Tokyo and Manila agreed to pursue peaceful resolution in addressing the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) issues. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario was speaking before a news briefing in Malacanang after the courtesy call of visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday. "I think they were all aware of the magnitude of the challenge. We all understand that the assertions being made by China in terms of their nine-dash line claim, for example, they do pose threats to the stability of the region," he said.
Del Rosario also noted that both countries agreed that there's a need to
address that the "freedom of navigation" in the region should be ensured.
"If you look at the posture of China in the South China Sea, their fixed
posture is the foundation of their policy in those sea -- that they have
indisputable sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea. Now, this of
course is an excessive claim. It’s in violation of international law," he said.
Another violation, Del Rosario said, is that China has called for a reestablishment of an administrative unit to oversee the entire area which they consider as the nine-dash. "When you talk about that administrative unit, you’re talking about the Sansha City being in the Paracels and the administrative unit encompasses the Spratlys as well as the (Macclesfield) Bank which also includes Bajo de Masinloc," he explained. "First, they (China) have an excessive claim; then they’re creating an administrative unit over those areas; and then they come up with this new law which provides for enforcement in terms of interdiction of ships in those areas," he noted.
China is also coming up with all kinds of infrastructure and releasing figures on budgets that they intend to use to be able to establish their presence there. "So I think these are all very threatening and we have been protesting these moves by China," the DFA chief said.
Del Rosario said Japan has committed to empower the Philippine Maritime Security in terms of its multi-role response vessels which will be funded by the Japanese government. "We also discussed this communication system for maritime safety which also would be for the benefit of the (Philippine) Coast Guard," he said. "The Japanese government has been assisting the Philippines in strengthening the capacity of the Philippine Coast Guard through human resource development and augmentation of much needed communications system equipment for maritime safety. There is also regular exchange of views and dialogue between officials of the two countries on maritime and ocean affairs," he added.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=486141
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.