ZONE OF PEACE
MANILA, JUNE 21, 2011 (MALAYA) Nestor Mata - Let the
diplomats work out a peaceful settlement of the plethora of overlapping claims
in that sea of disputes.'
NOW that President Noynoy Aquino, his know-it-all mouthpieces in Malacañang
Palace, and aggressive politicians in Congress have voiced their stand on the
South China Sea issue, let them make room for the Philippine and other Asian
diplomats to resolve peacefully the plethora of claims in that sea of disputes.
Hopefully these peacemakers can tone down the unilateral nationalism in some
Southeast Asian capitals and tone-up the rules-based multilateralism that could
very well lead to the making of the South China Sea (Nansha to the Chinese; East
Sea to the Vietnamese; and West Philippine Sea to Filipinos) into a zone of
peace.
Indeed, they can find ways to prevent the current emotive nationalism and
militarism in Beijing, Manila and Hanoi from upsetting the uneasy status quo in
the region.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario has already taken the first
step towards this end. Last Friday, he met with nine ambassadors and charges
d'affaires of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He briefed
them on the Philippines' proposal for a rules-based cooperative approach to the
overlapping claims of Asean members and China, as mandated by the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
This happened the very same day after President Noynoy declared in an
interview with the Associated Press that "we'll not be bullied … pushed around
because we are a tiny state compared with China," but, in the same breath, he
quickly softened his rhetoric, saying "…we will continue with dialogues…"
referring of course to China and other claimant nations.
Presumably, once Secretary Del Rosario and his fellow Asean foreign ministers
succeed in formulating a common stand on the issue, the next step would be to
sit down with their Chinese counterpart to thresh out the overlapping claims of
their respective countries.
What they are going to do is undoubtedly preferable to the aggressive talks
by undiplomatic politicians and the shrill voices of militant groups in Manila
-and Hanoi which will only provoke antipathy and generate counter-reaction from
Beijing.
And so, let's give a chance to the diplomats of all concerned Asean countries
and China to transform the South China Sea from a zone of destructive disputes
to a zone of constructive peace!
***
China has for years claimed sovereignty over virtually the whole sea and the
islands, islets, reefs and shoals in it. The Chinese claim is based on a 1940s
map which ignores international law, including the UNCLOS of 1982 that was
signed and ratified by UN member-countries, including China.
There have been clashes since then between China and the smaller claimants,
including the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and Indonesia. The most belligerent
of them is Vietnam, which claimed it has sovereignty over the Paracel Islands in
the northern part of the sea, and the Spratly Islands in the south (where the
Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all have partial claims).
The Spratlys have been the scene of intrusions, particularly the territories
and waters there that belong to the Philippines because these lie within its
200-mile or 320-kilometer exclusive economic zone or EEZ that's covered by the
UNCLOS.
There have been several such intrusions by China from 1995 to 2011. The first
time was in 1995 when it constructed bunkers and radar installations on the
Mischief Reef in the Spratlys, claimed by the Philippines, and also installed
boundary markers 50 miles off Palawan province, to demarcate the limit of
China's EEZ. Manila protested and Beijing replied by saying the structures were
for "use of fishing people."
Then President Fidel V. Ramos led a tour of the area with members of the
press and pointed out to the militarily uninitiated that the Chinese
installations were not just for fishing folks. So, he ordered the demolition of
the Chinese boundary markers.
This prompted the Chinese to accuse the Philippines of "bullying" the
People's Republic of China (PRC) and even warned against involving the Asean and
the United States. But Beijing later on showed some restraint and suggested
talks about fishing rights.
Lately, China has become increasing assertive in claiming a major portion of
the South China Sea as its own lake. Its latest intrusions were last May and
early this June. The Chinese built markers in Reed Bank, one of three reefs and
banks in the Spratlys and unmarked wooden posts within Philippine territorial
waters. And It has drawn up a map with a "U-shaped line" which arbitrarily
encircles most of the South China Sea, and thus creates maritime disputes
between it and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose
Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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