China insists sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal

From the Philippine News Agency (Sep 5): China insists sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal

China on Thursday insisted it has sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal, which continues to be guarded by its surveillance ships, amid fears that Beijing will start building structures in the disputed area.

“Huangyan Island is China's inherent territory,” Chinese Embassy spokesman Zhang Hua said in a statement quoting China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

Huangyan Island is China’s name for Scarborough Shoal -- a U-shaped rock formation with a sprawling lagoon teeming with rich maritime resources.

The shoal, called Panatag or Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines, falls within Philippine territory as mandated by international law.

It is located 124 nautical miles from Masinloc town in Zambales and 472 nautical miles from China’s nearest coastal province of Hainan.

Philippine officials said the sighting of concrete blocks at the shoal’s lagoon can be a prelude to Chinese construction of structures, similar to what Beijing did to Mischief Reef, a rich fishing ground within Philippine territory off South China Sea that came under China’s control in 1995.

Manila said the presence of the concrete blocks inside the shoal is a violation of a 2002 non-binding accord on the South China Sea. The pact calls on all claimants to exercise restraint, stop occupation of new territories and prevent them from building new structures.

China’s statement, however, did not clearly address the Philippine allegations in detail, merely saying: “What the Philippines said is untrue.”

The shoal, it added, is “within China's legitimate rights and interests and beyond dispute.”

“Given the current situation, Chinese government ships maintain routine patrol in the waters off the Huangyan Island to safeguard the sovereignty over the Huangyan Island and keep order in relevant waters,” it added.

Manila and Beijing figured in a dangerous standoff in the area last year. The stalemate temporarily ended when President Benigno S. Aquino III ordered Philippine vessels facing off with Chinese ships to withdraw due to bad weather.

China never left the area and even roped off the entrance to the shoal to prevent Filipino fishermen access and shelter to its vast lagoon.

As tensions spiked anew between the two Asian nations, Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda Basilio was called home for consultations.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said Basilio was a resource person during a consultation meeting in Malacanang on the South China Sea issue.

“She was asked to come home for consultation and she will return (to Beijing) for the next few days,” Hernandez. “We do that to get more information about our different areas in our relations to other countries.”

The Philippine government has adopted the name West Philippine Sea for parts of the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where a bulk of the world's trade pass and believed to be rich in oil and natural gas.

Analysts feared the competing claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, China and Taiwan, could spark a military conflict in the region.

China claims the waters nearly in its entirety, citing historical entitlements as the basis for its huge claim.The Philippines challenged this claim before a United Nations-linked arbitral tribunal, where a resolution is pending.

China has formally notified the tribunal that it will not participate in the legal proceedings, saying Manila’s case was legally infirm and carried unacceptable allegations.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=562678