Beijing blasts RP gov’t for docu on maritime rights

From the Daily Tribune (Jun 30): Beijing blasts RP gov’t for docu on maritime rights

China has protested the Philippine government’s ballyhooing the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) issue as it accused Manila of spreading misinformation and “creating the illusion of the victim” in their territorial dispute.

“The Philippines is attempting to mislead and deceive, gain sympathy by cheating and create the illusion of the ‘victim,’” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministry’s Web site, referring to the three-part documentary which Manila aired in defending its position.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense had said the film was aimed at raising the public’s awareness on the importance of the territories in the South China Sea and to unite forces of the whole country behind the government in resolving the disputes.

But the Chinese official accused the Philippines of aiming to incite the people of the two countries. Beijing also expressed strong dissatisfaction over the film’s unreasonable and unfounded accusations by ignoring facts and calling white black, Hua said.

“The Chinese side also expresses serious concern over the practice of the incumbent Philippine government in making a fanfare about the South China Sea issue and instigating feelings of contradiction between the Chinese and Filipino people,” Hua said.

She pointed out that the Philippine side attempted to win sympathy and create a false “victim” image of itself by means of misleading and lying. But she said history cannot be overwritten and facts cannot be fabricated.

“It is merely the Philippines’ expansionist policy and blatant infringement on China’s sovereignty and interests that has given rise to the China-Philippines disputes over the South China Sea,” Hua stressed.

She pointed out that the islands in the South China Sea belong to China, adding Beijing was the first one to discover, name and develop these islands.

“It was also the first country to conduct sovereign jurisdiction on these islands and has remained so since then,” the official added.

“This is proved by adequate historical and legal evidence,” Hua said.

According to her, “The root of the China-Philippines dispute on the South China Sea lies in the illegal territorial claim that the Philippine side raised on part of China’s Nansha Islands and its occupation of some of the islands.”

She pointed out that the legal documents determining the territorial scope of the Philippines, including the Paris Treaty and Washington Treaty signed between the United States and Spain in 1898 and 1900, and the Treaty between the United States and Britain signed in 1930, have all excluded China’s Nansha Islands and Huangyan Island from Philippine territories.

Hua said in a long period of time after, the internal laws of the Philippines, including the Constitution, have repeatedly reaffirmed the stipulations on Philippine territories that the above mentioned treaties have made.

According to her, after the end of the World War II, especially after the beginning of the Cold War, the Philippines began to covet China’s Nansha Islands. Since the 1970s, the Philippines has used force to occupy eight of China’s Nansha Islands one by one, including Mahuan Island, Feixin Island, Zhongye Island, Beizi Island, Nanyao Island, Xiyue Island, Shuanghuang Shoal and Siling Reef.

Hua said over the long years, the Philippines has conducted a great number of construction and arms deployments on the stolen islands, continuously built and upgraded airports, docks, barracks, elevated houses, schools and other facilities.

“China has always firmly opposed the illegal occupation by the Philippine side and repeatedly and sternly demanded they withdraw all personnel and facilities from the islands of China,” the official added.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/beijing-blasts-rp-gov-t-for-docu-on-maritime-rights