Posted on 09/24/2002 9:24:20 AM PDT by tallhappy
Philippine governor sends settlers to disputed Spratlys island to strengthen territorial claim Mon Sep 23, 7:57 AM ET
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine governor said Monday he has sent settlers and officials to an island guarded by Filipino troops in the South China Sea's disputed Spratlys archipelago to boost his country's territorial claim to the area.
Gov. Joel Reyes of western Palawan said about 90 Filipinos, including six families of fishermen, left the province Sunday aboard a navy ship for Pag-asa island in the Spratlys to try to build a community there.
His move could provoke protests from China and other countries claiming some or all of the Spratly Islands, a potentially oil-rich group of islands, reefs and islets which many fear could be a source of major conflict in Asia.
Reyes said he was aware of possible protests but would let defense and foreign affairs officials deal with that. The island was his province's 23rd town and his constituents have the right to start a life and exploit the resources there, he said.
"Their plan is really to establish a community, like a field of dreams," Reyes told The Associated Press by telephone. "If they're able to build one, more people will come."
ABS-CBS television showed several of the settlers boarding a navy ship for the 2-1/2 day sea voyage carrying bamboo cages of chickens and pigs. One man struggled to pull a goat onto the vessel; another carried a sack of rice.
Barren Pag-asa has been occupied for years by Philippine troops and their dependents. The island is so remote that soldiers posted there on three-month shifts are given a "loneliness allowance."
Philippine troops occupy eight islets in the Spratlys, which are also claimed by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Their conflicting claims have strained diplomatic relations in the past and led to bloody clashes in a few instances. Some claimants are discussing a code of conduct to prevent violence from erupting in the region.
there have been a number of private individuals who have asserted territorial rights (sometimes in conflict with each other) under the names of the Kingdom of Humanity, the Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads, the Principality of Freedomland, the Free Territiory of Freedomland, and the Republic of Koneuwe.
In 1863-1879 a British subject, Captain James George Meads explored the South China Sea in his ship the "Modeste." He laid claim to the Spratleys and the Paracels. Later he transferred ownership to a relative, Franklin M. Meads who helped organize the Kingdom of Humanity. It was proclaimed in April 1914 by Franklin Meads in conjunction with Victor L. and Charles G. Anderson, William Chaplin, Willis Alva Ryant, Paul Williard and Walter Hutchinson. Meads took the title of Chief of State and they renamed the South China Sea the Humanity Sea to discourage the Chinese claims.
The Japanese were in the islands briefly in 1917 and occupied them from 1939 to 1945. Following World War II, Franklin Meads transferred his title to Josiah N. Meads in October 1945. In November, 1945 the title passed to Morton F. Meads, but because of his youth Willis Alva Ryant served as Chief of State until September 1963. Morton Meads is said to have lived in the islands, raising chickens, ducks and goats and processing gooney birds for the restaurants of Saigon and Manilla. Meanwhile, claims over the islands which had been made by Sultan Songhrati, who lived in the Netherlands East Indies, were sold in 1946 successively to the sister of the Philippine President and then to Morton F. Meads.
Free Territory of Freedomland
A number of reefs and islands surrounding the Spratlys were claimed by Philippine millionaire Thomas Cloma on 15 May 1956 under this name. The flag consisted of a red field with a very broad navy blue border on all four sides, in the center a highly stylized white flying bird. Cloma almost provoked an international incident on 7 July 1956 when he presented the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Manila with a Chinese flag he had lowered on Itu Aba, where it had been hoisted by the Chinese navy. A month later a landing party from the Republic of Vietnam (i.e. "South Vietnam") raised its flag in the Spratleys.
In August 1974 French police arrested a swindler who styled himself the Grand Duke of the Principality of Freedomland, Count Othmar di Schmieder Rocca-Forozata. It would seem as though this Freedomland was not the same territory as Cloma's Freedomland; contradictorally also called the Republic of Koneuwe, it was described as consisting of 74 islands 2,000 miles from Borneo.
Probably already do. Probably won't matter when the Chinese bluewater Navy shows up.
"Gosh, Senator, those old torpedo retrievers are just getting plum wore out."
Common, a CIA factsheet? Thats like saying politicians dont lie.
They were carried in the talons of African Sparrows.
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