PHL to focus on arbitration case and drafting of code of conduct to stop Chinese intrusions in WPS

From the Philippine News Agency (Sep 17): PHL to focus on arbitration case and drafting of code of conduct to stop Chinese intrusions in WPS

The Philippines will focus on strengthening an arbitration case against China’s sweeping territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea and the drafting of a regional code of conduct to try to stop Beijing’s alleged territorial intrusions more than filing diplomatic protests, a Foreign Affairs official said on Tuesday.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez refused to categorically say if the Philippines has filed a protest against a recent discovery of more than 70 concrete blocks in the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal which Manila fears could be a prelude to the construction of Chinese structures in the disputed fishing region off the northwest Philippines.

Asked if the Philippines still plans to file a protest against China, Hernandez said:

“We think that to address the issue, the action to be taken would be to focus on expeditious conclusion of a legally-binding Code of Conduct on the South China Sea and also to focus on our preparation of our memorial for the arbitration case with China.”

Hernandez refused to give further details.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario earlier said the DFA was considering to file a protest over the discovery of the concrete blocks nearly two weeks ago.

“The focus now is to really focus on these two items and we prefer to give full attention to these two items I have mentioned,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said the Philippine government always consider “what is good for our case and also of how we see would be advantageous to our claim in that areas.”

Manila and Beijing figured in a dangerous standoff in Scarborough last year, but 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.

Philippine officials say Scarborough, a U-shaped rock formation with a sprawling lagoon teeming with rich marine resources, falls within Philippine territory as mandated by international law.

It is called Panatag or Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines and referred to as Huangyan Island in Chinese.

The shoal is far from China’s nearest landmass of Hainan province, but Beijing claims it is part of its territory along with a huge swath of area in the resource-rich South China Sea even as it overlaps with the territories of smaller claimants like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

The Philippines challenged this claim before a United Nations-linked arbitral tribunal, which ordered Manila to substantiate its case in a scheduled proceeding on March 2014.

Beijing formally notified the tribunal last month that it will not join the legal proceedings, dismissing Manila’s case as groundless and legally infirm.

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 could spark a military conflict in the region.

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