After release of 'expansive' map, PH told to brace for China's more aggressive intrusion

From InterAksyon (Jun 26): After release of 'expansive' map, PH told to brace for China's more aggressive intrusion

The Philippines should brace for more aggressive intrusion into its waters by China's navy after the country's publication of a new map covering broader territorial claims over South China Sea, a former lawmaker and national security adviser said Thursday.

"The Chinese navy may be preparing to violate in depth our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with the new China 10-dash line," former Parañaque representative Roilo Golez said.

"We face the danger of the Chinese navy (PLAN) patrolling our seas well within our EEZ and getting close to our territorial sea, with the Chinese navy commanders citing the newly minted map as their authority for violating in depth our EEZ," Golez said.

The new Chinese map, which was first published in January 2013 by China's state mapping authority Sinomap Press, features 10 dashes -- one dash more than its previous demarcation -- marking what it claims as its territory.

Earlier, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs called China's nw official map "exclusively expansive."

Golez said, "China is making a more expansive claim by the simple act of map drawing without basis in law, facts and history."

"This map, even if not an official claim lodged with the UN, is an irresponsible act that destabilizes regional peace and security," Golez said, adding that the new line is closer to Palawan.

"The old nine-dash line was already within our EEZ, at approximately 100 nautical miles, in violation of the UNCLOS (United Nations on the Convention on the Law of the Seas)," he said.

"The new one is much closer, and virtually tangent to our Contiguous Zone, which per UNCLOS, extends between 12 and 14 nautical miles from the coastline, and getting closer to our 12-mile territorial sea," he added.

Golez, national security adviser during the Arroyo administration, said that the lines in the new map are also close to the coastline of North Borneo and deeply penetrating the Natuna Sea of Indonesia.

He said Indonesia and Malaysia are also expected to expreas strong opposition to China's latest move.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/89966/after-release-of-expansive-map-ph-told-to-brace-for-chinas-more-aggressive-intrusion