PH renews call on China to agree to arbitration

This undated photo handout released by the Kayalaan Municipal office on July 13, 2011 shows the island of Kalayaan, which means “Freedom” in the Filipino language, that was created in 1978 mainly to assert the Philippines’ claim to the disputed territory in the Spratlys, a chain of islets in the South China Sea. AFP FILE PHOTO/ Kayalaan Municipal office

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines on Saturday reiterated its invitation to China to participate in arbitration proceedings Manila initiated last year to clarify maritime boundaries in the disputed South China Sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) made this statement in response to China’s call for the Philippines to hold talks and “meet halfway” on the much-criticized fishing restrictions of Hainan province, which required foreign vessels to seek permission before fishing and exploring in the disputed waters.

“We intend to proceed [with the arbitration proceedings] with or without China for a final disposition [of the issue],” the DFA statement said.

The Philippines renewed its opposition to the new fisheries law which, it said, was part of a long-term scheme to claim the entire body of water.

“The Hainan fisheries law is only one of the unilateral measures by China to force a change in the regional status quo in order to advance its… position of undisputed sovereignty over nearly the entire SCS (South China Sea),” the DFA statement said.

It called China’s attention to the dispute’s “core issue”—Beijing’s nine-dash line claim, which encompasses almost all of the South China Sea, including exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of other claimant countries.

The Philippines is one of the smaller claimants asserting ownership over parts of the South China Sea, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. It refers to the part of the waters within its EEZ as the West Philippine Sea.

The foreign office reaffirmed the Philippines’ position that the nine-dash line—the crux of the country’s arbitration bid against China before the United Nations—was a violation of international law.

The DFA asserted that such issue must be addressed through existing international mechanisms, such as its pending legal action.

The Philippines sought arbitration in January last year under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—a 1982 treaty signed by both countries—as a “last resort” after all attempts at pursuing talks with China had failed.

The legal action seeks to nullify the nine-dash line and halt Chinese incursions into the Philippine EEZ, which have been recurrent in recent years in the Kalayaan Island Group and the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

The Philippines also urged China to adhere to the 2011 agreement between then Chinese President Hu Jintao and President Aquino, wherein the two leaders agreed to treat the maritime dispute separately from the rest of the bilateral endeavors between the two countries.

The Hainan fisheries law was implemented this month barely two months since China’s declaration of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea. China has a pending dispute with Japan over this area.

The Philippines said it would not recognize the fisheries law. With a report from AFP

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