UK calls for peaceful resolution of Spratly dispute

MANILA, Philippines - The United Kingdom called yesterday for a peaceful resolution of overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, in accordance with a United Nations convention that sets maritime economic zones for each country.

“It’s an important issue not just for the region,” said Peter Wilson, director for Asia-Pacific of the UK Foreign and Commonwelath Office. “The rest of the world is looking very closely at this.”

Wilson, who headed the British delegation to the 2nd Philippines-United Kingdom High Level Meeting yesterday, told The STAR that his government wanted sea lanes to be used freely.

He said countries around the South China Sea should be able to “sensitively take advantage of opportunities there.”

“We have shared interests in seeing that any dispute in the South China Sea is resolved peacefully and in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” Wilson told The STAR after the meeting.

The UNCLOS sets a 200-mile maritime exclusive economic zone for each country. China is claiming the South China Sea as part of its territory. Five other countries including the Philippines are claiming parts of the Spratly Islands that dot the sea.

The Spratly dispute was part of the agenda at yesterday’s meeting, held in Manila with the Philippine delegation headed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio.

In another development, Basilio said after the meeting that the government was optimistic British companies would invest in rail projects in the Philippines.

Basilio said government officials had met with representatives of British firms and discussed opportunities under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino administration.

“We hope the British investors will take a look at the transportation sector. There have been initial meetings with British rail companies and we hope that they will come and look at other projects as well so that we will be able to have again an active engagement,” Basilio said at a press conference after the meeting with Wilson’s delegation.