PH to China: No halfway meet, 'join us in arbitration' over disputed territories

From InterAksyon (Jan 18): PH to China: No halfway meet, 'join us in arbitration' over disputed territories

The Philippines has rejected China's proposal for the two countries to meet halfway on new Chinese fishing rules in the disputed West Philippine Sea and instead reiterated its challenge to China to “join us in arbitration” on issues related to the latter’s insistence on claiming “undisputed sovereignty" over the South China Sea.

The Philippines said China's new law that covers the jurisdiction of Hainan province and requires foreigners to seek permission to fish in disputed territory is the country's strategy in pushing its "undisputed sovereignty" in practically the whole of South China Sea.

"Hainan fisheries law is only one of the unilateral measures by China to force a change in the regional status quo in order to advance its nine-dashed line position of undisputed sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea," said Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Raul Hernandez in a text message sent to reporters Saturday afternoon.

[READ RELATED STORY: DFA chief rallies Asean peers on territorial rows amid new fisheries, air curbs by Beiijing]
Nine-dashed line 

Hernandez said China's nine-dashed line claim "is in gross violation of international law," and "is the core issue that must be singularly and fully addressed."

On its Chinese maps, Bejing outlines the scope of its claim with reference to the nine-dashed line that covers 90 percent of the 3.5 million-square kilometer South China Sea
The said boundary was officially published on a map in 1947 by China’s Nationalist government and since then has been included in subsequent maps issued under the communist rule.

However, the territorial boundary using the nine-dashed line appears to be vague. A U.S. diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks in September 2008 reported that Yin Wenqiang, a senior Chinese government maritime expert, had "admitted" he was unaware of the historical basis for the dashes.

'Join us in arbitration' 

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that  while China was bent  on protecting its territorial sovereignty, “we always put forth efforts to resolve the relevant issue through dialogue and consultations.”

But Hernandez said the Philippines would instead push its claim via arbitration. "To this end, we reiterate our invitation to China to join us in arbitration as we intend to proceed with our without China for a final disposition."

Manila had filed in early 2013 a complaint before the United Nations arbitral tribunal against China’s “excessive claims” of sovereignty in the South China Sea, where Manila and five others---including three fellow ASEAN members---have overlapping claims.

[READ RELATED STORY: Philippine report spies more assertive, aggressive China in West Philippine Sea]

Hernandez said that in 2011, the Philippines had proposed to China that "we should proceed with moving forward with our major bilateral agenda while abstracting the contentious issues and dealing with them separately."

"This became the content of a signed declaration between the Philippines and China's presidents then. We are hopeful for adherence to the agreement," he said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/78942/ph-to-china-no-halfway-meet-join-us-in-arbitration-over-disputed-territories