Author Topic: ‘No basis in China’s historical right over West Phl Sea’  (Read 1403 times)

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‘No basis in China’s historical right over West Phl Sea’

By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star)
March 10, 2014

MANILA, Philippines - China’s most salient argument in its territorial claim over the West Philippine Sea – its historical right – holds no water, according to a senior justice of the Supreme Court (SC).

“China’s claim to a historical right to the waters enclosed within the nine-dash lines in the South China Sea is utterly without basis under international law,” Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said, echoing what he said is “almost universal opinion of non-Chinese scholars on the law of the sea.”

In his speech during the 19th National Convention and Seminar of the Philippine Women Judges Association last week, Carpio cited China’s claim of “historical facts” on Scarborough Shoal.

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China claims that Scarborough Shoal, which it calls Huangyan Island, is the Nanhai Island that 13th century Chinese astronomer-engineer-mathematician Guo Shoujing allegedly visited in 1279 on the order of Kublai Khan, the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, to conduct a survey of the Four Seas to update the Sung Dynasty calendar system.

This supposed visit of Gou Shoujing to Scarborough Shoal in 1279 is the only historical link that China claims to Scarborough Shoal. 

But Carpio stressed that China already used the same claim in another territorial dispute – against Vietnam over the Paracels islands.

He cited a January 30, 1980 document titled “China’s Sovereignty Over Xisha and Zhongsa Islands Is Indisputable” published in Beijing Review, saying that China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially declared that the Nanhai Island that Guo Shoujing visited in 1279 was in Xisha or what is internationally called the Paracels, a group of islands more than 380 NM from Scarborough Shoal.

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“China issued this official document to bolster its claim to the Paracels to counter Vietnam’s strong historical claims to the same islands. The astronomical observation point Nanhai was today’s Xisha Islands. It shows that Xisha Islands were within the bounds of China at the time of the Yuan dynasty,” Carpio pointed out.

Carpio, who has apparently been studying the territorial dispute pending before the United Nations International Tribunal on Law of the Seas (ITLOS), also noted that it is puzzling how Guo Shoujing went ashore to “visit” Scarborough Shoal when “it was just a rock, with no vegetation, and did not even have enough space to accommodate an expedition party.”

“Worse, the Chinese historical account that Guo Shoujing installed one of the 27 Chinese observatories on Nanhai Island clearly rules out any possibility that Scarborough is Nanhai Island because no observatory could have possibly been physically installed on Scarborough Shoal at that time,” he added.

Assuming China’s historical claim is valid, it should no longer be honored under international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Carpio said.

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“First, UNCLOS extinguished all historical rights of other states within the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone of the adjacent coastal state. That is why this 200 NM zone is called ‘exclusive’ – no state other than the adjacent coastal state can exploit economically its resources. Fishing rights that other states historically enjoyed within the EEZ of a coastal state automatically terminated upon the effectivity of UNCLOS,” he explained.

“Moreover, UNCLOS prohibits states from making any reservation or exception to UNCLOS unless expressly allowed by UNCLOS.  Any reservation of claims to historical rights over the EEZ or ECS of another coastal state is prohibited because UNCLOS does not expressly allow a state to claim historical rights to the EEZ or ECS of another state. In short, UNCLOS does not recognize ‘historical rights’ as basis for claiming the EEZs or ECSs of other coastal states,” he added.

The SC justice also argued that a state can only claim “historical rights” over waters that are part of its internal waters or territorial sea.

“The South China Sea, beyond the 12 NM territorial sea of coastal states, has never been considered as the internal waters or territorial sea of any state. Since time immemorial, ships of all nations have exercised freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” he noted.

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“If the South China Sea were the internal waters or territorial sea of China, then no state could have exercised freedom of navigation and freedom of over-flight over the South China Sea,” he added.

In other words, Carpio said China’s claim to the waters enclosed by the nine-dash line claim does not fall under any of the maritime zones – internal waters, territorial sea, EEZ and ECS – recognized by UNCLOS that can be claimed by a coastal state. 

Lastly, the SC justice said China failed to satisfy any of the conditions to claim historical rights under the general principles and rules of international law: formal announcement to the international community, continuous exercise of sovereignty over the waters it claims as its own internal waters or territorial sea, and recognition and tolerance from other states.

China’s nine-dash line claim was “never effectively enforced.”

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“China officially notified the world of its nine-dash line claim only in 2009 when China submitted the nine-dash line map to the United Nations Secretary General. Not a single country in the world recognizes, respects, tolerates or acquiesces to China’s nine-dash line claim,” Carpio stressed.

And while the issue has not yet reached the High Court, Carpio said the government should fight China’s claim that puts at stake 80 percent of its exclusive economic zone and 100 percent of its extended continental shelf in the West Philippines Sea.

It was not the first time Carpio publicly defended the government’s claim on the disputed islands and waters.

Last year, the magistrate said he believes the Philippines will win the arbitration case before ITLOS. But at the same time, he was pessimistic as to whether China would comply with a hostile ruling. Because of this, he said international support to the Philippines’ case would be vital.

http://www.philstar.com/

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Analysis

China rides roughshod on neighbors

By Amando Doronila
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Monday, March 10th, 2014

The Philippines and the United States on Saturday jointly expressed concern over recent incidents in the South China Sea that “threaten freedom of navigation in disputed waters,” an apparent reference to China’s increasing assertiveness in pressing its territorial claims in the region.

In a joint statement at the conclusion of bilateral talks in Washington on March 6-7 ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region in April, the two allies “emphasized the importance of upholding peace and stability, respect for international law, unimpeded commerce, and freedom of navigation and overflight.”

Although the statement did not directly refer to China and did not specify any “developments,” it clearly referred to China’s enforcement at the start of the year of a new fisheries law requiring foreign vessels to first seek its permission before exploring waters it considered part of its territory and the water cannon attack by Chinese Coast Guard vessels on two Philippine fishing boats on the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) on Jan. 27.

The Obama visit is expected to determine up to what extent the United States will back the Philippines in defending its territory from further Chinese incursions.

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Diplomatic solution

The joint statement called for a “diplomatic” solution and, expressing concern that some “certain assertions” made were “vague,” said claimant nations should clarify their claims.

Without directly referring to it, the Philippines and the United States publicly rejected China’s nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea, saying it “lacked legal basis.”

The statement emphasized that maritime claims in the South China Sea must be derived from land features in accordance with the international law of the sea, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines claim parts of the South China Sea, but China claims 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square kilometer regional waterway.

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The Philippines invoked the Unclos in bringing its territorial dispute with China to the United Nations for arbitration in January last year. The petition asked the UN arbitration tribunal to declare China’s nine-dash line claim invalid and to stop Chinese incursions into the West Philippine Sea.

China has refused to participate in the arbitration, insisting it has “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea.

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Bilateral talks

While the Philippines and the United States have both called for the immediate conclusion of a binding code of conduct through multilateral negotiations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China to prevent rival claims from erupting into confrontations, China has insisted on bilateral negotiations, a mode that gives it the advantage of picking off its weaker neighbors one by one.

Nothing illustrates China riding roughshod on its neighbors more vividly than a report by the Inquirer on March 7 about Chinese ships harvesting giant clams and corals to fill their black-and-red mother ship at Bajo de Masinloc (Panatag Shoal), off the Zambales coast, with impunity. Nearby, three Chinese Coast Guard vessels stood guard.

An Inquirer photographer took pictures showing the steady presence at Bajo de Masinloc of Chinese vessels, which number from three to five at any given time, indicating how the Chinese have effectively seized the shoal.

There was no Philippine Coast Guard vessel in the area. But the Inquirer reported that while the Naval Forces Northern Luzon regularly monitors the shoal, it does not intervene, raising the question who is guarding Philippine territory and protecting Filipino fishermen.

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Arrogant response

In an arrogant response to the US strategic security policy of a “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific region, China last week called on the United States to accept its growing security presence in East Asia and warned its neighbors that it would “respond  effectively” to safeguard its territorial integrity amid simmering maritime disputes in the region.

The Financial Times reported from Beijing that Fu Ying, spokesperson for the National People’s Congress, said, “If the US cares about peace and prosperity, it should support China’s aspirations for safeguarding territorial integrity and regional peace.”

The remarks, which came ahead of the parliamentary meeting, reflects China’s growing weariness with US regional dominance, particularly as Washington continues to press its “pivot” to Asia defense policy, which will see 60 percent of US warships deploying to the region by the end of the decade.

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“The US has stated publicly that it has no plans to contain China,” Fu said. “We want to see if words are matched by actions.”

If any country “provokes or undermines security” in the region, Fu said, then China would “respond effectively to safeguard its territorial integrity and regional security.”

Fu did not specifically mention Japan, the Financial Times pointed out, but Beijing and Tokyo are engaged in an increasingly tense dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/

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