Topic: China Has Begun Asserting Ownership of Thousands of Shipwrecks in the S.China Se

[freeyourmind]

Underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio’s team was exploring the wreckage of a 13th-century Chinese junk off the coast of the Philippines when it made an unwelcome discovery about China’s maritime muscle in the 21st century.

As a twin-prop plane swooped overhead, a Chinese marine-surveillance vessel approached the team’s Philippines-registered ship and began broadcasting instructions in English over a loudspeaker.
“They said this area belonged to the People’s Republic of China, and they told us to scram,” recalls one of the people on board last year. “It was pretty scary.” Chinese officials confirm the incident took place but say the archaeologists’ mission was illegal.
With territorial disputes escalating in the waters off China, the Chinese government has begun asserting ownership of thousands of shipwrecks within a vast U-shaped area that covers almost all of the South China Sea, which it says has been part of its territorial waters for centuries.China has ordered its coast guard to prevent what it considers illegal archaeology in the waters it claims, and it is pouring money into a state-run marine-archaeology program. Chinese archaeologists are preparing their first comprehensive survey of undersea sites, including in disputed areas.Chinese officials say their efforts will curb the theft and treasure hunting they say has destroyed numerous sites and flooded the global market with looted Chinese antiquities.There is a political dimension to China’s plans. Chinese archaeologists openly aspire to bolster their country’s historical claims to the contested South China Sea, which overlap with those of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines.

“We want to find more evidence that can prove Chinese people went there and lived there, historical evidence that can help prove China is the sovereign owner of the South China Sea,” says Liu Shuguang, head of the Chinese government’s Center of Underwater Cultural Heritage, set up in 2009 to oversee underwater archaeology in the country.Tensions have been running high in the region over China’s intensifying campaign to assert territorial claims, not only in the South China Sea, but in the East China Sea, which is contested by Japan. On Nov. 23, China proclaimed a new air-defense identification zone over islands claimed by both China and Japan but controlled by Tokyo.The South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest trading routes, is littered with wrecks from the last two millennia, including Chinese junks, Indian and Arab dhows, Dutch and British trading schooners and World War II warships. Chinese archaeologists say they have gathered coordinates for 70 shipwrecks in those waters but estimate there are at least 2,000, and possibly many more.

Mr. Goddio, a Frenchman who is one of the world’s leading marine archaeologists, had worked in the area since the 1980s, excavating 15th-century Chinese junks, 16th-century Spanish galleons and 18th-century British merchant ships. In addition to the trip last year, his team had visited the cluster of reefs and rocks off the Philippines, called the Scarborough Shoal, in 2011. Both expeditions were part of a joint research project with the National Museum of the Philippines, which collaborates with foreign archaeologists because of a shortage of state funding.Different countries refer to the disputed islands by different names.People involved in the project say it has no political or commercial agenda. During last year’s trip, they say, they were examining pieces of celadon, a form of green-glazed ceramic, from a wreck that long ago broke apart on the sharp coral
More reading on the link
http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-h...9/SS-2-394813/

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?233072-China-Has-Begun-Asserting-Ownership-of-Thousands-of-Shipwrecks-in-the-South-China-Sea[/size]

the main website needs subscription so i just qouted a quote.

[BlueAlphaZero]

Well, at least now we know how Beijing defines the terms "mutual trust" and "cooperation".

[freeyourmind]

just found out china and former soviet union(russia) had a conflict. ancient blabla. it doesnt give a $. its more dead crazy serious.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_border_conflict

[BlueAlphaZero]

As I recall, a large number of the missile defense units of the former Soviet Union were aimed towards potential flight paths of Chinese missiles.

My guess is that Vladimir Putin--all diplomacy aside--probably has some Russian air defenses still positioned along those lines.

[asanti]

China is really aiming for a fight , they want to test their new doctrine of modern equiptments less manpower ,a lean mean armed forces.......... that's why all this incidents are coming in increase frequency now.

[d_sinner78]

just found out china and former soviet union(russia) had a conflict. ancient blabla. it doesnt give a $. its more dead crazy serious.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_border_conflict

China has disputes with all it's neighbouring countries, although may agreements na sila with some of them. This is not surprising for a country as big as China, lalo na't noong unang panahon e marami rin silang sinakop na bansa.

Part of the problem e for a long time, hindi nila na-pursue ung mga claims nila. Another part is isa sila sa may maagang written language kaya more or less kumpleto historical documents nila. At isa pa e tuluy-tuloy and pag-unlad nila ngayon kaya nagiging agresibo na sila sa pag-exert ng claims nila.

I don't think they are really aiming for a fight, but instead they are making sure na kung magkaroon ng arguments later on, maipapakita nila na active pa ung claims nila. Malaki kasi ang weight nyan sa international courts. Usually ang tinitignan e kung sino yung currently may effective administrative control at kung sino yung gusto ng mga tao.

As you've heard on the news nagpadala US, Japan at South Korea ng mga military aircraft sa ADIZ ng China pero wala naman confrontation na naganap.

[-=Kurabo=-]

intentionally nilang ginagagawa to para mabago nila ang connotation na mahina sila at kaya nilang tapatan ang US pero i don't think mageescalate sa gera to unless either ang South K or Japan at pwede rin kahit anong bansa sa SE ang magtake ng aggressive stance

[$Money-Talks$]

If you can go to china. they are very poor in their water resources. the water is like a mud or a water after a typhoon. in other words, water pollution. they want the island simply because. our water resources are very rich and untouchable. you can see there different water species. we are protecting those bodies of water. Our planet is our planet. we owned it. but we need to protect it, not to abused it. we know what china want to do in our islands. so we need to fight for that. or we`ll see our marine life`s dead.

[d_sinner78]

Please get your facts straight. One, while it's true that water quality in China is poor, ours are not much better. Two, they are not after that area for the 'water resources'. They're after the oil and gas deposits that can be mined in the area.

If you can go to china. they are very poor in their water resources. the water is like a mud or a water after a typhoon. in other words, water pollution. they want the island simply because. our water resources are very rich and untouchable. you can see there different water species. we are protecting those bodies of water. Our planet is our planet. we owned it. but we need to protect it, not to abused it. we know what china want to do in our islands. so we need to fight for that. or we`ll see our marine life`s dead.