The Philippines said on Wednesday it was “gravely concerned” that Chinese boats were preparing to build structures at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, shattering an appearance of cordiality at an Asian summit in Laos.
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This week, a swarm of Chinese coast guard ships and six vessels have been stationed near the waters of the Philippine-claimed Scarborough Shoal prompting Manila to file a diplomatic protest with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jinhua. These claims by China overlap with those of the Philippines and some other Asean countries.
Liu was referring to an global arbitration case, brought and won by Manila, which ruled in July that China’s building of numerous artificial islands was illegal and its claims to most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.
The U.S. military has also expressed concerns over the possibility that China might turn Scarborough into another island, something that would give Beijing’s forces control over a swath of the South China Sea used as a passageway to the Taiwan Strait.
One of the agreements deals with unplanned encounters in the South China Sea.
The Philippines has repeatedly urged China to respect global law in resolving maritime territorial disputes and stressed that any talks would have to be based on the court’s ruling.
The CSIS researchers said that while the incidents involved conflicts between states, the Chinese Coast Guard’s actions should not be taken lightly.
A Philippine official accompanying President Duterte said the government found it tough to explain why Filipino fishermen can not go back and fish in the area even after The Hague’s ruling.
On Wednesday the Philippines released photos to back its claims. He refused to comment if the Philippine policy was to prevent any country from constructing at or transforming Scarborough, a coral reef, into an island.
The Philippines and China stressed yesterday the need to craft a framework for a code of conduct for claimants in the South China Sea and to settle territorial disputes peacefully.
But the release of the photographs came just a few hours before Duterte and other leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations met China’s premier Li Keqiang.
Japan is “seriously concerned” about Beijing’s increasingly muscular claims in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Asian leaders Wednesday.
“The Chinese side has maintained a number of coast guard vessels for law enforcement patrols in the waters of Huangyan Dao”, the embassy said, referring to the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal.
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US President Barack Obama is also in Laos for the regional meetings, which will conclude on Thursday with an East Asia summit.
