PH: China move a global threat

From the Manila Standard Today (Dec 2): PH: China move a global threat

The United States said on Saturday that it does not take sides in the competing claims in the West Philippine Sea in the wake of China’s new policy that it would “board and search” ships that will pass by the contested waters, a move that the Foreign Affairs department said was a “gross violation” of the code of conduct in the Sea and posed a direct threat to the international community. In a statement, US Embassy spokeswoman Bettina Malone said that while Washington was not taking sides, it was urging claimant countries to “avoid provocative unilateral actions.” Bettina added that the US interest remained focus on the freedom of navigation and unimpeded lawful commerce in the West Philippine Sea. “As Secretary [Hilary] Clinton reiterated recently at the ASEAN [Association of the Southeast Asian Nation] Regional Forum, we do not take a position on competing sovereignty claims over land features in the South China Sea,” Malone said. “All concerned parties should avoid provocative unilateral actions that raise tensions and undermine the prospects for a diplomatic or other peaceful resolution of differences.” Bettina added that the US government would support a collaborative and diplomatic process by all claimants to resolve their disputes. “We believe all parties should pursue their territorial and maritime claims in accordance with international law, including as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention,” Malone said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Department, in a statement on Saturday, has asked the Chinese government to immediately clarify its reported plans to intercept vessels that would enter the disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea. “We would like China to immediately clarify its reported plans to interdict ships that enter what it considers its territory in the South China Sea,” the DFA said. The DFA had expressed its concern over reports that foreign vessels “illegally” entering the waters under the jurisdiction of Hainan Province, which include virtually the entire China Sea under its nine-dash line, boarded, inspected, confiscated, immobilized and its crew detained or expelled, among other punitive actions. The DFA said that the “planned action by China is a gross violation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, the international law, particularly Unclos, and a direct threat to the entire international community.” The DFA also said that China “violates not only the maritime domain of coastal states established under Unclos, but also impedes the fundamental freedom of navigation and lawful commerce”.....

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