‘China must adhere to international laws’

Palace welcomes Obama support

China must adhere to international laws for the sake of regional peace and stability, Malacañang emphasized yesterday as it welcomed fresh assurances of support from United States President Barack Obama and other world leaders in seeking a diplomatic solution to the West Philippine Sea dispute.

“We note that in his most recent remarks in Jamaica, President Obama has reaffirmed the solidarity of the United States with the Philippines in upholding the principle that disputes on maritime entitlements in the South China Sea must be resolved diplomatically and in accordance with international law,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

Asked whether China was changing the game through massive reclamation activities in the Spratly islands group, Coloma stressed that as a member of the United Nations, China was expected to abide by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that delineates the maritime entitlements of countries.

Obama expressed concern at a town- hall event in Kingston, Jamaica Thursday over China’s use of its “sheer size and muscle” to push around small countries like the Philippines and Vietnam in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea.

Coloma said China’s growing aggression was the reason why the Philippines submitted a memorial

or written argument of its position on the issue to the UN arbitral tribunal in The Hague.

He added President Aquino would likely raise the issue at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia later this month.

In the ASEAN summits in Cambodia in 2012, Brunei Darussalam in 2013 and Myanmar last year, Coloma said Aquino had consistently advocated the fleshing out of a legally binding code of conduct of parties in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea to ensure peace and stability in the region.

Coloma said it was reasonable to expect that Aquino and the other ASEAN leaders would engage in continuing dialogue and discuss how developments in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea would be addressed, with the end in view of helping member- countries attain their shared vision of a united and politically secured bloc.

He said “a rules- based community” with shared values and norms would be key to achieving a cohesive, peaceful, stable and resilient region.

Coloma emphasized that countries must have a shared responsibility for comprehensive security and should work for “a dynamic and outwardlooking region in an increasingly integrated and interdependent world.”

Obama raised his concerns over China just hours after Beijing gave a detailed defense of its creation of artificial islands in the contested waterway.

Backing for Phl position

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB the country’s position on the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea has received broad international support because the country has taken the peaceful track.

“We have committed to pursuing our cause through recognized fora, and that we continue to adopt the rules-based approach; meaning, we will follow the ways laid down under international law to fight for what is ours... This support is manifested in so many ways by members of the global community,” Valte said.

Valte said the government was exhausting all diplomatic and legal means to address the issue.

She said it would be up to the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to study proposals for increased presence of US and Philippine troops in the West Philippine Sea to protect the country’s sovereignty.

China’s rapid reclamation around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago in the West Philippine Sea has alarmed other claimants, including Vietnam, and drawn growing criticism of Beijing from US government officials and the military.

While the new islands are not likely to overturn US military superiority in the region, workers are building ports and fuel storage depots and possibly two airstrips that experts have said would allow Beijing to project power deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

“Where we get concerned with China is where it is not necessarily abiding by international norms and rules and is using its sheer size and muscle to force countries into subordinate positions,” Obama said in Jamaica ahead of a Caribbean summit in Panama.

“We think this can be solved diplomatically, but just because the Philippines or Vietnam are not as large as China doesn’t mean that they can just be elbowed aside,” he said.

China claims most of the potentially energy rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.

China, which has asked Washington not to take sides in the row, says it is willing to discuss the issue with individual countries directly involved in the dispute.

However, it has refused to participate in an international arbitration case filed by the Philippines in The Hague.

Growing concerns

For the Department of Foreign Affairs, the US statements reflect a growing international concern over Chinese reclamation activities.

“The US has issued recent statements on China’s massive reclamation activities. These statements, and those of other nations, reflect growing international concern over these reclamations that are contrary to international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and undermine our collective efforts to build regional security and stability,” the DFA said in a statement.

It said the Philippines’ arbitration case based on UNCLOS is Manila’s way of asserting its maritime entitlements through peaceful means.

“Developments in the South China Sea concern not only the claimant states and the region, but also the international community. All should contribute to efforts to establish a regional architecture based on the rule of law,” the DFA said.

The Philippines, the DFA pointed out, would continue to work with ASEAN and other responsible members of the international community to address China’s unilateral and aggressive actions.

The DFA said Beijing’s action was a direct challenge to the rule of law, and done without regard to risk to peace and stability in the region.