US backs Phl submission of papers on sea row

WASHINGTON – The United States has declared its support for the submission of a memorial or written pleading by the Philippines to a United Nations tribunal in seeking to resolve its dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement, State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said the US reaffirms its support for the exercise of peaceful means to resolve maritime disputes without fear of any form of retaliation, including intimidation or coercion.

“All countries should respect the right of any states party, including the Republic of the Philippines, to avail themselves of the dispute resolution mechanisms provided for under the Law of the Sea Convention,” she said.

“We hope that this case serves to provide greater legal certainty and compliance with the international law of the sea,” Harf said.

The Philippines submitted a 4,000-page memorial or written argument on Sunday to the UN arbitral tribunal hearing its case against China. Beijing said it does not recognize Manila’s filing of the memorial and insisted that the maritime row be resolved bilaterally. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the memorial, consisting of 10 volumes, presents in detail the Philippines’ case against China’s expansive claim over islets, shoals, reefs situated within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone.

For Vietnam, Manila’s filing of the memorial was an “unprecedented” show of courage.

“Vietnam is also following the arbitration closely and express their admiration with what the Philippines is doing. Vietnam said the bravery of the Philippines and its people is unprecedented,” a diplomatic source told The STAR yesterday.

The Philippines has asked Vietnam to join the arbitration or prepare a separate case against China. Vietnam, with the help of an international law firm, has been studying possible arguments against China’s territorial claims for 10 years now.

The source said Vietnam would closely follow developments on the Philippines’ filing of the memorial.

“It is likely that not only Vietnam but other claimants would follow the Philippines if Manila gets favorable ruling from the tribunal,” another source said.

In 1974, or after the US troop withdrawal from Vietnam, China invaded the Paracel Islands, one of the four main island groupings in the South China Sea called the Xisha Islands by the Chinese and the Hoang Sa Islands by the Vietnamese. The island group is also being claimed by Taiwan. More than 70 Vietnamese soldiers died in the invasion.

Vietnam and China are locked in long-standing territorial disputes over the Paracel and Spratly islands, and would often trade diplomatic barbs over oil exploration and fishing rights in the contested waters. With Pia Lee-Brago