Finally, after months of lip service, America has decided to sail the talk in the South China Sea.
On Oct. 27, the US warship USS Lassen sailed past inside 12 miles of Subi Reef in disputed waters of the South China Sea. China, of course, is aghast and has made vague threats of retaliation.
According to The Economist, America called USS Lassen’s sail-by a routine “freedom of navigation” operation (FONOP in the jargon), of a type it conducts all over the world “in accordance with international law”. China reacted furiously, accusing America of having “illegally entered” its waters, threatening “China’s sovereignty and security interests.”
The leaders of 21 nations on the Pacific Ocean will meet in Manila mid-November for the so-called Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. They include United States President Barack Obama and China President Xi Jinping. Our very own President BS Aquino III, unabashedly pro-American, plays host.
Having demonstrated America’s firepower in the South China Sea, Obama arrives in Manila with plenty of superpower gravitas. Xi, for his part, brings plenty of near gratis money—money for development. Cambodia is taking advantage of it. Indonesia too.
There is another reason why the US is making a show of force in the South China Sea. It wants our Supreme Court to declare the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement—the Edca—constitutional Edca is jargon for the return of US military bases. You don’t run a military base without nuclear weapons. But nuclear weapons in military bases are banned in the Constitution.
The Philippines cannot avail itself of Chinese money because supposedly, China is our enemy, although in truth, Filipinos have more relatives and friends in China than they do in America.
China is lending more money now to developing nations than does the World Bank. Not only that, China has created its own World Bank—the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. The Philippines did not join the AIIB again, because China is supposed to be our enemy. What stupidity!
Meanwhile, Subi is one of seven reefs or rocks occupied by China. The others are: Gaven Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, Cuarteron Reef, Johnson Reef, Hughes Reef, and Mischief Reef. The seven reefs are inside a body of water measuring 150 miles in length and 180 miles in width, with Subi being north and Cuarteron being on the southwest. The nearest island to Philippine territory is Mischief Reef on the east. Mischief is, in fact, part of the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.
Subi is claimed by the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. In two of the reefs, China has built runways extending up to 3 kilometers—long enough to service jumbo jets like the 747.
The south, west and north edges of Subi have been reclaimed by China creating a lagoon or harbor better than Manila Bay, making it ideal for a naval base in the future. Since Subi now looks like an island and apparently habitable, China now claims a 12-mile territorial waters from its ouster edge.
Under the United Nations Law of the Sea, a nation can claim a 12-mile territorial waters from a structure’s shoreline if the structure is an island and is habitable—meaning human beings can live there. In addition to the 12 miles, an island would also be entitled to a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. An EEZ does not entitle a nation to sovereignty but confers exclusive economic use of its waters, minerals, fisheries and other resources.
That is why the USS Lassen approached Subi because it is a reef and not an island, and therefore, it is not entitled to a 12-mile territorial claim, nor to a 200-mile EEZ. Subi, in fact, is often submerged in waters, making it clearly unqualified to be claimed as an island.
China, of course, protests the intrusion, as if indeed it owned Subi and that it was an island. Beijing claims Subi by reason of history, a claim which is not recognized under the UNCLOS. Creating islands by reclamation and insisting on a 12-mile territorial waters are also not allowed under the UNCLOS.
The United States has not ratified the UNCLOS but has proclaimed itself the referee in the South China Sea disputes on the basis of its being a military superpower. China has ratified the UNCLOS but uses only those provisions that help its claims.
In March 2013, China updated its nine-dash line map. It became 10 dashes. The 10th dash is on the eastern side of Taiwan.
With China’s 10-dash line map, according to Justice Tony Carpio, the Philippines loses about 80 percent of its Exclusive Economic Zone facing the West Philippine Sea, including the entire Reed Bank and part of the Malampaya gas field.
Malaysia loses also about 80 percent of its EEZ in Sabah and Sarawak facing the South China Sea, as well as most of its active gas and oil fields in the same area.
Vietnam loses about 50 percent of its total EEZ. Brunei loses about 90 percent of its total EEZ.
Indonesia loses about 30 percent of its EEZ facing the South China Sea in Natuna Islands, whose surrounding waters comprise the largest gas field in Southeast Asia.