INTERNATIONAL MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015 Philippines, Japan to hold joint naval exercise in S China Sea MANILA: The Philippines’ navy chief The exercise will take place just out- it sees as Chinese aggression in pressing Sea including ownership of the Senkaku The US report said that at four recla- said yesterday it would hold a joint exer- side the former US naval base of Subic, its territorial claims. islands, which Beijing also claims and mation sites China had moved from cise with Japan in the South China Sea, off the archipelago’s west coast, he The regional giant claims most of the calls the Diaoyus. dredging operations to “infrastructure but emphasised the collaboration was added. resource-rich waters, even reefs, shoals There have been regular standoffs in development” that could include har- unrelated to China’s land reclamation The Japanese vessels would be leav- and cays close to the shores of its neigh- the sea and air around the contested ter- bours, communications and surveillance efforts in the disputed waters. ing Subic while a Philippine ship was bours. The claims overlap those of ritory. systems, logistics support and “at least Two warships from the Japan heading there under the training sce- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Earlier this month, Japanese and one airfield”. Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) will nario, he said. Vietnam and Taiwan. Philippine coast guards held anti-piracy The Philippine military has also cited take part in the exercise with a single Millan said Japanese and Philippine Millan said that practising with the drills in the Philippines, the first such escalating Chinese efforts to drive off Philippine ship after making a port call sailors would have an opportunity to Japanese force would help with mod- joint exercise between the two countries Philippine aircraft from a disputed island in the Philippines this month, said Vice “compare notes” during the exercise, but ernising the poorly-equipped Philippine following a brutal occupation by garrisoned by Manila, which have Admiral Jesus Millan. stressed it had nothing to do with the military, one of the weakest in the Japanese forces during World War II. sparked dangerous confrontations. “This is a port call, a regular port call Philippines’ territorial dispute with China region. US officials said on Friday that China’s Japan in turn has called for interna- of the Japanese navy and while they are over conflicting claims to large parts of rapid construction of artificial islands in tional law to be observed in the South here, it would be good if we can practise the sea. Standoffs the strategic waters amounted to 2,000 China Sea dispute and has previously this code of unplanned encounters at The Philippines has been seeking China and Japan have their own fes- acres (800 hectares), with 75 percent of promised to help in the modernising the sea,” he said. closer ties with regional allies amid what tering territorial row over the East China the total built in the last five months. Philippines’ maritime assets. — AFP Nepal denies entry to British helicopters KATHMANDU: Nepal’s government said ‘Basically useless’ yesterday it has denied entry to three A US embassy official told AFP that such British military helicopters sent to help the accidents were rare. “We are looking into earthquake relief effort because of fears whether the damage to the roof was they could damage buildings when land- caused by the Osprey or the quake... obvi- ing. A foreign ministry spokesman said the ously such incidents are rare and if it turns Chinook helicopters, which arrived in New out to be true, we will take care of the dam- Delhi last week en route to the quake-hit age,” the official said. So far the Ospreys country, were too big to land. “We have have delivered 21.5 tonnes of aid, he said. told the British authorities that they cannot Steven Bruce Bokan, chief flying instructor fly their Chinook helicopters here because for Nepalese helicopter company Manang our technical team says they are likely to Air, said the British Chinooks and US Ospreys damage the houses and other buildings in were “basically useless” in the Himalayas. the Kathmandu valley,” spokesman Tara “They may work in deserts and other places Pokharel told AFP. which have huge areas for landing and take- “We are worried about broken windows off, but they are too big to land in the and roofs being blown off by these big heli- Himalayas,” Bokan told AFP. copters.” “The Osprey is a massive aircraft-it needs The April 25 earthquake killed more an area the size of a football field to land than 8,000 people and left thousands more safely, otherwise it can blow people over.” “It’s homeless and in desperate need of food, not rocket science-smaller helicopters like clean water and shelter. Getting relief to the French Squirrel helicopters have been the worst-hit villages is a huge challenge flying here for years because they work in because many are in remote mountainous this environment,” added Bokan, an terrain that is only accessible by helicopter Australian who has been flying helicopters or on foot. for 26 years. Asked about the decision to India, China and the United States have reject the twin-rotor Chinooks, Britain’s sent helicopters and are helping take food, defence ministry said: “The Chinook helicop- MANILA: Fishing outrigger boats are anchored at the mouth of a river feeding Manila Bay yesterday, as the Philippine coast guard banned sail- water and tents to affected communities. ters are in the area, and we’re in discussion ing due to nearby Typhoon Noul in the northern part of the country. More than 2,000 people were fleeing their homes as Typhoon Noul But there has been criticism of the US deci- with the Nepalese authorities about their approached the northern Philippines yesterday, triggering warnings of possible flash floods, landslides and tsunami-like storm rges.su — AFP sion to send large Osprey helicopters, needs and basing.” Bokan said that although which experts say are ill-suited to Nepal’s the Chinooks were not suitable to land in the mountainous terrain. Local media reported mountains, they could be useful as aerial that the down-draft from an Osprey relief cranes to transport building materials and Thousands flee as typhoon flight blew the roof off a small building in a other heavy equipment to remote areas quake-hit village as it delivered aid. inaccessible by road. —AFP hits north Philippines Taiwan warns sailors of strong winds, evacuates 1,000 tourists MANILA: More than 2,000 people were fleeing ambulances,” she told AFP. main killers as Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged their homes as Typhoon Noul struck the north- More than 2,000 were expected to flee but the central Philippines, leaving more than 7,350 ern Philippines yesterday, triggering warnings of Talosig expressed fears that some people would people dead or missing. possible flash floods, landslides and tsunami-like refuse to go due to complacency. Several hundred people living in a farming storm surges. “The weather was good there earlier so it was hamlet below the restive Bulusan volcano on The storm’s movement has slowed slightly a bit hard to get the message out,” she said. Luzon have also been evacuated due to the but it has also strengthened to pack gusts of 220 “Some people were worried out the security of potential for rain to mix with volcanic ash accu- kilometres (137 miles) per hour, said Esperanza the belongings they may leave behind. We have mulated on its slopes and form deadly, fast-mov- Cayanan, chief of the government’s weather been trying our best, aiming for zero casualties ing mudflows. The civil defence office also cited monitoring division. but our efforts will be useless if some people numerous areas that could be hit by landslides The storm hit Cagayan province on the north- don’t listen,” she added. or flash floods due to the “heavy to intense rain- ern edge of the main island of Luzon yesterday fall” brought by the typhoon. afternoon and was expected to move northwest, Take no chances The government has suspended ferry servic- towards Japan, the government weather station National civil defence chief Alexander Pama es in affected areas and some domestic flights KATHMANDU: Nepali police and residents remove rubble from the site of the Rato said. In Taiwan, which is also in the storm’s pre- said that given the possibility of storm surges of have also been cancelled. About 20 typhoons Machindranath temple at Bungamati on the outskirts of Kathmandu in Nepal yester- dicted path, authorities warned sailors of strong up to two metres (6.5 feet), they were taking no and storms hit the Philippines each year, many day. —AFP winds and high waves and evacuated almost chances. “There is no exact science in this. So we of them deadly. 1,000 tourists from an island off the southeast will stay on the safe side” by ordering evacua- In Taiwan nearly 1,000 tourists had been coast. “This is a very dangerous storm. It is the tions in vulnerable areas, he said. evacuated from scenic Green Island by noon, an strongest so far this year,” said Rene Paciente, “Even as we speak, our armed forces are official from the county government said. Almost 500 Rohingya head of the Philippines’ marine weather division. already moving... to help in the evacuation. So “Tourists would otherwise be stranded there More than 1,680 people in Cagayan have too are our police forces who are conducting for at least two days,” he said. All ferries and rescued off Indonesia already been evacuated from coastal villages, evacuations in their municipalities,” he told flights to Green Island and another tourist said Norma Talosig, regional civil defence chief.