INTRODUCTION
Six nations – China and five ASEAN countries, including the Philippines – have conflicting territorial and maritime claims on the South China Sea.Justice Antonio Carpio, in his primer “The south China ” said the primary driver of the dispute in the South China Sea is the 9-dashed Lines Map adopted by the Kuomintang Government in China in December 1947.China is claiming “indisputable sovereignty” to all the islands and waters enclosed by the nine U-shaped lines that enclose 85.7 percent of the entire South China Sea.Carpio said China’s claim to these waters, equivalent to 3 million square kilometers out of the sea’s 3.5 million square kilometers surface area of the South China Sea, has triggered several disputes that include, among others:
- territorial disputes in the Spratly Islands between the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei;
- territorial dispute between the Philippines and China over Scarborough Shoal, and
- maritime dispute between China on one side and on the other side, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia as these countries resist China’s 9-dashed Lines claim as it encroaches on their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZs).
These EEZs are covered by the United Nation’s 1982 Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). On July 12, a UN arbitration tribunal is expected to issue a ruling on one of these disputes – the maritime case filed by the Philippines against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague – on whether the Philippines’ rights to its EEZ under UNCLOS were violated by China.
The Philippines’ EEZ is part of the “West Philippine Sea” that includes:
- Luzon Sea;
- Kalayaan Group of Islands in Palawan, and
- the Panatag Shoal (called internationally as Scarborough Shoal and Huangyan Island by China).
Panatag Shoal’s old Spanish name was Bajo de Masinloc, meaning lower Masinloc. It is located 124 nautical miles west of Zambales in the South China Sea and is part of the municipality of Masinloc, Zambales.The shoal, made up of a triangular chain of rocks and coral reefs, is a fertile fishing ground located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.However, China took control of Panatag Shoal in 2012 and built an artificial island in the Fiery Cross Reef, called Kagitingan Reef by the Philippines.China also built a 55-meter-high lighthouse in Subi Reef, called Zamora Reef by the Philippines.In 2013, the Philippines brought the maritime dispute before the PCA because of China’s actions. China, however, insisted that it has historic rights that predates UNCLOS, citing the 9-dashed lines claim.
The South China Sea covers more than 3 million square kilometers (1.16 million square miles), ringed by southern China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Borneo island, and mainland Southeast Asia.
Most of its hundreds of small islands, islets and rocks were originally uninhabited. The Paracel and Spratly chains contain the biggest islands. Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal) is a small outcrop in the east.
Read More: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/573232/the-philippines-and-china-the-west-philippine-sea-dispute/story/
CHINA’S POWER
China has in recent years sought to dramatically expand its presence in the sea, raising tensions with its neighbors and beyond.In 2012, China gave new powers to Sansha, a city on Hainan island, to administer Chinese rule over its South China Sea domain.Since then, it has conducted massive dredging and artificial island-building activities in the Spratlys, dwarfing the scale of reclamation work of other claimants.The Pentagon said China added 3,200 acres (1,295 hectares) of land to the seven features it occupies. Beijing installed structures on these new islands, including radar systems and runways long enough for huge commercial or military planes.Chinese coast guard vessels have become an ever-growing presence in the key parts of the sea, being used to guard Scarborough Shoal and perform other security duties. The Philippines protested in 2014 after Chinese coast guard vessels prevented the rotation and resupply of Philippine soldiers stationed at Second Thomas Shoal
THE PHILIPPINES WON IN INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE AGAINST CHINA
The Philippine delegation argues its case against China’s “nine-dash line” claim in the South China Sea before the International tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Photo: Permanent Court of Arbitration
It has finally been decided that the Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea (in the South China Sea) and that China’s “nine-dash line” is invalid, according to the United Nations (UN) Arbitral Tribunal.The Tribunal issued its Award Tuesday after several months of hearings and submission of documents. China was absent throughout the proceedings, refusing to recognize the case.“The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line,” the statement released to the media said.“Having found that none of the features claimed by China was capable of generating an exclusive economic zone, the Tribunal found that it could—without delimiting a boundary—declare that certain sea areas are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, because those areas are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China,” it added.
Read more: https://globalnation.inquirer.net/140358/philippines-arbitration-decision-maritime-dispute-south-china-sea-arbitral-tribunal-unclos-itlos#ixzz5XSGlhENI
THE ISLAND IN WEST PHILIPPINE SEA
HOW CAN WE DEFEND OUR TERRITORY IF OUR DEFENSE ARMY IS LIKE THIS?
WHEN WILL IT END?
REN LIGUTAN'S BLOG 