By Max De Leon and Estrella Torres, Business Mirror
Posted at 06/03/2011 7:41 AM | Updated as of 06/03/2011 7:41 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Filipino businessmen will take the initiative to help finally put an end to the decades-long Spratlys dispute among claimants, including the Philippines and China, by gathering all the business chambers of the different countries that have interests on the islands to a meeting where they will draw up economic, rather than political, solutions to the conflict.
This came as Beijing said on Thursday that it is not violating an existing accord with the presence of its marine research ships in the disputed islands of Spratlys in South China Sea that angered claimant countries to the territory, including the Philippines.
In a statement on Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said the reported “incursion of Chinese ships†on the South China Sea is not true.
“It’s only China’s marine research ship conducting normal maritime research activities on the South China Sea,†said the statement e-mailed to Manila-based journalists.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) filed another diplomatic protest early this week with China based on military reports on the sighting of Chinese coastal marine surveillance ships in the Spratlys.
Francis Chua, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said approaching the issue from an economic perspective with all the six claimants benefiting evenly is the key to the Spratlys resolution.
“The PCCI will call all the business organizations of these countries to a meeting. We will start with the private institutions. We will come up with the economic solution and then pressure our governments to toe the line,†Chua, also a former president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and special trade envoy to China, told the BusinessMirror.
The Philippines, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia are the six claimants over the oil-rich Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
Early this week, Manila filed a diplomatic protest over the reported Chinese intrusions at a Philippine-claimed island in the Spratlys.
Chua said they do not believe the problem will escalate into a full-blown military conflict since China will not opt to fight its major trading partners.
“Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] is a big market for China. China cannot afford to fight with its customers. All these worries are mere speculations. Did they send their military to occupy the islands? No, they will not do that, I give you that guarantee,†Chua said.
He said the only stumbling block to a full resolution is a viable economic venture that will embody the principle of co-ownership of the disputed islands.
This, Chua said, is what the PCCI will seek to develop when they sit down with the respective business chambers of the other claimants.
“This is an economic matter rather than a political issue. We will come up with an economic resolution and then sit down with the governments,†Chua said.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=41340.0