Phl monitoring China's decision to bring claim before UNCLOS

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is closely monitoring China’s decision to bring its claim over disputed islands in the East China Sea before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Malacañang said yesterday.

Asked if it was a welcome move that China was going to the international courts to settle a claim, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was on guard as “the fact that they are going, they are supposedly preparing documents to be submitted, is of interest to us also.”

“While we are not particularly involved in that particular dispute, it is of interest to the Department of Foreign Affairs and they are monitoring that very closely,” Valte said.

When the stand-off at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal broke out in April, China called on the Philippines to settle the West Philippine Sea dispute through “friendly consultations,” effectively ruling out Manila’s call for intervention of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called on China to join the Philippine effort for an ITLOS intervention, but China said it preferred a bilateral approach to settling the dispute.

The submission to UNCLOS was announced by Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Le Yucheng Friday during a symposium in Beijing, where he also explained the base points and baselines of the territorial sea of Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands, which were being claimed by Japan, were in line with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, and consistent with relevant provisions of UNCLOS.

The cluster of islands the Chinese call Diaoyu Dao is referred to by Japan as Senkaku.

Tensions flared since last week, and over the weekend, anti-Japan demonstrations erupted across China, targeting Japanese businesses, even Japan-made cars, and the Japanese embassy in Beijing.

Tokyo has demanded the Chinese government guarantee the safety of Japanese nationals in China after the reported harassment of some of them, and the ransacking of department stores and groceries identified with Japan.

Under UNCLOS, the base points and baselines of the territorial sea form the basis for establishing waters under national jurisdiction, the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf.

The position of the Philippines has been to have the dispute settled before an independent international third party like the ITLOS but China has consistently rejected this.

Asked if it was time for the Philippines to submit documents to the UNCLOS for its claim, Valte said they would still have to monitor developments.

Valte stressed the Philippine policy was always to deescalate tension with China and that there was no decision yet whether to deploy ships again to Panatag Shoal where Chinese ships have been present since April.

China had extended its claim over the West Philippine Sea after it issued its nine-dash theory.

President Aquino last week signed Administrative Order 29 officially naming the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippines, including where the disputed Panatag Shoal and Kalayaan Island Group are located, as the West Philippine Sea.

The AO states that areas included in the West Philippine Sea are the Luzon Sea “as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.”

The AO said, “The naming of the West Philippine Sea is without prejudice to the determination of the maritime domain over territories which the Republic of the Philippines has sovereignty and jurisdiction.” – With Alexis Romero, Jess Diaz