Aquino to brief EU heads on sea row

President Benigno S. Aquino III (Photo by: Robert Viñas/ Malacañang Photo Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines–President Aquino is set to meet with European leaders to seek their “continued support” for the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China, a foreign ministry official said Monday.

Aquino will personally discuss with the leaders of Spain, Belgium, France and Germany the Philippine government’s “triple action plan” to address the conflict, during his weeklong visit to European Union (EU) nations from Sept. 13 to 20, Assistant Secretary of European Affairs Maria Zeneida Angara-Collinson said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

The United States earlier threw its support behind the plan that seeks to stop any action that would raise tensions in disputed areas in the South China Sea. The plan also calls for a legally binding Code of Conduct, and seeks to settle disputes through international law.

“In all the meetings starting with Spain, we will seek the (EU)’s continued support on the Philippine position in the West Philippine Sea,” Collinson told reporters, using the local term for the South China Sea.

Such support can be “tacit” and did not need to be contained in a formal document, she added.

“It’s important for our president to have the opportunity to apprise these world leaders directly on what is happening in… the South China Sea,” the foreign ministry official said.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a vital shipping lane and fishing ground believed to hold vast mineral resources. This conflicts with the territorial claims of the Philippines and those of Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Collinson said the EU countries in Aquino’s itinerary had earlier expressed support for a “peaceful resolution of conflicts within the framework of international law.”

“Basically, this visit will also introduce to these countries the triple action plan which is the short-, medium- and long-term road map of the Philippines to seek resolution of the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea issue,” she said.

Spain is President Aquino’s first stop in his backbreaking weeklong trip.  He will then proceed to Belgium, France and Germany. From Berlin, the President will fly to the United States to attend the United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York.

In Europe, Aquino will sit down with King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

He will also meet with King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo of Belgium, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and German President Joachim Gauck.

In all his meetings with European leaders, Aquino “will seek their continued support on the Philippine position in the WPS or West Philippine Sea,” Collinson said.

The countries in the President’s itinerary had earlier backed the Philippines on freedom of navigation and maritime security amid tensions in the South China Sea, she added.

The Philippines has filed a case before an international arbitral tribunal to settle its conflicting territorial claims with China. But Beijing has said it would not participate in the arbitration and instead preferred a bilaterial discussion with Manila.

Asked if European backing of the Philippines’ triple action plan would add pressure on China, which is claiming around 90 percent of the South China Sea, Collinson said: “I think China listens to all countries in the world. As a large power, it has to.”–With an AFP report