The maritime standoff between the Philippines and China took center stage in an international security conference in Munich, Germany when diplomats representing countries separated by hotly contested waters traded barbs during a forum that spotlighted their souring relations.
During the forum, titled, “Making Waves: Maritime Tensions in the Indo-Pacific,” China’s former deputy foreign minister Fu Ying said Beijing would not accept the Philippines’ occupation of shoals and atolls in the South China Sea.
“China cannot agree for the Philippines to occupy Second Thomas Shoal and Sabina Shoal, because that is a violation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” the former Chinese official said, referring to a non-binding document signed by Beijing and ASEAN countries.
Fu insisted that the document’s language – in particular, a pledge to “not to make more moves” – was watered down at Manila’s request to entice the country to sign.
The declaration asks signatories to exercise “self-restraint” when conducting activities that would “complicate or escalate disputes”, and refrain from building on the sea’s uninhabited features.
For his part, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said non-compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is “creating tensions” in the busy maritime corridor that has become a flashpoint for conflict in recent years.
The Philippines’ top diplomat said his country was following international law, and slammed “countries who reinterpret [UNCLOS] or apply their own domestic laws to certain areas and try to enforce them”.
“The best way to reduce tensions in the South China Sea is for countries who have signed on for agreements, such as Unclos, to abide by these agreements. But it is not the case,” he said without directly naming China.
Manalo pointed out that adding that “rich, powerful” countries were in a position to “assert their own laws against weaker countries, leading to greater contention.”
As this developed, the Philippines has no expansionist ambitions and is not interfering with other countries’ territory, a military spokesperson said on Sunday.
“The good thing to point out here is that our country is not expansionist. We do not interfere with the territory of other countries. We are merely defending our own territory that is within international laws.” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Margareth Padilla said in an interview.
She responded to a statement from Southern Theater Command spokesperson Tian Junli, who accused the Philippines of attempting to conceal its supposed illegal actions infringing on China’s maritime rights and destabilizing peace in the region through military provocations and media sensationalism.
The AFP official referenced the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which dismissed China’s sweeping claims over the WPS and affirmed the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the region.
“The international law has already stated what is our exclusive economic zone, and that is what we are defending. We are not expanding to other areas.” she added.
The WPS encompasses the maritime areas west of the Philippine archipelago, including the Luzon Sea and the waters surrounding, within, and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal). With Rex Espiritu