Phl takes sea row with China to UN

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has brought China before a United Nations tribunal to challenge its claim to most of the South China Sea.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday Manila had informed Beijing about the decision to take China to an arbitration tribunal under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to attain a peaceful and durable solution to the territorial disputes that include the West Philippine Sea. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) summoned Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing yesterday afternoon.

At the DFA, Assistant Secretary for Asia Pacific Affairs Teresa Lazaro handed Ma a diplomatic note informing China that the Philippines had initiated arbitration proceedings on the sea dispute.

Ma maintained that the territorial row should be settled through direct negotiations and that China has sovereignty over the South China Sea and its adjacent waters.

According to Del Rosario, Beijing’s “nine-dash line” outlining its territorial claims over most of the sea, including waters and islands close to its neighbors, is illegal.

The Philippines also demands that China “desist from unlawful activities that violate the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Philippines under the 1982 UNCLOS,” he added.

The country’s legal action is pursuant to President Aquino’s mandate to defend Philippine territory and maritime domain.

China’s territorial claims overlap those of the Philippines as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

“The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China. On numerous occasions dating back to 1995, the Philippines has been exchanging views with China to peacefully settle these disputes. To this day, a solution is still elusive. We hope the arbitral proceedings will bring this dispute to a durable solution,” Del Rosario told a news briefing that was also attended by Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza.

Jardeleza is the country’s representative to the arbitral proceedings while lead counsel is Paul Reichler of Foley and Hoag LLP.

The DFA secretary said the arbitral tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the Philippines’ notification and statement of claim under the UNCLOS.

The Philippines is hopeful that the UN tribunal will declare China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea invalid and contrary to UNCLOS.

The Philippines believes it has a good case because it was able to present its case against China before an independent international tribunal.

“We expect international law to be the great equalizer in resolving this dispute over the West Philippine Sea,” Del Rosario said.

Maritime disputes handled by international tribunals normally take three to four years.

In April last year, the Philippines formally invited China to bring their territorial claims to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for a lasting solution to the disputes. China, however, rejected the invitation.

Over the past two years, the Philippines and Vietnam have complained of China’s increasing assertiveness in enforcing those claims, particularly around areas believed to be rich in oil and natural gas reserves.

The Chinese stance led to a standoff last year with the Philippines over rich fishing grounds around Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, a formation much closer to the Philippine coast than to China’s shores.