Tag: China

China has insisted it wants to resolve territorial disputes peacefully China has said a series of recent naval drills are "routine" and unrelated to simmering tensions in the South China Sea involving a range of nations with competing territorial claims.When asked about the six military exercises staged by the Chinese navy in June, including a joint drill with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun urged the media not to speculate about their purpose."China hopes all parties will treat the Chinese navy's normal exercises in an objective and rational way," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Yang as saying Wednesday. He described the drills as "routine arrangements".He said China expects all countries involved in the South China Sea disputes to "make the peace and stability of the region a priority and do more to contribute" to that outcome, according to Xinhua.China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, which is believed to have vast oil and gas deposits, while its shipping lanes are vital for global trade.Vietnam and the Philippines have in recent months accused China of taking increasingly aggressive actions in staking its claims in ...

Between a Taiwanese fishing boat and a Japanese coast guard vessel China's Foreign Ministry lambasted Japan yesterday after a confrontation between a Taiwanese fishing boat and a Japanese coast guard vessel near a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea."The Diaoyu Islands and attached islets have been Chinese territory since ancient times, and China has incontrovertible sovereignty over them," ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a brief statement on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn)."Any actions taken by Japan in the seas around the Diaoyu Islands are illegal and invalid," he added, referring to the incident with the fishing boat.China and Japan have bickered for years over the group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, which are also claimed by Taiwan.Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference in Tokyo that the Japanese Coast Guard found a Taiwanese fishing boat approaching the islands and warned the boat not to enter Japanese waters."From the viewpoints of history and international law, there is no doubt that the Senkaku islands are our inherent territory," Edano said.Source: The Peninsula

The new generation of 10,000 TEU container vessels The new generation of 10,000 TEU container vessels contracted in China by Seaspan represents major improvements in energy efficiency, cargo capacity, operational efficiency and emission reductions. The 'Susan K' was released from pirate control after 70 days in captivity. The vessel was pirated on April 8, 200 nautical miles north east of Salalah, Oman. Singapore will ratify the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) with the full support of tripartite partners.

China wants to resolve the territorial dispute peacefully China on Wednesday reiterated that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over islands in the South China Sea after the United States pledged to help the Philippines, which has its own claims in the area.A spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Yang Yi, also repeated the government position that safeguarding the sovereignty of the area's potentially resource-rich islets was a "common responsibility" for Beijing and Taipei."China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their surrounding waters," Yang told reporters, according to an official transcript.China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, which is believed to have vast oil and gas deposits, while its shipping lanes are vital for global trade.Vietnam as well as the Philippines have in recent months accused China of taking increasingly aggressive actions in staking its claim to the disputed waters and its archipelagos.In response, China has insisted it wants to resolve the territorial dispute peacefully but remained firm in its claims to most of the South China Sea, even waters within the Philippines' economic exclusion zone.The United States and the Philippines on Tuesday launched joint naval exercises ...

Urbanization in China and India may move about 500 million people in 20 years Albanian Minerals President and CEO Sahit Muja said "The unprecedented urbanization in China and India will double the population of cities in 20 years"."China and India may move about 500 million people in urban areas in 20 years, this will be the larges migration in world's history".Mr Sahit Muja said "Boosting demand for housing and commercial real estate is threaten India's and China's food security.China and India is reducing the area available for growing crops and grazing animals needed to feed the world's most populous countries".Albanian Minerals President and CEO Sahit Muja said "Demand for food and water is expected to increase dramatically in China and India.Demand for crude oil, natural gas , gold, copper, aluminum, nickel, lead, ferrochrome, steel, iron ore, chrome ore, aluminum and other metal and natural resources is likely to go up 500% in 20 years".China and India spends billions of dollars developing new cities, power plants, roads, high-speed rail networks and airports to accommodate the masses move.China has move more than 300 million people into urban areas in the past three decades .India has move more than 200 million people in ...

Supporting that U.S. involvement may make the situation worse China urged the United States on Wednesday to leave the South China Sea dispute to the claimant states, saying that U.S. involvement may make the situation worse, its most direct warning to Washington in recent weeks.Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai's comments to a small group of foreign reporters ahead of a meeting with U.S. officials in Hawaii this weekend come amid the biggest flare-up in regional tension in years over competing maritime sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.Tension has risen in the region in the past month on concern that China is becoming more assertive in its claim to waters believed to be rich in oil and gas.Part of the waters are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam."The United States is not a claimant state to the dispute in the South China Sea and so it's better for the United States to leave the dispute to be sorted out between claimant states," Cui said."While some American friends may want the United States to help in this matter, we appreciate their gesture but more often than not such gestures will only make things more complicated," he ...

Ports in southern China are preferred Hong Kongs status as one of the worlds leading maritime centres is not under threat, but change is coming. At the start of April this year container giant Maersk cut its calls at the port of Hong Kong by a quarter, from around 30 per week to 22-23. The reason? The carrier said it would be transferring most of the calls to a terminal at the port of Nansha near Guangzhou in southern Mainland China which is partly owned by sister company APM Terminals.The transfer was a huge blow both to Modern Terminals, which handles most of Maersks calls at Hong Kong, and to Hong Kongs status as the regions leading container hub. More blows could follow.The port lost its status as the worlds largest container port back in 2004 and was ranked third according to 2009 throughput totals, some distance behind Singapore and Shanghai. The ports of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, located over the border in Mainland China, were fourth and sixth in the rankings.Last year the port of Hong Kong handled 23.7m teu, again putting it in third place although the figure was still below the record set in 2008 pre-global financial crisis.The ...

The two countries have a history of border disputes This month, NPR is examining the many ways China is expanding its reach in the world - through investments, infrastructure, military power and more.As China flexes its economic and military muscle, it's bumping elbows with Asia's other big and fast-growing power: India.China's hunger for energy from the Middle East and resources from Africa brings it into the Indian Ocean. And some defense analysts in India are watching uneasily as China develops commercial ports in some of India's neighbor countries.To understand India's concerns about China, it helps to remember that the two countries have a history of border disputes, and that they fought a brief but ferocious war over territory in 1962.Indian Concerns Over 'String Of Pearls'Long-time members of India's military establishment spend a lot of time thinking about China's new military, and its strategic aims.Arun Kumar Singh, a retired Indian vice admiral, habitually refers to China's military as "he.""He wants to keep us in a state of imbalance, because he wants us to be boxed up in South Asia, though we are the second-largest and possibly the largest, or the fastest-growing economy in the world today," Singh says.As a navy man, ...

Guidance provided on Implementation of Regime of Agreement We refer Members to previous circulars on the Regulations of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) on the Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Ships (the Regulations) and the postponement of the requirement that owners/operators of (a) any ship carrying polluting and hazardous cargoes in bulk or (b) any other vessel above 10,000 gt enter into a pollution clean up contract with a Maritime Safety Agency (MSA) approved pollution response company before the vessel enters a PRC port.These requirements were postponed pending additional rules to be issued by the MSA. These Detailed Rules on the Implementation of the Regime of Agreement for Ship Pollution Response have now been issued by the China MSA on 20 May 2011 with an accompanying Notice and mandatory contract which owners/operators must enter into with a clean up contractor as approved by the China MSA. A copy of the mandatory, model contract which includes the different levels of contractors (as contained in Attachment III to the contract) is contained in the Annex to this Circular.Approved clean up contractors will be categorised by the MSA in accordance with their qualifications and response capabilities and will be assigned ...

The new generation of 10,000 TEU container vessels The new generation of 10,000 TEU container vessels contracted in China by Seaspan represents major improvements in energy efficiency, cargo capacity, operational efficiency and emission reductions. The new features have been developed in a collaboration between Seaspan, the Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, MARIC and DNV. The order for seven 10,000 TEU container vessels plus 18 options which was signed in Shanghai on 8 June is the biggest ever container contract entered into in China. The vessels will be built to DNV class. The Seaspan container ship hull lines have been optimised for a speed range of 18-22 knots. In this range, the fuel consumption has been reduced by 16-27% compared to contemporary similar-size ship series presently operated by the industry. Compared to current 10,000 TEU container vessels in operation or presently being built, the improvements due to new design features are substantial. The cargo capacity is increased by 10% while the fuel consumption is reduced by 20%. The new hull design enables the vessels to carry minimum amounts of ballast water while in operation. The vessels are designed to reduce the emissions to air by approximately 20% in order to meet the future ...