Chinese vessel sinks Filipino fishing boat an flees

[Mark Berkowitz]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

On second thought, though, perhaps China is doing this because it is "only the Philippines"  They would not do it to Japan, or at least they would not get away with it. 

Would China still be doing this sh*t if the US still had military bases in the Philippines?

[graham59]

Fear not... I have given over the use of my (long-range) Jet Ski to Pres' Du30 with immediate effect,  

 

.

 

[fillipino_wannabe]

Seems a bit exaggerated to be fair, from what I read the Filipino boat was still floating for a long time and the Chinese probably knew there were a bucket load of Vietnamese ships around to pick them up anyway.
They see that sea as theirs anyway so I doubt they like random little Filipino boats there.

[Arizona Kid]

11 hours ago, Mark Berkowitz said:

I will also be waiting to see what he says (or not). 

Hmmm I wonder if the Chinese would be doing these kinds of things if the US military bases were still here? I'm guessing no.  

[scott h]

1 minute ago, Arizona Kid said:

Hmmm I wonder if the Chinese would be doing these kinds of things if the US military bases were still here? I'm guessing no.  

I am guessing they would have never occupied those islands in the first place 

[Heeb]

5 hours ago, scott h said:

I am guessing they would have never occupied those islands in the first place  

If I remember correctly they had already started building bases in the Spratly's when I was on my last tour there, it was a topic of conversation, the oil had been discovered in the late 60s.

[Heeb]

From Wikipedia:

1987	The People's Republic of China (PRC) conducted naval patrols in the Spratly Islands and established a permanent base.[where?]
1988	PRC warships and Vietnamese transport ships clashed at the South Johnson Reef. Over 70 Vietnamese were killed and two Vietnamese transport ships were sunk. The PRC gained control of some of the Spratly reefs.
1994	The People's Republic of China, Malaysia, and the Philippines sign the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). History as a legal basis is now not accepted.
1995	The Philippine government revealed that a PRC military structure was being built at the Mischief Reef. Philippine President Fidel Ramos ordered increased patrols of the Philippine-controlled areas; the incident lead to numerous arrests of Chinese fishermen and naval clashes with PLAN vessels.

If not for the Philippine government (magnificent 12) we would still be there, I remember their demands for us staying there were preposterous, they wanted service members stationed there to pay Philippine taxes, use the Philippine mail system instead of FPO and also do away with the SOFA agreement which kept a lot of falsley accused sailors and marines out of local jails including myself.

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by Heeb

[Mark Berkowitz]

37 minutes ago, Heeb said:

magnificent 12

Thanks!... but I had to google this, since I didn't know the meaning.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2003/03/22/199837/magnificent-12

Is this the same "magnificent 12?"

 

[Heeb]

14 minutes ago, Mark Berkowitz said:

Thanks!... but I had to google this, since I didn't know the meaning.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2003/03/22/199837/magnificent-12

Is this the same "magnificent 12?"

 

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/232573/20-years-later-senators-who-rejected-us-bases-hailed-anew/story/

[Mark Berkowitz]

'Just a collision': Philippines' Duterte downplays sinking

 

Manila (AFP) - The sinking of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese vessel in the disputed South China Sea was "just a collision", the Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday as he moved to soothe anger over the crash.

The typically brash Duterte urged calm in his first public comments about the June 9 incident, which has fed into outrage over China's expansive claims to the resource-rich waterway.

Critics have voiced anger over the Chinese trawler's failure to rescue the 22 Filipino fishermen after what some Philippine officials have called a "hit-and-run" incident.

"Do not believe those stupid politicians. They want to send the Navy," Duterte said.

"That is just a collision of boats. Do not make it worse," Duterte added as he addressed the Philippine Navy, reiterating the country was not ready to go to war against China.

Duterte has largely set aside the Philippines' row with Beijing over the key waterway to court trade and investments, but he has occasionally criticised China's actions there.

Opposition politicians as well as segments of the public and media charge that Duterte has bartered away Philippine sovereignty with little to show in return.

Following his speech, Senator Risa Hontiveros branded Duterte "feckless & spineless before China" in a tweet.

Manila has filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing as Duterte aides and critics alike blasted how the Chinese boat left the fishermen in the open sea.

However China has denied the claims, saying the trawler merely "bumped" into the Philippine boat and tried to rescue the fishermen but was "afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats".

In his comments on Monday Duterte said he would await the results of an investigation.

"The only thing that we can do is wait and give the other party the right to be heard. That is important," he said.

The president's latest comments came after his defence minister last week condemned the "cowardly action" of the Chinese boat while his spokesman blasted the abandonment of the Filipino crew as "barbaric".

The Filipino fishermen have stood by their story, saying the Chinese boat deliberately hit them and they then had to spend hours in the water awaiting help.

https://news.yahoo.com/just-collision-philippines-duterte-downplays-sinking-143243778.html