FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. on Tuesday revealed that he had turned down a Chinese proposal to start bilateral talks because Beijing wanted to set aside last week’s worldwide arbitration tribunal ruling on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) dispute.
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Yasay said that he and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had the chance to discuss the tribunal’s ruling at the sidelines of the Asia-Europe meeting in Mongolia last weekend.
“I told him that this is something that was not consistent with our constitution and our national interest”.
The Hague-based court ruled that China’s claims under the so-called “nine-dash line” violates the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which sets a country’s maritime boundaries 22 kilometers from its coast, and control over economic activities up to 370 kilometers from its coast.
Yasay said that during his exchange with Wang, he underlined his wish to see assurance of Filipino fishermen having access to the disputed Scarborough Shoal, from where Chinese Coast Guard vessels reportedly turned Philippine fishing crew away just days after the ruling.
Following last week’s ruling that Beijing had no legal claim in the South China Sea, many Chinese citizens are blaming the US.
China rejects Hague PCA ruling in Philippines’s favour.
“More longstanding issues, including from North Korea, territorial disputes over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea between Japan and China, and cross-strait relations between Taiwan and the mainland have the potential to flare up”, it said.
China last week denounced a UN-backed tribunal’s finding that there was no legal basis for its claims to most of the strategic, resource-rich waters, provoking stern warnings from leaders from Japan to the European Union that it must respect the rule-based global order.
China on Monday (July 18) said in a statement that it would close a part of the South China Sea between Tuesday (July 19) and Thursday (July 21) for military exercises, EFE news reported.
Those in the Manila government expressed hope that, because China’s illegally constructed islands pose a direct threat to American military assets, there is no incentive for Washington to cave on their promises to protect the region.
“I appreciate the opportunity to visit China and to meet with Adm. Wu in person-there is no substitute for these types of face-to-face meetings”, said Admiral Richardson.
China refuses to recognise the ruling and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines.
Japan, the USA and others backed the arbitration process and have urged all parties to respect the ruling.
China’s air force also said on its microblog that it had recently carried out “normal battle patrols” in the South China Sea involving bombers, spy planes and flying tankers.
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“We will never stop our construction on the Nansha Islands halfway”, Wu Shengli, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, told United States counterpart Admiral John Richardson, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
