China building illegal islands in East Sea

US urges China to stop illegal island building in the East Sea

June 12, 2015 

(VOVworld) – US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has asked China to stop building artificial islands in the disputed waters in the East Sea.

Fan Changlong, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission and US Secretary of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter (R) in Washington, DC (Photo: Paul J. Richards/ AFP)

Carter made the call at a reception in Washington on Thursday for the visiting Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission. The Pentagon said in a statement that Carter reiterated the US’s concern over the East Sea situation and called on all parties to seek a peaceful solution to territorial disputes in accordance with international law

Earlier Carter accused China of being out of step with international rules in its conduct in the East Sea.
The same day, the Philippines’ media quoted former Environment Minister Angel Alcala who is also an internationally prestigious scientist as saying that China’s construction in the East Sea can cause negative impacts on biodiversity, ecological balance, and fisheries resources adding that Vietnam and the Philippines will likely be the most affected.
Also on Thursday Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop reiterated Canberra’s stance, rejecting China’s possible establishment of an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the East Sea.
Speaking to the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Bishop said Australia was concerned that any unilateral action in the region could raise tensions and could ultimately end in some form of conflict.
She said Australia would object if Beijing unilaterally announces an ADIZ in the East Sea

Japan infuriates China by buying disputed isles - World News

Japan infuriates China by buying disputed isles

By Arata Yamamoto, NBC News, and wire reports

TOKYO -- Japan has agreed to buy a group of islands at the center of a territorial dispute with China, a government official said on Monday, prompting an angry rebuke from Beijing a day after Chinese President Hu Jintao warned against such an "illegal" move. 
Japan aimed to nationalize the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea as soon as possible to control them in a peaceful and stable manner, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said. 

The islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are near rich fishing grounds and potentially huge maritime gas fields and have been at the heart of long-running territorial disputes between the world's second and third-largest economies. 
Japan’s government held a cabinet meeting on Monday and officially endorsed a plan to buy the islands from their private owner, despite denunciations from China, for a reported sum of $26 million.
Clinton urges cool heads in Japan-South Korea island dispute‎
Tension flared anew last month when Japan detained a group of Chinese activists who landed on the islands. But the row may now be having an economic impact, intensifying from merely an exchange of rhetoric, with a Chinese official saying Japanese car sales may have been hit in the world's biggest auto market. 
"This is just the ownership of land, which is part of Japan's territory, moving from one (private) owner to the state, and should not cause any problem with other countries," Fujimura said. 
"Having said that, we don't want the Senkaku issue to affect overall Sino-Japanese relations. Because it is important to avoid misunderstanding and unforeseen development, we have been closely communicating with China through diplomatic channels to this day." 
Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China Seas‎
But China was firm in its opposition to what it saw as a "political trend". 
"This is a serious infringement of China's sovereignty and has seriously hurt the feelings of 1.3 billion Chinese..." the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The Chinese government and people express their resolute opposition and protest strongly." 
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called in Japanese Ambassador Uichiro Niwa to lodge a strong protest, while state-run Xinhua news agency cited Premier Wen Jiabao as saying China would "never yield an inch" of territory. 

The Japanese otter was declared extinct today by the Japanese government after not being spotted for over 30 years. NBCNews.com's Richard Lui reports.

Japanese govt spokesman Osamu Fujimura stressed that the purpose of the purchase is for Japan to maintain its peaceful and stable control of the islands, suggesting that no new structures will be built, and access to the islands will remain restricted.

Reforestation brings island back to life | Look At Vietnam

Reforestation brings island back to life

May 21, 2012

LookAtVietnam – Soil erosion has become rampant in most river banks and river islands in southern Vietnam, with the exception of Long Hoa Island in Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta.

Farmer Tran Huu Chi, 55, pioneers in reforestation on river island to protect it from soil erosion. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Locals on the islands have discovered an ancient method to prevent erosion: reforestation. Trees surrounding an island help expand it gradually by creating a flooded alluvial plain, which then becomes a fishing area for locals to earn their living thanks to an abundant amount of sea products such as fish and shellfish.
Tran Huu Chi, 55, a farmer living on Long Hoa Island in Chau Thanh District, pointed towards a forest growing up from the flooded alluvial plain surrounding the island and said, “We farmers joined hands to cultivate indigenous trees to create that forest.”
“Thanks to the forest, we no longer lose land to soil erosion. It has even helped expand our island by some ten kilometers, a new area which has become a habitat for fish and shellfish.
“The alluvial plain has become the food pot for our farmers,” Chi said, implying that it is a means of living thanks to the abundant amount of sea products located there.
All river islands, river banks and alluvial plains in the Mekong Delta were once completely covered with aboriginal plants such as mangroves and nipa, or a kind of coconut tree that grew in flooded sites. Soil erosion only appeared when the forests were chopped down.
Over ten years ago, Long Hoa Island suffered from soil erosion, Chi said. It worsened following a storm in 1997. Numerous houses fell into the river. Even Chi’s house, which is located over a hundred meters from the river’s edge, was affected, said Nguyen Van Nhanh – deputy chairman of Long Hoa Commune’s People’s Committee.
Once, when Chi rowed his small boat to adjacent islands to catch fish and crab, he recognized that the islands with trees surrounding them weren’t suffering from erosion, and that they were even expanding. Chi began planting trees and one year later, soil erosion had almost stopped.
Other farmers worked with him to nurture trees around the island and it became a green forest as it is now, Chi shared.
A few years after beginning the reforestation, a flooded alluvial plain has formed, acting as a door step of the island opening towards the river. Numerous kinds of sea creatures such as fish, shrimp and shellfish grow there, making the area fishing field where locals earn their living.
“From bare land suffering severe soil erosion, Chi has become a pioneer in planting trees to protect his land and other locals have imitated his successful model,” said Long Hoa’s People’s Committee chairman, Le Van Tri.
Not only does Chi protect land, but he has even dug ponds to keep shrimp in, and his business gives him a net profit of over VND100 million every shrimp season.
“Now, I am protected from both erosion and poverty,” said Chi. “Reforestation is the eternal rule. We just follow the natural rules to survive.”
VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

Jolie, Pitt, Thien leave Vietnam

Angelina Jolie and Pax Thien say goodbye to Vietnam

November 17, 2011  about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam - The Hollywood superstar and her six children left Con Dao Island this morning, November 16. After that, they took a flight from HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport to South Korea.

A car took Jolie and her six children to the aircraft staircase. Though she was escorted by many guards and assistants, the superstar took all six kids to the airplane herself. After Zahara, Shiloh and the twins took their seats, Jolie and two sons returned to the terminal to say goodbye to airport staff.
Jolie and her two sons took photos with airport staffs. “Con Dao is very beautiful. My kids like the island very much. We hope to return here in the future,” she said.

Before leaving the beautiful island, Jolie and her sons – Pax Thien
and Maddox – praised the island’s beauty and wished to return here.
Jolie, Brad Pitt and six kids arrived in Vietnam on November 10, at around 8.20pm. The next day they had lunch, with all Vietnamese cuisines, at the Cuc Gach restaurant in District 1, HCM City. On the afternoon of the same day, they hired a plane of Air Mekong to fly to Con Dao Island. They stayed at the Six Senses resort until the morning of November 16.
This is the first time Pax Thien returning to his home country since he was adopted by Jolie in 2007.
On November 13, Jolie and Brad left their kids at the resort to pay a visit to the Con Dao Prison.
On November 14, Pitt left Con Dao alone. After that, he got a flight to South Korea to advertise his new movie “Moneyball.”

PV