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Japan lawmaker cool to moves on China
by Staff Writers
Washington, District Of Columbia (AFP) Sept 10, 2013


Philippines mulls removing 'Chinese' blocks at shoal
Manila (AFP) Sept 10, 2013 - Philippine officials are considering removing concrete blocks allegedly installed by China on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, the Filipino navy chief said Tuesday.

Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alano said no further activity had been detected at Scarborough Shoal since the defence department accused China last week of laying 75 concrete blocks on an underwater section of the outcrop. The territory is claimed by both Manila and Beijing.

Discussions were under way about how to "address" the issue but the final decision on whether or not to remove the blocks rests with the Philippine government not the military, he said.

"That's being discussed as to how to (do it), but I do not like to preempt what will the decision (be)," said Alano, adding that the military continued to monitor activity at the shoal.

Filipino officials have warned that the block-laying could be a prelude to China building structures on the shoal, which lies just 220 kilometres (135 miles) off the main Philippine island of Luzon.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman last week denied that Beijing had laid concrete blocks on the outcrop, while asserting it was part of China's territory.

The shoal is about 650 kilometres from Hainan island, the nearest major Chinese land mass, but China claims most of the South China Sea including waters near the coasts of its neighbours.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have competing claims to parts of the sea, and the rivalries have been a source of tension for decades.

The Philippines engaged China in a tense standoff at Scarborough Shoal in 2012.

Manila has said the Chinese had effectively taken control of it by stationing vessels there and preventing Filipino fishermen from entering the area.

In January the government asked a United Nations tribunal to rule on the validity of the Chinese claims to most of the sea.

China has rejected the move, saying it wants to solve the dispute through bilateral negotiations with concerned parties.

A coalition ally of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday rejected sending officials to islands claimed by China, calling instead for greater efforts to build trust with neighboring countries.

Abe's government has not ruled out stationing officials on the islands amid worsening ties with China, which Tuesday sent eight ships to the area of the East China Sea.

"Having Japanese government employees stationed in the Senkaku islands is for the moment not something I think we should do," Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of New Komeito, said on a visit to Washington.

"What is more important on the Senkakus is, regardless of the differences of opinions, how do we overcome that to improve relations between the two countries," Yamaguchi said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Abe, a conservative who heads the Liberal Democratic Party, has vowed a firm defense of Japan's control of the islands, which are known as the Diaoyu in Chinese.

New Komeito is a Buddhist-oriented party known for its strong support of Japan's pacifist post-World War II constitution.

Yamaguchi, the first leader of New Komeito to visit Washington in 10 years, said his trip aimed to show that his party was a critical player despite a sweeping election victory in July that strengthened Abe's hand.

Yamaguchi voiced mixed feelings about one of Abe's likely goals -- lifting a ban on so-called collective self-defense that would allow Japan to assist the United States if the ally were attacked.

Under current policy, Japan observes a narrow definition of self-defense that allows force only in response to a direct attack on itself.

"We're not at the stage where the public can understand this, that's my feeling," Yamaguchi said of collective self-defense.

While cautioning that his party's opposition was not a "foregone conclusion," Yamaguchi said Japan had to offer a convincing rationale to change longstanding policy.

"There have to be substantive reasons and neighboring countries and our ally (the United States) have to have any concerns allayed. They can't feel that there is any danger involved," Yamaguchi said.

China and South Korea frequently criticize Japan on issues related to its wartime history.

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Tokyo (AFP) Sept 10, 2013
Eight Chinese ships were in waters around islands at the centre of a bitter dispute with Japan on Tuesday, as Tokyo said it had not ruled out stationing officials there. The moves came the day before the first anniversary of Tokyo's nationalisation of part of the chain. The Chinese coastguard flotilla was the biggest seen in waters around the Tokyo-administered Senkakus since eight gover ... read more


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