Source: Sun Star
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario hit China on Sunday over the alleged increasing militarization of the South China Sea.
Speaking at the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Ministerial Meeting in Brunei, Del Rosario said the massive presence of Chinese military and paramilitary ships in Scarborough Shoal or the Bajo de Masinloc and around Ayungin Shoal, which are integral part of Philippine territory, were threats to efforts to maintain maritime peace and stability in the region.
He said the persistence of destabilizing actions in the West Philippine Sea or the South China Sea continues to pose serious challenges for the whole region.
“This is a violation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC),” he said.
The DFA chief said the Philippines reiterates its continued advocacy for a peaceful and rules-based settlement of disputes in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law.
He said the operational application of a rules-based approach in the resolution and management of disputes in the South China Sea involves two complementary components: the expeditious arbitration of maritime disputes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), and the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct between Asean and China.
Del Rosario underscored the clarification of maritime entitlements, which the Philippines seeks via its recourse to arbitration under the Unclos, promotes the primacy of the rule of law in inter-state relations.
“The legal track does not constitute abandonment of diplomatic avenues. We continue to exert efforts to move forward and enhance our relations with China on the basis of mutual respect and sovereign equality. Neither does the case diminish our zeal to pursue a binding Code of Conduct,” he said.
“As we all exert efforts toward the early conclusion of a binding Code of Conduct, in the interim, it is our expectation that all parties would comply in utmost good faith with all the provisions of the DOC,” he added.
The Foreign Affairs secretary said that a secure and stable environment and enhanced well-being of people are imperatives to ensure the peace and prosperity of the region.
“If we are to live up to our vision of a politically cohesive, economically integrated and people-oriented Asean Community, then now, more than ever, is the time to reaffirm our own remarkable brand of unity amidst diversity,” he said.
China has been claiming the entire South China Sea through a nine-dash line theory. (SDR/Sunnex)
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