China UNFAIRLY CASTIGATED Over South China Sea
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Beijing - Relations between China and Philippines are strained due to claims in the South China Sea. This is seen by some as a case of a big power bullying its small neighbour, and they want China to show more generosity towards the Philippines. In fact,
The Philippines claims that the arrest of Chinese fishermen in April last year was due to their intrusion into Philippines’ territorial waters. This is not true. The Huangyan Island (also known as Scarborough Shoal) is China’s territory. China conducted surveys of the South China Sea, including Huangyan Island in the 13th century during the Yuan Dynasty.
Since then, China has exercised sovereignty over Huangyan Island through domestic legislation and administrative jurisdiction.
On the contrary, the Philippines never claimed sovereignty over Huangyan Island before 1997. In accordance with international treaties and Philippine laws, 118 degrees east longitude is the western limit of Philippine territory. Huangyan Island is outside this point. Even the official maps of the Philippines in 2011 marked Huangyan Island as outside Philippine territory.
What is puzzling is that since 1997, the Philippines revealed its intention to occupy Huangyan Island by harassing and blocking Chinese fishermen, and by amending the Philippine Territorial Sea Baselines Act in 2009, with inappropriate citation of the so-called “geographic proximity” principle to unilaterally include Huangyan Island into its territory.
When 12 fishing boats from China were operating in a Huangyan Island lagoon on April 10, 2012, the Philippine Navy arrested all the fishermen and maltreated them, which angered the Chinese public.
On this issue, China is a victim rather than the provocateur. The Ren’ai Reef (also known as the Second Thomas Shoal) is another point of contention between China and the Philippines. According to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), pending the peaceful settlement of territorial and jurisdictional disputes, the parties should “undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability including, among others, refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays and other features, and to handle their differences in aconstructive manner”. China aways adheres to this and takes no actions that may complicate or escalate the situation.
The Philippines, on the contrary, grounded an old warship on the Ren’ai Reef as early as 1999. The Chinese government had repeatedly demanded the Philippines tow away the ship. The Philippine government keeps evading and postponing by citing a lack of component parts, while reinforcing personnel rotation on the warship. There are signs now that, instead of dragging away the warship, the Philippines may be shipping more materials to reinforce its existence, which is obviously against the DOC’s spirit.
The Philippines has been claiming loudly that it will push forward the consultations on the Code of Conduct (COC), while turning a blind eye to the basic articles of the DOC.
China and Asean countries have unanimously agreed to implement the DOC and hold discussions on the COC. While other parties are making positive efforts towards this end, the Philippines is going its own way. The Philippines is fully aware that the issue of sovereignty over islands or reefs is not under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but has insisted on submitting the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for arbitration.
As early as 2006 the Chinese government made a declaration in accordance with UNCLOS that it does not accept any compulsory procedures entailing binding decisions, arbitration included, over disputes regarding such matters as maritime delimitation and territorial sovereignty. As a result, the Philippines’ litigation request has been declined by China. The Philippines should be aware of the negative implication of submitting issues to the court in oriental culture. Even so, China has never closed the door to bilateral consultation with the Philippines.
Territorial claims in the South China Sea are a long-running issue between China and a few countries in Southeast Asia. The Chinese government has maintained smooth communication with previous Philippine governments on this issue. Why did the issue suddenly escalate over the last two years and become a problem and barrier between the two countries? We hope the Philippines and our Asean friends can take that into serious consideration.
Zheng Xin is a writer on international issues.
