Manila to propose moratorium on activities in South China Sea
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Move comes after Beijing starts building a school on contested Paracel islands
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Monday said the country would propose to Asean a moratorium on activities in the South China Sea that raise tensions in disputed waters.
Del Rosario said this two days after China began building a school on an island in the Paracels, which Vietnam is contesting.
Speaking in a television interview, he said he expected China to push more aggressively its expansion plan in the South China Sea.
Del Rosario said he found “reasonable” a suggestion from Danny Russel, the top US diplomat in Asia, for a freeze in activities of all the claimants to territory in the South China Sea that escalate tensions, while a code of conduct was being worked out.
He said he would propose that Asean call for a moratorium, which could be done this year, and added that the Philippines was supporting the Indonesian proposal for a meeting on tensions in the South China Sea.
“We are looking for a consensus, and then setting a meeting,” said the minister.
China responded to the Philippines’ call for a moratorium on all activities in the South China Sea – parts of which are referred to by Manila as the West Philippine Sea – by demanding that the Philippines withdraw all its facilities and personnel on islands it occupies in the Spratlys.
“We demand the Philippines to withdraw all its facilities and personnel on islands illegally seized from China,” Chinese Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said in a press conference on Monday. A transcript of her statement was obtained by INQUIRER.net.
“Since the 1970s, the Philippines has illegally and forcefully occupied parts of China’s Nansha Islands [Spratly Islands], including Zhongye Island (Pag-asa Island), in violation of the United Nations Charter and principles of international law,” she said.
China has recently been found to be conducting reclamation activities in at least five reefs, turning them into artificial islands.
Hua accused the Philippines of taking provocative actions and making irresponsible remarks against China.
“Last December, the Philippines’ Defence Ministry announced that they would invest large sums of money to upgrade the airstrips and naval facilities on Zhongye Island. In January this year, the Philippines’ military officials again announced their plans to build a world-class airport on the so-called Kalayaan Island,” she said.
“The Philippine side, on the one hand, intentionally takes provocative actions while on the other hand makes irresponsible remarks on China’s legitimate actions which are within China’s sovereignty. That is unjustifiable,” she added.
The Philippines and China are locked in a maritime dispute over the West Philippine Sea. An arbitration case before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea is ongoing, despite China’s refusal to participate.
