PH to buy 12 S. Korean fighter jets

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA - The Philippines will buy 12 South Korean FA-50 fighter jets to strengthen its poorly-armed military, government spokesmen said Wednesday, amid increasing maritime tensions with China.

The FA-50s will be the first fighter jets to be operated by the Philippine air force since it retired the last of its US-designed F-5 fighters in 2005, said President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Edwin Lacierda.

"We don't have any existing jets right now that are in use, therefore it is necessary for us to upgrade. This is part of the ongoing process of modernizing our military hardware," he told reporters.

Lacierda said the jets would be used for "training, interdiction and disaster response" and would use their aerial cameras to survey areas.

He stressed that the planned purchase was "not aimed at any particular country" despite the new tensions with China over conflicting maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Defense department spokesman Peter Galvez said the FA-50 was chosen because it fitted all the country's requirements and because of its cost, adding that 18.9 billion pesos ($464 million) had been budgeted for their acquisition.

Manila will now begin negotiations for the aircraft, he said, adding that the government will seek to have two planes delivered as soon as possible so Filipino pilots can begin training on them.

In recent months the cash-strapped Philippines has stepped up efforts to modernize its military in the face of increasing Chinese assertiveness in pressing its claims to most of the South China Sea.

Although the Philippines has long relied on its defense ties with the United States for most of its arms, it has recently been seeking more weaponry from other countries like Poland, Spain, Italy, Canada and France.

President Aquino discussed acquiring more South Korean military equipment when South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak visited the country in November 2011.

© 1994-2013 Agence France-Presse

China to conduct naval drills in Pacific amid tension

source: Reuters through www.gmanetwork.com

BEIJING - Three advanced Chinese warships left port on Wednesday for naval drills and war games in the Western Pacific, and the fleet will likely pass through disputed waters in the East and South China Sea, state media said.

The official Xinhua news agency described the maneuvers as routine, but they come as China is engaged in an increasingly bitter, high stakes dispute over maritime territory with Japan and with several Southeast Asia nations.

"The fleet will carry out more than 20 types of exercises including naval confrontation, battle drills far out at sea, the protection of maritime rights and command and control," Xinhua cited the Defense Ministry as saying in a statement.

"These exercises on the high seas will take in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, the Miyako Strait, the Bashi Channel and the seas to the east of Taiwan."

President Hu Jintao has made boosting the navy a priority, especially in trying to turn it into a blue-water fleet able to operate far from China's shore, and Chinese ships have participated in anti-piracy missions off Somalia.

But China's growing defence budget, military advances and perceived lack of transparency have alarmed its neighbors and the United States. China is developing stealth fighters and last year launched its first aircraft carrier.

On Sunday, the government said it had again tested emerging military technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air.

China says it has no hostile designs and that it is simply updating its outdated forces.

The Pacific drills are "a normal way of exercising to raise the fighting ability of the navy," Xinhua cited a naval officer as saying, adding that it was common for other navies to drill in seas far from home. — Reuters

South Korea launches first civilian rocket amid tensions with North

source: www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - South Korea launched its first space rocket carrying a science satellite on Wednesday amid heightened regional tensions, caused in part, by North Korea's successful launch of its own rocket last month.

It was South Korea's third attempt to launch a civilian rocket to send a satellite in orbit in the past four years and came after two previous launches were aborted at the eleventh hour last year due to technical glitches.

The launch vehicle, named Naro, lifted off from South Korea's space center on the south coast and successfully went through stage separation before entering orbit, officials at the mission control said. Previous launches failed within minutes.

South Korea's rocket program has angered neighbor North Korea, which says it is unjust for it to be singled out for U.N. sanctions for launching long-range rockets as part of its space program to put a satellite into orbit.

North Korea's test in December showed it had the capacity to deliver a rocket that could travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles), potentially putting San Francisco in range, according to an intelligence assessment by South Korea.

However, it is not believed to have the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting the continental United States.

The test in December was considered a success, at least partially, by demonstrating an ability to put an object in space.

But the satellite, as claimed by the North, is not believed to be functioning.

South Korea is already far behind regional rivals China and Japan in the effort to build space rockets to put satellites into orbit and has relied on other countries, including Russia, to launch them.

Launch attempts in 2009 and 2010 ended in failure.

The first stage booster of the South Korean rocket was built by Russia. South Korea has produced several satellites and has relied on other countries to put them in orbit.

South Korea wants to build a rocket on its own by 2018 and eventually send a probe to the moon.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

US lawmakers back PHL decision to take China disputes to UN arbitration

souce: www.gmanetwork.com

A visiting US congressional delegation expressed support on Tuesday to the Philippine government’s decision to take long standing territorial disputes with China before a United Nations arbitration body.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Carlos Sorreta said the five-man US delegation led by Congressman Edward Royce (Republican, California), chairman of the House committee on Foreign Affairs, “expressed their full support” to Manila’s efforts “to resolve the situation in a peaceful manner and in accordance to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

“There were some discussion on the details of our actions and they were very interested in the merits of our arguments. They’re very supportive of it,” Sorreta told reporters after the group met Philippine officials led by Secretary Albert del Rosario at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The US lawmakers’ backing is among the first foreign expression of support to the Philippine government’s filing last week of an arbitration case before the UN to try to declare China’s expansive claim to the South China Sea, part of which is known as West Philippine Sea.

China has yet to officially declare if it would get involved in the landmark case, Sorreta said.

From Manila, the US delegation will proceed to Beijing and would likely discuss the territorial disputes with Chinese officials, Sorreta said.

Other members of the US delegation are Representatives Tom Marino (Republican, Pennsylvania), Eliot Engel (Democratic, New York), Vern Buchanan (Republican, Florida), and Matt Salmon (Republican, Arizona). 

“They are very, very interested in the issue. They asked us, they asked the Secretary for details and the Secretary briefed them. They are very interested in the peaceful resolution of this issue,” Sorreta said.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia, who was present at the meeting, said Del Rosario explained to the US lawmakers that Manila needed to go on a legal track because the country’s efforts at diplomacy and moves to settle it through the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), “have not yielded any results.”

Manila has maintained that a rules-based approach is the only legitimate way in addressing disputes through a legal framework such as the UNCLOS.

UNCLOS is a 1982 accord by 163 countries that aims to govern the use of offshore areas and sets territorial limits of coastal states. The Philippines and China are both signatories to the treaty.

Alarmed by China’s expansionist moves, which the Philippines called “unlawful” and “invalid,” the government of President Benigno S. Aquino III took a bold step last week when it elevated its long-standing maritime rift with Beijing before the UN. 

China is citing historical entitlements as basis for its huge claims over the South China Sea.

The South China Sea is dotted with islands, shoals, cays, reefs and rock formations and is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas. It is claimed in part or in whole by China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

The resource-rich waters is an international waterway where more than 50 percent of the world's merchant fleet tonnage pass each year.

Many have feared the conflicts could be Asia's next flashpoint. —KG, GMA News

'Very high risk' of corruption seen in PH defense sector

source: Reuters through www.abs-cbnnews.com

BRUSSELS - The Philippines has been among the countries found to be in "very high risk" of corruption in its military and police institutions, according to the Government Defense Anti-Corruption Index.

The survey, launched by Transparency International UK on Tuesday, looks at 82 countries' vulnerabilities to corruption particularly in the defense sector, wherein budgets are often vague and hidden from the public's sight.

More than two-thirds of countries, including many of the world's largest arms traders, have inadequate safeguards to prevent corruption in their defense sectors, the survey found.

Germany and Australia are the only countries out of 82 surveyed by Transparency International UK with strong anti-corruption mechanisms, according to what the watchdog says is the first index measuring how governments counter corruption in defense.

Fifty-seven of the countries, almost 70 percent, had poor controls against corruption, according to the survey, which rated governments by criteria such as the strength of parliamentary oversight of defense policy and the standards expected of defense firms.

The 82 countries surveyed account for 94 per cent of global military expenditure in 2011, worth $1.6 trillion, while the global cost of corruption in the defense sector is estimated to be at least $20 billion a year, the watchdog said.

Mark Pyman, director of Transparency International UK's Defense and Security Program, said he hoped the survey would lead governments to improve anti-corruption policies.

Corruption was dangerous, because troops "may well have equipment that doesn't work", and it was wasteful, he said.

"Particularly at times of austerity, the idea that it is somehow acceptable that there should be corruption in defense because it has always been so is just an outrageous suggestion," he told Reuters.

Countries with poor anti-corruption controls included two-thirds of the largest arms importers assessed in the survey and half of the biggest arms exporters, Transparency International said.

HIGH-RISK

China, Russia and Israel, all leading arms exporters, were considered to be at high risk of corruption in their defense sectors. Among top arms importers, India, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey were in the high-risk category.

Nine countries - Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen - are at "critical risk" of corruption in their defense sector, lacking basic accountability measures, the survey said.

Countries classed as being at "very high risk" of corruption include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. The United States, Britain, Sweden and South Korea were among countries judged to be at low risk, while France, Spain, Italy and Poland were in the moderate-risk group.

The survey looked not only at the potential for corruption in defense contracts, but also at the risk of abuse of defense budgets and the risk of corruption in the armed forces.

Governments surveyed were given the chance to review Transparency International's findings.

Pyman said a "shocking" result of the survey was that in half of the countries surveyed, the defense budget was either not public or it contained no breakdown of defense spending.

Only 12 percent of countries surveyed had "highly effective" parliamentary scrutiny of defense policy and only a handful protected whistleblowers who reported defense corruption.

Europe has been swept by a wave of high-profile cases of alleged corruption in defense deals in recent years.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa has been charged with bribery over a now-abandoned 2006 deal to buy armored vehicles. He has denied wrongdoing.

European aerospace and defense group EADS, facing investigations in Austria, Britain and Germany, has launched an external review of its anti-corruption rules.

Japan approves $1.02 trillion budget for 2013/14, borrowing at new highs

source: www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - Japan's government approved on Tuesday a $1.02 trillion draft budget for the next fiscal year that aims to nudge tax revenues above new bond sales for the first time in four years, but still relies on borrowing to cover 46.3 percent of its spending.

The first full-year draft budget compiled under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who led his Liberal Democratic Party back to power last month with promises of economic revival, marks symbolic improvement after years of deterioration.

With the 92.6 trillion yen ($1.02 trillion) in spending, the government effectively trimmed the size of its draft budget from the previous year for the first time in seven years, taking into account government funding for basic pension payouts.

Still, the budget size hovered around record levels, underlining the difficulty which Abe's government is facing in striking a balance between economic stimulus and fiscal reform.

Taken together with an 10.3 trillion yen extra stimulus plan signed off earlier this month and financed in more than half by new bond sales, it drives borrowing to new highs, pushing Japan's record high debt further into uncharted territory.

"We managed to make the annual budget slimmer than before," Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters.

"Without the extra budget, the economy would fall into a severe situation in April-June," he added.

In fiscal year 2013/14 starting in April, the government plans to issue new bonds worth 42.8 trillion yen, below this year's 44.2 trillion yen initial target. But combined with the extra budget borrowing of 5.2 trillion, Abe's government will borrow 48 trillion yen, though technically the extra budget borrowing will be booked in the 2012/13 accounts.

Tax revenue is targeted to rise 750 billion yen to 43.1 trillion yen, mainly reflecting an expected pick-up in economic growth to 2.5 percent from 1.0 percent forecast for the current year.

FISCAL TARGETS

Within the 92.6 trillion yen general-account budget, spending excluding debt servicing costs is estimated at about 70.3 trillion yen, slightly less than the 71 trillion yen earmarked in the regular budget for the current fiscal year.

The government is expected to submit the extra budget to parliament this week and the 2013/14 budget in late February.

The previous government led by the Democratic Party of Japan had set a 44 trillion yen ceiling on annual bond issuance and a 71 trillion yen cap on spending excluding debt servicing costs.

Rating agencies, institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and many economists have said that those limits were seriously insufficient, allowing Japan to rack up budget deficits of close to 10 percent of GDP, above those seen in some of the most indebted euro zone countries.

"We need to see whether the government can carry out its growth strategy to boost the economy, thus increase tax revenue, and also whether it can continue to cut expenditure," said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute.

"I cannot deny a chance that the government will compile an extra budget again if the economy won't recover ... It may raise public work spending, which would require more bond issuance."

So far, however, vast domestic savings have allowed Japan to comfortably cover nearly all of its financing needs at home and at record low interest rates.

Abe's government has reaffirmed its predecessors' goal of bringing the primary budget, which excludes borrowing and debt service, into balance by 2020/21. This can only be achieved with substantial spending cuts and tax hikes.

"We must come up with something new to fix the primary balance by the middle of this year," Finance Minister Aso said. "It would not be convincing if only the economy picks up while we leave (fiscal reform) undone."

Plane crash kills 22 in Kazakhstan: official

source: www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - A passenger plane crashed in thick fog near Kazakhstan's commercial capital of Almaty on Tuesday, killing all 22 people on board, an emergency services official said.

The Canadian-built Bombardier Challenger CRJ-200 was en route from the city of Kokshetau in northern Kazakhstan to Almaty in the southeast when it crashed near the village of Kyzyl Tu, Deputy Almaty Mayor Maulen Mukashev said.

He told reporters near the scene that the plane belonged to private Kazakh airline SCAT, which operates extensive domestic services and some international flights.

"There was no fire, no explosion. The plane just plunged to the earth," Yuri Ilyin, deputy head of the city's emergencies department, told Reuters near the scene.

Ilyin put the death toll at 22.

Almaty and the surrounding area were veiled in thick fog on Tuesday.

"The preliminary cause of the accident is bad weather," Mukashev said. "Not a single part of the plane was left intact after it came down."

It was the second plane crash in the Central Asian country and former Soviet republic in just a over a month.

On December 25, a military transport airplane crashed in bad weather near the southern Kazakh city of Shymkent, killing all 27 people on board.

Prosecutors have said that a fatal combination of technical problems, bad weather and human errors caused that accident.