The foreign minister urged the U.S. to honor its commitment to not taking sides on issues related to sovereignty disputes, to be prudent in its actions and words, and to not take any action that infringes upon the sovereignty and security interests of China.
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Facing China’s claim in the South China Sea, the Philippines submitted a case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague a year ago arguing that the land formations Beijing claims in the South China Sea are nothing more than reefs and are therefore not entitled to 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones.
It will be recalled that on October 29, 2015, the tribunal found that it had jurisdiction to hear the Philippines’ case against China’s so-called nine-dash line claiming virtually all of the South China Sea, and that China as a State Party to UNCLOS would be bound by its decision even if it chose not to participate in the proceedings.
Regardless of its ruling, China will “resolutely safeguard its own territorial sovereignty and legitimate maritime rights and firmly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea”, added Mr Wang.
Ahead of the tribunal ruling, diplomatic sources said Asia-Pacific foreign ministers are preparing to call both China and the United States to dial down tensions over the matter. Laos is the current Asean chair.
Subjecting the case to arbitration also undermined the military aspect of the dispute and instead highlighted the primacy of worldwide law, Pangalangan said, which becomes a venue for alliance-building.
Most officials and analysts expect the arbitral tribunal’s decision to go against China, depriving it of its basis in claiming nearly all of the South China Sea.
Recently, US destroyers – Spruance, Momsen and Stethem – sailed close to Chinese-held reefs and islands in the South China Sea.
USA officials have said Washington could respond to Chinese nonobservance of the court ruling with increased freedom-of-navigation patrols close to the islands.
Yi also reiterated that China remains committed to peacefully resolving the disputes through negotiations and consultations with directly involved countries.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Lieutenant Clint Ramsden said he could not go into operational or tactical details but that the patrols were part of a “routine presence”.
China claims around 90 percent of the Sea – one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes believed to be sitting atop huge oil and gas deposits – but Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also consider some of the waters, islands and reefs in the area to be their territory.
China should prepare for military confrontation in the South China Sea, an influential state-run paper said yesterday (4 July).
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Ban, whose second term as United Nations secretary-general runs out at the end of the year, said, “The world will look to China to complement its remarkable economic progress by giving citizens a full say and a role in the political life of their country”.
