little dispute between China and India can hardly be called a war, and after beating the Indians to a pulp they voluntarily withdrew again.

The thing with Vietnam was a small border skirmish, again you are exaggerating.

Again: The Chinese will not use military force to occupy another nation. They are interested in making profit. Of course that does not mean you can't provoke them to take military actions if they deem it vital for their interests.

Originally posted by Franz von Humboldt
Let them shoot at each other. There are lots of Asians in the world anyway.

edit on 13-4-2012 by Franz von Humboldt because: (no reason given)

Tell me you're joking
2nd line