UN case won’t settle territorial row — DFA

From the Daily Tribune (Jun 18): UN case won’t settle territorial row — DFA

The territorial claims on the South China Sea will not be settled under the arbitration proceedings at the United Nations (UN) but only the maritime entitlements of an economic zone, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

DFA Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said “who owns what” would not be settled in the Permanent Court of Arbitration since the Philippines merely seeks to determine only its “maritime entitlements” under the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea.

The Philippines is basing its claims on its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone which is provided under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed by 163 UN member-states, including China.

China, meanwhile, will have the capability to maintain and sustain large military aircraft in an airstrip it is building at Fiery Cross Reef or what the country refers to as the Kagitingan Reef within the disputed Spratly islands which the Department of National Defense (DND) suspects is a prelude to enforcing a Chinese air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on South China Sea.

“If they can sustain and maintain the airfield, they can put there a (fighter) jet anytime and you know it can be (used) in enforcing (an) ADIZ anytime,” DND spokesman Peter Paul Galvez said.

China in 2013 declared an East China Sea ADIZ covering most of the East China Sea in which it has a territorial dispute with Japan. “I’m not so sure (on the state of the airstrip’s completion), they were saying that it’s like 75 percent, I’m not so sure on how long it is but its already more than halfway, they were saying that it is three kilometers long approximately, (with that length), it can (handle) large aircraft, like cargo and military ones, “ he added.

China, however, claimed the structures being built on the reclaimed areas are those that will help with maritime search and rescue, disaster relief, environmental protection and offer navigational assistance as well as undefined military purposes.

China’s top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said in a statement it had drawn up a plan for the use of civil facilities on the Spratly Islands.

These facilities would help improve living conditions there and also fulfill China’s international obligations on environmental monitoring, disaster relief and navigational safety, the NDRC said.

Large lighthouses for navigation are included in the building plan, along with base stations for wireless navigation equipment, weather stations to monitor for tsunamis, scientific research stations and equipment to tackle oil spills, it added.

Facilities will also be provided for the supply of search and rescue ships and places for fishing boats to seek shelter from storms and undergo repairs, the NDRC added, though did not specifically mention what sort of harbors or docks would be built.

In order to protect the environment, waste water and garbage handling facilities will also be built, the NDRC said.

It did not provide a timeframe for when these facilities would be completed and nor did it name the specific islands they were being built on.

Galvez said the continued and aggressive action is creating a lot of speculation among nations involved in the territorial dispute.

“We have to validate that report (first), with regard to all these issues, let us not forget that the main issue here is that their nine-dash line is very erroneous, second is that the Chinese build-up in the West Philippine Sea is contrary to the DOC or the 2002 Declaration of Conduct between Asean and China which prohibits parties from constructing new facilities in disputed areas and third, the constructions are really alarming as we don’t know what they will be putting there,” he added.

It is creating speculations as all activities are not transparent and illegal if based on the DOC, Galvez pointed out.

China is conducting reclamation and building activities in seven locations in the South China Sea or what the government prefers to call as the West Philippine Sea.

And to ease tensions, Galvez said China could stop all construction activities and dismantle all facilities it has set-up on the disputed areas.

“They (China) should comply with the DOC,” Galvez added.

RP to stick to ‘advocacy’

The only countermeasure available to the country, with its far inferior armed forces will be to continue its advocacy of informing the international community to counter China’s claims, Galvez said.

“We have to make them realize that these are really without basis, (hopefully once pressure reaches a high point), they will heed the call of the international community for them to stop,” he disclosed.

Earlier, member states of the European Union, G-7, the United States, Australia and Japan have called upon China to stop its reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea.

The Palace was also clueless on the effect on the territorial dispute of a cooperation agreement between the armies of the United States and China.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda brushed off worries that may result from the deal.
“We shouldn’t be worried on that. We have our own strategic interests and the US has their own strategic interest as well,” he said.

“We hope that whatever interest they have are in sync with our interests, but we also know that the United States has already, in a number of occasions, made mention and expressed concern on the South China Sea… we hope everything will work better in respect of the South China Sea situation,” he added.

An invitation from the United States has been given to China to participate in the Rim of the Pacific exercise next year, the world’s largest international maritime drill.

The move of the United States came abruptly following its strong objection to China’s reclamation work in the South China Sea.

The Philippines expects the initial hearing of the case on the South China Sea filed by Manila before a Netherlands-based international tribunal next month.

“By next month there will be hearings in the international tribunal on the law of the sea, so our petition would be heard next month. So we have taken the diplomatic track, we have taken the arbitration track,” Lacierda said.

“And also, we have taken the diplomatic track in the sense of coming up with a code of conduct for the South China Sea. The Code of Conduct is now with China to look into so we have to take the diplomatic track or set the limitations that we have,” he said.

“We continue to raise the profile of the reclamation activities, not only because of the concerns that surround the country claimants but also recently in the United Nations we have raised the environmental impact of these reclamation activities,” he added.

China has repeatedly ignored calls from the Philippines to participate in the arbitration proceedings, standing firm with its claims and continuing its reclamation work nonetheless. Beijing insists on bilateral talks with Manila, but the Palace denied such as there are other claimants in the South China Sea.

 http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/un-case-won-t-settle-territorial-row-dfa