PHL raises 5 points vs. China’s claims

From GMA News (Jul 8): PHL raises 5 points vs. China’s claims

The Philippines, in its complaint against China, is asking a United Nations tribunal to rule on five issues - a comprehensive collection of its protests against Chinese expansionist moves in the West Philippine Sea in nearly two decades.

Manila’s five “principal claims” was enumerated by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario when he spoke on the first day of the crucial week-long hearing where the Philippines, backed by international law experts, will persuade the judges of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to assume jurisdiction on its case in The Hague, Netherlands.

China, which refused to participate in the legal proceedings, has questioned the tribunal’s jurisdiction over the case, saying sovereignty and maritime delimitation are beyond its scope under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

Del Rosario on Tuesday countered that the Philippine case does not require or even invites the Tribunal “to make any determinations on questions of land sovereignty, or delimitation of maritime boundaries.”

“The Philippines understands that the jurisdiction of this tribunal convened under UNCLOS is limited to questions that concern the law of the sea. With this in mind, we have taken great care to place before you only claims that arise directly under the Convention,” Del Rosario said.

The following claims are as follows:

- First, that China is not entitled to exercise what it refers to as “historic rights” over the waters, seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of its entitlements under the Convention;

- Second, that the so-called nine dash line has no basis whatsoever under international law insofar as it purports to define the limits of China’s claim to “historic rights”;

- Third, that the various maritime features relied upon by China as a basis upon which to assert its claims in the South China Sea are not islands that generate entitlement to an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.  Rather, some are “rocks” within the meaning of Article 121, paragraph 3; others are low-tide elevations, and still others are permanently submerged. As a result, none are capable of generating entitlements beyond 12M, and some generate no entitlements at all.  China’s recent massive reclamation activities cannot lawfully change the original nature and character of these features;

- Fourth, that China has breached the Convention by interfering with the Philippines’ exercise of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction; and

- Fifth, that China has irreversibly damaged the regional marine environment, in breach of UNCLOS, by its destruction of coral reefs in the South China Sea, including areas within the Philippines’ EEZ, by its destructive and hazardous fishing practices, and by its harvesting of endangered species.

Everyone is already seated inside the hall as we wait for the morning hearing to begin. pic.twitter.com/HF4MN5qSuw

— Abi Valte (@Abi_Valte) July 8, 2015

China insists “indisputable” and “historical” claim over virtually the entire waters in the South China Sea, of which some parts that fall within Manila’s exclusive economic zone was renamed West Philippine Sea.

Beijing frowns on any effort to bring the disputes to any multilateral forum, such as arbitration, insisting on direct talks with smaller rival claimants to the South China Sea giving it advantage due to its size and military power.

Other countries with competing claims to the waters are Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Taiwan, which is considered as China’s renegade province, is also a claimant.

The South China Sea- a strategic and resource-rich waterway where more than 50 percent of the world's merchant fleet tonnage passes each year – had been a source of conflict among rival claimants.

Overlapping claims to the contested waters, islands and reefs, where undersea gas deposits have been discovered in several areas, has been feared to be Asia's next potential flashpoint for war.

Del Rosario said the Philippines, in nearly two decades, tried to engage China in bilateral talks and exhausted all efforts and avenues to resolve the maritime row, but all options have failed.

Del Rosario even recalled that in one of the bilateral negotiations between the Philippines and China in the 1990s, Beijing has agreed to resolve their disputes peacefully under the ambit of the UNCLOS.

The talks happened two years after China seized and built structures on the Mischief Reef - a low-tide elevation located 126 nautical miles from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 600 nautical miles from the closest point on China’s Hainan Island.

Then Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, stated two years later during bilateral negotiations, that China and the Philippines should “approach the disputes on the basis of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, particularly its provisions on the maritime regimes like the exclusive economic zone,” Del Rosario said.

The same Chinese commitment, he pointed out, was reflected in a Joint Communiqué issued in July 1998 upon completion of bilateral discussions between his predecessor, Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon and Tang, who later became China’s Foreign Minister.

An excerpt of the document was quoted by Del Rosario as follows: “The two sides exchanged views on the question of the South China Sea and reaffirmed their commitment that the relevant disputes shall be settled peacefully in accordance with the established principles of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

The country, he added, has also been persistent in seeking a diplomatic solution under the auspices of Association of South East Asian neighbors, of which it is a member, as well as claimants Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, and Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Manila also failed to get the full backing of the ASEAN on the South China Sea issue, Del Rosario said.

The DFA Chief said the most that has been achieved in the ASEAN was the issuance in 2002 of a “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” which aims to prevent armed conflicts.

He pointed to China’s “intransigence” in the 13 years of subsequent multilateral negotiations as the reason for not turning the declaration into a legally-binding code of conduct and for making that goal “nearly unattainable.”

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/518554/news/nation/un-tribunal-phl-raises-5-points-vs-china-s-claims