China accuses US of using disputed waters for own gain

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 6:34 p.m.) — China again slammed the United States for trying to “stir up trouble and drive a wedge” between countries using the South China Sea dispute for its own political gain. 

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro alllegedly "made unfounded accusations against and maliciously smeared China," the Chinese embassy in Manila said in a statement on Friday.

China said it “strongly deplores and firmly rejects those remarks.”

“In an attempt to preserve its hegemony, the US keeps intensifying power projection in this region, and deliberately seeks to widen differences and provoke tensions, undermining the legitimate rights and interests of coastal countries and the normal order at sea,” it added. 

The US has repeatedly said that any attack against Philippine forces in the disputed waters will trigger Washington’s commitments under the 1951 U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty.

READ: US backs Philippines on WPS, warns that Washington will back Manila should there be armed attacks

“The Philippines follows an independent foreign policy,” the embassy said. “We believe that the country and its people have the wisdom to make the judgement and choice that best suit their interests and stand on the side of people’s desire for peace and the trend of the times.”

Beijing also stressed that it is working with other Southeast Asian countries as prescribed by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea to work their differences on their respective claims in the South China Sea.

“This has created a favorable environment and important underpinning for the development and prosperity of the countries and the well-being of the peoples in the region,” the embassy in Manila said. 

China along with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are working on a “Code of Conduct” (COC) in the South China Sea in an attempt to manage tensions between countries with respective claims.

Asserting the Hague ruling?

On Thursday, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Daniel Espiritu confirmed Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo’s attendace to the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting next week.

Manalo is expected to assert the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Hague ruling to underscore the country’s position on the disputed waters.

READ: Philippines to assert arbitral ruling at ASEAN foreign ministers’ meet 

The historic arbitral award invalidated China’s nine-dash claims over the South China Sea and instead provided that the area is part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf through the West Philippine Sea.

However, when asked if the Philippines is still pushing for the award to specifically be included in the COC, Espiritu said everything is still in the air with negotiations ongoing. He explained that countries have yet to reach a consensus on the document.

“We are asserting the Hague ruling but whatever is on the Hague ruling are only reflections of the specific provisions in UNCLOS,” he said. “The moment we use UNCLOS in the COC, in the negotiations of the COC and it’s resulting mechanisms I guess that will already be enough.”

“In fact, UNCLOS is bigger than the arbitral award so we have to be more flexible on that.”

Since 2016, the Philippines has filed over 200 diplomatic protests against China. Manalo recently called the ruling “indisputable,” while Beijing refuses to recognize the arbitral award, calling it “illegal, null and void.”

READ: After 6th Hague ruling anniversary, China insists tribunal decision is 'illegal' 

The DFA believes the chief executive has already made clear his position on the disputed waters through his State of the Nation Address.

Delivered earlier this week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said: “We will stand firm in our independent foreign policy, with the national interest as our primordial guide.”