MALACAÑANG has acknowledged serious concerns raised here and abroad over the unrelenting Chinese reclamations in parts of the Kalayaan Island Group belonging to the municipality of Kalayaan, Palawan, but the Palace has yet to confirm if President Aquino is ready to convene the National Security Council (NSC) to tackle the matter.
“The concern regarding freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea is shared not only by claimant-countries, like the Philippines, but also by other responsible members of the international community,” Palace Deputy Spokesman Abigail Valte said on Friday.
Valte added: “Other issues at stake include the unimpeded flow of commerce and the region’s marine environment, which are legitimate concerns shared by other nations, such as the United States.”
Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario agreed that the South China Sea dispute is seen “as the most important issue in the world today.”
Speaking at the launch of the US-Philippines Strategic Initiative (USPSI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., del Rosario also noted that “the goals of the US and China are so diametrically opposed, the outcome of the contest is capable of impacting international order,” in apparent reference to the serious threats to navigational freedom and world commerce given that half of global trade passes through those maritime areas.
Officials mum on NSC
MALACAÑANG officials, however, were mum, when asked on Friday if President Aquino would heed proposals to convene the NSC to address a problem seen to arise from massive Chinese reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea, which straddles vital sea lanes.
A Department of Foreign Affairs official earlier suggested convening the NSC to tackle the sea row with China as “a step in the right direction” given the unabated Chinese encroachments and rapid reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea territories.
But DFA Spokesman Charles C. Jose could not confirm if the proposal had been formally conveyed to Malacañang and whether President Aquino already agreed to convene the NSC.
The proposal for the President to call a meeting of the NSC, which includes top officials from the foreign affairs and security clusters, was first suggested last year in the wake of reports citing Chinese intrusions and reclamation work in the Mischief Reef and adjacent islets.
After the reported Chinese encroachments were verified, del Rosario himself warned that China would eventually enjoy de facto control of vital sea lanes in the West Philippine Sea, if left unchecked.
US Navy patrols
THE proposed US military “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea may prod China to more clearly explain what it considers to be its territory—and why.
While countries like the US and the Philippines have long urged China to set out the legal basis for its claim to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, leaders in Beijing have relied on history and a nine-dash line drawn on a 1940s map, alongside their increased military clout.
Now, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has asked the Pentagon to consider expanding patrols in disputed areas of the sea, including into a 12-nautical-mile (22-kilometer) radius of the reefs China has been building on. Such actions, known as freedom of navigation challenges, could elicit protests from China and pressure it to explain the rationale for its assertions.
“The point is to put as many pressure points on China at every opportunity, without being overly aggressive, and make it more and more uncomfortable about what they are doing and what they are claiming,” said Gregory Poling, a Southeast Asia specialist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Keeping tensions down in the waters is key, given about half the world’s merchant ships pass through the area every year. Freedom of navigation operations is not unusual for the US Navy, which in the year to September 2014 challenged 19 nations, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, for the way they manage their territorial waters.
Alongside China, five other governments, including those of Vietnam and Taiwan, contest territory. China’s reclamation work, where it has been creating artificial islands, has set off alarms that its ultimate aim is control of the South China Sea.
Submerged rocks
While saying that it takes no sides in the disputes, the US contends that China’s claims are ambiguous because maritime territory is derived from land features under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), which China has ratified.
The Philippines has sought international arbitration under Unclos for its dispute with China over the Spratly Islands. China has said it will only discuss the spat directly with the government in Manila.
Any US naval operation could involve its vessels passing close to the structures China is building on rocks and reefs that are submerged at high tide. These aren’t legally entitled to a 12-nautical-mile territorial zone under the Unclos.
“New features built on low-tide elevations are legally artificial islands entitled under international law to no more than a 500-meter [1,640-foot] safety zone,” said Poling.
If China were to protest US vessels sailing too close to one of these features, it would be obliged to argue that the former low-tide elevation is now a rock or an island. “That would place Beijing in an absurd legal position,” Poling said.