SEA disputes: After Asean niceties, China, PH at it again

From the Manila Standard Today (Apr 27): SEA disputes: After Asean niceties, China, PH at it again

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Friday that China was trying to establish a “de facto” occupation on the Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, and called on the Philippines to “withdraw all personnel and facilities from the islands that it said Manila was occupying.

At present, there are three Chinese boats in the shoal – two maritime surveillance ships and one Fisheries Law Enforcement Command vessel.

Filipino fishermen have also complained that they have been barred by the Chinese boats from plying the disputed waters. The Chinese vessels reportedly ringed the area with ropes to prevent the fishermen from entering the shoal.

Del Rosario, however, said that a military response is not an option at this point as the country’s legal experts have advised the government to focus on its arbitration case filed before the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas.

The Hamburg-based ITLOS has already completed the five-man arbitration panel, and will decide by July if it has jurisdiction over the case lodged by Manila questioning Beijing’s nine-dash line policy claiming the entire West Philippine Sea. But separate reports said that China lashed back at the Philippines’ attempt to bring the dispute before the UN body, as it insisted that it would never give up its claim.

In a statement posted on its website, China’s Foreign Ministry said the Philippines was attempting to “cover in a cloak of ‘legality’ its illegal occupation of China’s islands and reefs.” “The position outlined by China will not change,” it added. Del Rosario, however, said the Asean bloc was hopeful that China would be cooperative in drafting the CoC.”We are all counting on China to do its utmost in working with us. China should be concerned of its reputation as a nation that abides by the rule of law and should manifest a sense of being a responsible member of the community of nations,” he added.

Del Rosario said that foreign ministers of the member-states of the Asean would still try to convince China to agree on a Code of Conduct when they meet with their Chinese counterpart in the second half of the year.

“Asean is fully ready to do this. The next step belongs to China. The fundamental elements have already been crystallized (by Asean),” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

Del Rosario also noted that Thailand had pushed for a separate meeting of Asean Foreign Ministers ahead of the dialog with China.

The Philippines also found an ally in Vietnam which supported the filing of the arbitration case.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the expression of support during his bilateral meeting with President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday.

The Philippines, China and Vietnam are claimants to several disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea.

But China had said that it would only join the talks with Asean leaders when the “time is ripe.”

Meanwhile, it has flexed its growing naval muscle by occupying some areas claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines, leading to a rise in tension.

Efforts by ASEAN to craft a code of conduct to manage South China Sea tensions all but collapsed last year at a summit chaired by Cambodia, a close economic ally of China.

Cambodia was accused of trying to keep the issue off the agenda despite a surge in tension over disputed areas and growing concern about China’s assertive stance in enforcing its claims over a vast, potentially energy-rich sea area.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/04/27/sea-disputes-after-asean-niceties-china-ph-at-it-again/