PH to China: Stop ‘selfish acts’ in Spratlys

This aerial photo taken through a glass window of a military plane shows China’s alleged on-going reclamation of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea Monday, May 11, 2015. AP FILE PHOTO

THE Philippines said on Tuesday that China must “refrain from selfish acts” after the latter claimed that some of the construction activities in the Spratlys (Kalayaan Island Group) in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) would be completed in the upcoming days.

“We call on China to refrain from these selfish acts and consider the call of all nations for them to abide by the internationally accepted rules as stipulated in [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea],” Defense spokesperson Dr. Peter Paul Galvez said.

He said that the activities would lead to “irreparable consequences.”

“We reiterate that their activities if not stopped only draws the world closer to further uncertainties and untoward incidents with irreparable consequences,” Galvez said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that China would soon complete its land reclamation activities in the Spratlys.

“It is learned from relevant Chinese competent departments that, as planned, the land reclamation project of China’s construction on some stationed islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands will be completed in the upcoming days,” it said in a statement.

Nansha is the Chinese name for Spratlys.

It did not, however, identify which of the reefs undergoing construction activities would be finished. It also did not give any timeframe.

China has made significant progress of its expansion activities in seven reefs in the past several months. US said last month that China’s reclamation activities now total about 2,000 acres.

China claims most parts of the resource-rich South China Sea, which is also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

The US has not taken any side on the claims but insists on freedom of navigation.

In the same statement, China said the construction activities fall within China’s sovereignty and these are “lawful, reasonable and justified.”

“They are not targeted at any other country, do not affect the freedom of navigation and overflight enjoyed by all countries in accordance with international law in the South China Sea, nor have they caused or will they cause damage to the marine ecological system and environment in the South China Sea, and are thus beyond reproach,” it said.

China says their construction of artificial islands would help in maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and mitigation, marine scientific research, meteorological observation, ecological environment conservation, navigation safety as well as fishery production service.

After the reclamation activities are finished, China would build facilities “to meet the relevant functions requirements.”