China media warns Philippines of 'counterstrike' in South China Sea

New recruits of the Chinese Navy march with their guns during the parade marking the end of their first training session in Qingdao, Shandong province, March 4, 2013.
BEIJING - China's state media warned on Saturday that a "counterstrike" against the Philippines was inevitable if it continues to provoke Beijing in the South China Sea, potentially Asia's biggest military troublespot.
The warning comes as ministers from both countries attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Brunei, starting Saturday, which hopes to reach a legally binding code of conduct to manage maritime conduct in disputed areas.
At stake are potentially massive offshore oil reserves. The seas also lie on shipping lanes and fishing grounds.
Both China and the Philippines have been locked in a decades-old territorial squabble over the South China Sea, with tensions flaring after the Philippines moved new soldiers and supplies last week to a disputed coral reef, prompting Beijing to condemn Manila's "illegal occupation".
The overseas edition of the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, said in a front-page commentary that the Philippines had committed "seven sins" in the South China Sea.
These include the "illegal occupation" of the Spratly Islands, inviting foreign capital to engage in oil and gas development in the disputed waters and promoting the "internationalization" of the waters, said the commentary.
The Philippines has called on the United States to act as a "patron", while ASEAN has become an "accomplice," said the commentary, which does not amount to official policy but can reflect the government's thinking.
"The Philippines, knowing that it's weak, believes that 'a crying child will have milk to drink'," the People's Daily said, accusing Manila of resorting to many "unscrupulous" tricks in the disputed waters.
Beijing's assertion of sovereignty over a vast stretch of the South China Sea has set it directly against Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to other parts of the sea.
The 10-member ASEAN hopes to reach a legally binding Code of Conduct to manage maritime conduct in disputed areas. For now a watered-down "Declaration of Conduct" is in place.
On Thursday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that countries with territorial claims in the South China Sea that look for help from third parties will find their efforts "futile", adding that the path of confrontation would be "doomed".
Last week, China vowed to protect its sovereignty over the Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as the Ren'ai reef. The Philippines is accusing China of encroachment after three Chinese ships, including a naval frigate, converged just five nautical miles (nine km) from an old transport ship that Manila ran aground on a reef in 1999 to mark its territory.
Last year, China and the Philippines were locked in a tense two-month standoff at the Scarborough Shoal, which is only about 124 nautical miles off the Philippine coast. Chinese ships now control the shoal, often chasing away Filipino fishermen.

Philippines Pulverizes Ivory To Discourage Traffickers

A steamroller tries to flatten tusks, without much luck.
Simone Orendain  A steamroller tries to flatten tusks, without much luck.
Simone Orendain
Poached ivory is destroying wild populations of elephants and rhinos across Africa and Asia. The strong demand for ivory takes an estimated 25,000 elephant lives each year.

Now, the government of the Philippines is sending a message to poachers and smugglers, by destroying five tons of ivory confiscated in the country. On Friday, environmentalists, government officials, and the public gathered in Quezon City to witness the pulverization.

"We want to send a strong message that we're against the illegal trade of ivory, these are all contraband." says Theresa Mundita Lim, Director if the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Philippines. Her country's ivory stockpile is spread out on the ground; thousands of disembodied tusks turning a shady parking lot into an elephant graveyard.

First a steam roller crunched over the tusks, but the surprisingly durable ivory withstood the pressure until a backhoe took over, stabbing with the toothy side edge of the bucket.

Labeled tusks, ready to be crushed.
Simone Orendain  Labeled tusks, ready to be crushed.
Simone Orendain
Smashing removes any chance that the confiscated ivory could back into the marketplace- corrupt officials have been known to pilfer from government warehouses. The Philippines is a major stopover for ivory dealers entering the Asian black market, and Filipinos also buy the ivory to make religious carvings.

The dramatic scene and loud snaps of shattering ivory brings home an issue that seems like a far-away problem.

"If only one child realizes here in the Philippines, what he's seen on TV or books are actually real animals." explains Mundita Lim. "And if he tells his parents 'Please don't buy that ivory', that's good enough impact for us."