Tensions flare as Beijing makes claim to land near Philippines

MANILA -- China has claimed new territory less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from a Philippine province, boosting tensions over potentially resource-rich areas of the South China Sea, but the Philippines has dismissed the claim, an official said Monday.

Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug Jr. told The Associated Press that China protested a Philippine plan to explore for oil and gas in the area in July. It is the closest point in waters off the main Philippine islands that China has claimed in the increasingly tense territorial disputes.

Beijing has been asserting its territorial claims more aggressively as its economic and diplomatic muscle has grown. Its new claims are likely to bolster Philippine resolve to seek a U.N. ruling on the long-simmering disputes, which involve China, the Philippines and four other claimants.

Among the areas being contested is the Spratlys, a chain of up to 190 islands, reefs, coral outcrops and banks believed to be sitting atop large deposits of oil and natural gas, which many fear could be Asia's next flash point for conflict.

The issue is expected to be discussed Wednesday with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The two new areas being claimed by China are not part of the Spratlys, Layug said.

The Chinese Embassy delivered a protest to the Philippine government on July 4 after Manila invited foreign companies to bid for the right to explore for oil and gas in 15 areas. Chinese officials opposed the inclusion of “areas 3 and 4” northwest of Palawan province, claiming they fall under China's “indisputable sovereignty,” according to a Philippine government report seen by the AP.

Palawan province, about 510 miles (820 kilometers) southwest of Manila, faces the South China Sea, which is claimed entirely by China.

China asked the Philippines to cancel oil exploration in the two areas, the nearest of which is just 49 miles (79 kilometers) northwest of Palawan.

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My Personal Reaction

I don’t think there are any criteria to claim territory or land.

Humans must realize they do not own or can claim land but they are the land, just like all land animals, trees and plants and that they must play their part to maintain harmony with nature.

Humans are thinking (often driven by ethnicity, culture, power and religion, in particular those with fairy tales about the Creation of the Earth by “God”) our planet is merely for the benefit of humans. As a result we are still waging wars based on geopolitics, religion and ethnicity and adding to that we are experiencing huge environmental problems.