PHL determined to assert freedom of navigation, overflight in WPS -- Palace

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 17): PHL determined to assert freedom of navigation, overflight in WPS -- Palace

Malacanang on Sunday asserted the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) amid report that China has constructed additional runways in the disputed territories.

”Government is determined to assert the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea,” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Hermino Coloma Jr. said in a state-run Radyo ng Bayan interview.

According to the report of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, a United States think tank, it has received report that China has put up additional runways in the WPS.

Coloma said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had previously filed a diplomatic protest regarding the test flights made on reefs also claimed by the Philippines particularly at Kagitingan Reef, which is well within our exclusive economic zone.

”Hence, the building of additional runways contributes to heightened tensions in the region,” Coloma said.

”We reiterate that these actions by China violate not only pertinent international laws but also the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea of which China is a signatory along with the member countries of ASEAN,” he added.

The Philippines as well as other claimant countries in Southeast Asian region particularly Vietnam have been protesting China’s massive reclamation in at least six disputed areas in the WPS.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=847461