Masinloc: For decades, fishermen along the northwestern Philippine coast treated the teeming fishing grounds of the Scarborough Shoal as their backyard, less than a day's boat ride away.
Now, they see it as a foreign country.
"I lost my livelihood when we lost the Scarborough Shoal to the Chinese," said Mario Forones, a 53-year-old who owns three fishing boats that worked the reef for about a dozen years before armed Chinese vessels arrived in force in April 2012.
Reuters interviews with fishermen in two coastal Philippine towns - some of whom tried to fish the shoal as recently as in April 2013 - show how the Philippines has effectively ceded sovereignty of the reef about 124 nautical miles (230 km) off its coast after a naval stand-off in 2012....
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06:35 AM, Apr 23, 2013
Amid a row over South China Sea with its maritime neighbours, China today said it is leading a plan to set up a tsunami and other natural disaster warning systems in the area. "Tsunamis don't occur frequently, but they always result in significant damage. In the South China Sea, occurrence of earthquakes and tsunamis in the Manila Trench near the Philippines is highly possible," Zhang Zhanhai, head of the State...
06:53 PM, Dec 27, 2012
For India, improved relations with Southeast Asia will give it entry into one of the fastest-growing economic regions in the world. ...
05:07 PM, Dec 19, 2012
Chinese planes have allegedly entered disputed airspace over disputed islands in the East China Sea. ...
02:36 PM, Dec 13, 2012
Viewing the rapid modernisation of Chinese Navy as a "major concern", Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi on Monday made it clear that India would protect its interests in the disputed South China Sea, even if it means sending forces there. ...
06:15 PM, Dec 03, 2012
New Delhi: India and Vietnam should be given a strong response if they remain defiant about exploring oil and gas in China's waters, a Chinese newspaper said on Thursday. The report by the hardline Global Times comes after the ONGC's recent announcement that it had accepted Vietnam's proposal to continue explorations in the South China Sea, an act that China claims violates its sovereignty. The text read, "China must first...
12:41 PM, Aug 02, 2012
New Delhi: India and Indonesia on Friday inked a treaty on avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and discussed strategic bilateral and regional issues, including South China Sea in the backdrop of increasing Chinese influence in the region. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and his Indonesian counterpart Marty M Natalegawa co-chaired the fourth meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Commission and...
05:34 PM, Jul 27, 2012
Phnom Penh: The Obama administration pressed Beijing on Thursday to accept a code of conduct for resolving territorial disputes in the resource-rich South China Sea, a difficult US mediation effort that has faced resistance from the communist government. It has endeared US, however, to once-hostile countries in Southeast Asia. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the Association...
01:56 PM, Jul 12, 2012
Hanoi: Amid increasing sparring between China and its neighbours over disputed oil blocks in the South China Sea, India on Friday said the region was key to its energy security and the conflict must be resolved peacefully as per international laws. India's Ambassador to Vietnam Ranjit Rae also noted that half of India's export and import go through the South China Sea. "The dispute should be resolved as per international...
05:02 PM, Jul 06, 2012
Hanoi: Amid increasing sparring between China and its neighbours over disputed oil blocks in the South China Sea, India on Friday said the region was key to its energy security and the conflict must be resolved peacefully as per international laws. Expressing concern over the escalating tension in the area, India's Ambassador to Vietnam Ranjit Rae said half of India's export and import go through the South China Sea and...
01:25 PM, Jul 06, 2012
Beijing: It was no time to "make waves" in the disputed South China Sea and dance behind a "Pied Piper", China's official news agency warned on Sunday, after the US said it would shift the bulk of its naval fleet to the Pacific Ocean by 2020. "It is advisable for some to refrain from muddying the waters and fishing therein and for some others to desist from dancing behind a...
10:14 PM, Jun 03, 2012
Singapore: The United States will shift a majority of its warships to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday, giving the first details of a new US military strategy. Fleshing out details of a strategic shift to Asia announced in January, Panetta said the United States would maintain six aircraft carriers in the region over the long run and rebalance its fleet so that 60...
03:56 AM, Jun 03, 2012
Singapore: India on Saturday expressed concern about the hike in Chinese military spending, but said it does not perceive Beijing as a threat. "China has increased their military capabilities and spending more on defence," Defence Minister AK Antony said at a Security Forum in Singapore. "We are concerned over it," he said. The Defence Minister said "even though we don't believe in an arms race, but in our own way,...
02:57 AM, Jun 03, 2012
Defence Minister AK Antony has called for a need to revive the concept of open seas. ...
09:57 AM, Jun 02, 2012
New Delhi: India on Thursday expressed concern on recent territorial stand-off between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea and asked them to exercise restraint and resolve the issue diplomatically as per international law. "We have been following with concern recent developments involving China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Maintenance of peace and security in the region is of vital interest to the international community....
05:15 PM, May 10, 2012
Beijing: Countering External Affairs Minister SM Krishna's assertion that the South China Sea belonged to the world, a Chinese daily has said "territory" of a country can not be denoted as a global property because it amounts to surpassing its sovereign right. While China has never objected to the freedom of the navigation in South China Sea, (SCS), "describing it as a global property is a mistake", state-run Global Times...
03:30 PM, Apr 10, 2012
Bangalore: Countering China's objections on its oil exploration projects in the South China Sea, India on Friday said the region must be freed from any "national interference". "India maintains that South China Sea is the property of the world. I think those trade-ways must be free from any national interference," External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told reporters while replying to a question. Notwithstanding the Chinese warning, Krishna said the area...
04:50 PM, Apr 06, 2012
New Delhi: China has once again warned India against exploring oil in the South China Sea. The warning came a day after China lost ground on the issue at the ASEAN summit that ended in Cambodia on Wednesday. The South China Sea dispute was discussed at the ASEAN summit despite Beijing's best efforts to block a discussion. India has two blocks in the South China Sea. One block was explored...
10:26 AM, Apr 05, 2012
Beijing: In the thick of maritime disputes with several of its neighbours, China said on Tuesday it is mapping South China Sea (SCS) with an aim to step up exploration for oil and gas and to reinforce its territorial claims. China may step up its exploration of South China Sea to reinforce its territorial claims following announcement that geographical surveys of the area are underway, state-run Global Times reported. "The...
02:54 PM, Mar 27, 2012
Beijing: Terming the South China Sea as a disputed region, China has warned India to refrain from undertaking oil exploration in the resource-rich Vietnamese blocks in order to ensure "peace and stability" in the area. "The area is disputed one. So we do not think that it would be good for India to do (explore oil) that," Deputy Director General of Asian Department in Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong...
11:34 AM, Mar 25, 2012
