China’s plans to fortify Sansha City violate int’l law – DFA

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Dec 26): China’s plans to fortify Sansha City violate int’l law – DFA

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday maintained that China’s move to strengthen and develop islands at the center of territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) was a violation of international law. “Sansha City has been a subject of Philippine protest as its administrative jurisdiction encompasses Philippine territory and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea,” Hernandez said when asked for reactions to reports on China’s latest plan to develop the disputed area. “China’s action to fortify Sansha city is an attempt to reinforce its excessive nine-dash claim which is a violation of international law especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he added.

Hernandez the Philippines would push through with its three-track political, legal, and diplomatic approach to deal with the territorial disputes and reiterated its hopes for China to reconsider its position in the issue. In a report Monday, business and financial news agency Bloomberg quoted the 21st Century Business Herald as saying that China had approved plans to invest at least $1.6 billion to build an airport, pier, and other infrastructures on islands involved in territorial disputes concerning China, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The report quoted Jiang Dingzhi, governor of China’s Hainan province, as saying that the plans were intended as “a platform for Sansha’s development in the long term.” “Sansha’s immediate work is for airports, ports, piers and other important infrastructure, as well as law enforcement vessels, supply ships and other projects to be established,” Jiang was quoted as saying in a statement. “In the long term, we need to implement a platform for Sansha’s development,” Jiang added. Bloomberg, quoting 21st Century Herald, also noted that the funds for Sansha would also be spent on marine law enforcement and ocean fisheries and that construction of some facilities had already started.

The Philippines and Vietnam had expressed protests over China’s creation of Sansha. China created Sansha in June for the administration of the Paracels and the Spratlys, parts of which are also occupied or claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Hernandez had also earlier said that Sansha’s jurisdiction covered the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys, which “is an integral part of the Philippine territory falling under the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan province.”

“For this reason, the Philippines does not recognize Sansha City and the extent of its jurisdiction and considers recent measures taken by China as unacceptable,” Hernandez said, reacting to China’s decision to build a military garrison in the islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) early this year. Hernandez, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that the Philippines would push through with its three-track political, legal, and diplomatic approach to deal with the territorial disputes and reiterated its hopes for China to reconsider its position on the issue.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/60407/chinas-plan-to-fortify-sansha-city-a-violation-of-intl-law-dfa