Indonesian fm refutes chinas allegations on east sea issue

RoK Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha  (Photo: EPA/VNA) Sydney (VNA) – Australia and the Republic of Korea (RoK) expressed their grave concern over recent developments in the East Sea, and affirmed the importance to maintain and promote peace and stability in the waters, at the fourth Australia – RoK Foreign and Defence Ministers Meeting in Sydney. In a joint statement announced on December 12, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds, and their Korean counterparts Kang Kyung-wha and Jeong Kyeong-doo emphasised the significance of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, and the need for states to resolve disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The ministers acknowledged ongoing discussions on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea, and called for a COC to be consistent with international law, including UNCLOS, … [Read more...] about Australia, RoK voice concern over East Sea dispute

BANGKOK - Beijing said Sunday it is "ready to work" with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct in the flashpoint South China Sea, where it is accused of bullying fellow claimants and building up military installations. China claims most of the resource-rich waterway, a major global shipping route and long a source of tension among claimants in Southeast Asia. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been locked in talks for a code of conduct for the sea, where China is accused of deploying warships, arming outposts and ramming fishing vessels. The agreement, set to be finished in 2021, will set out conduct guidelines for the sea along with conflict resolution parameters. On Sunday, China's premier Li Keqiang said the first reading of the document -- a chance for all members to comment on the draft terms -- was "a very important landmark.” "We stand ready to work with ASEAN countries building on the existing foundation and the basis to strive for new … [Read more...] about Beijing Says ‘Ready to Work’ with ASEAN on South China Sea Rules

TAIPEI - China is withholding details on the boundaries of its vast claims to a resource-rich sea contested by five other governments because it distrusts international law and wants to ensure control over tracts of water that it considers crucial, maritime scholars say. Exactly what Beijing claims in the South China Sea surfaced as in issue March 7, when Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad called on the Communist leadership to define its “so-called ownership.” Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan contest all or parts China’s sovereignty claims over the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea. China today uses a nine-dash line to define its claims to about 90 percent of the sea that stretches from Hong Kong to Borneo. It has upset other claimants over the past decade by creating artificial islands for military use within that line and passing coast guard vessels through foreign exclusive economic zones. To be more specific would let international … [Read more...] about China Expected to Keep Its Exact Claim to Disputed Sea a Secret

BANGKOK - China on Monday called on the U.S. military to stop flexing its muscles in the South China Sea The remarks by Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe to U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, recounted by a Chinese spokesman, came just two weeks after a top White House official denounced Chinese "intimidation" in the busy waterway. It also came a day after Esper publicly accused Beijing of "increasingly resorting to coercion and intimidation to advance its strategic objectives" in the region. During closed-door talks on the sidelines of a gathering of defense ministers in Bangkok, Wei urged Esper to "stop flexing muscles in the South China Sea and to not provoke and escalate China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, where it has established military outposts on artificial islands. However, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the sea. The United States accuses China of militarizing the South China Sea and … [Read more...] about China Calls on US to ‘Stop Flexing Muscles’ in South China Sea

STATE DEPARTMENT - A new leak of classified Chinese government documents has revealed how authorities are using a massive data collection program to target and detain an estimated one million ethnic minority Muslims in the country's Xinjiang province. The trove of documents, which was obtained and published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), revealed the blueprints and tactics behind an intensifying campaign of intrusive surveillance, political and cultural indoctrination against Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Rights groups have warned for years that China is systematically oppressing Uighurs and eradicating their culture and religious beliefs, and the new documents detail how authorities have pursued ideological "re-education" for an entire population. Uighurs and other Muslim minorities imprisoned inside the camps are scored based on how well they speak the dominant Mandarin and follow rigorous rules from bathing to … [Read more...] about Details Leak From China’s Mass Detention Camps in Xinjiang; US Official Blasts ‘Concentration Camps’