THE commander of the USS Blue Ridge, a control and command ship of the US 7th Fleet, on Wednesday said the US would rely on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) as its benchmark in providing help to the Philippines.
“Once again the code of conduct... however it may turn out toward the efforts by all the Asean nations to try to reach agreement...especially as they are packaged in Unclos, that’s our benchmark,” the USS Blue Ridge commander, Cmdr.Robert Thomas, said.
Thomas was replying to a question on how the 7th Fleet could provide help to the Philippines in the ongoing dispute between the Philippines and China on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
China claims practically the whole of the South China Sea, where the Philippines-claimed area has been renamed WPS.
World Affairs, an official publication of the American Peace Society, said as far as the “jurisprudence evidence” is concerned, the vast majority of international legal experts have concluded that China’s claim to historic title over the South China Sea, implying full sovereign authority and consent for other states to transit, is invalid.
The Unclos provides that all the natural resources of a country’s continental shelf, extending 200 nautical miles, shall belong to that country.
The Blue Ridge is in Manila for a routine port call and four-day goodwill visit to highlight the strong historic, community and military alliance between the US and the Philippines.
It has 19 Filipino-American sailors onboard.
“We will continue to stand by our allies, we have five treaty alliances in this theater, over 60 years of alliance with the Philippines, not only in cultural perspective, but also shared interests.”
Thomas said the United States will continue to cooperate in international waters, continue to encourage freedom of access to all, encourage dialogue, encourage the rule of law.
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