Chinese claim of South China Sea reclamation not causing damage unacceptable —DFA

(Updated 12:38 p.m.) The Philippines on Monday said it finds “unacceptable” China’s claim that its massive reclamation work in several disputed South China Sea territories are not causing marine environment damage, warning that that coastal states stand to lose $100 million annually from Beijing's activities. 

 

China’s ongoing reclamation activities, Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said, “are causing irreversible and widespread damage to the biodiversity and ecological balance to waters.” 

 

“We cannot accept China’s claim that its activities has not caused damage to the ecological environment of the South China Sea,” Jose told a press briefing Monday.

The Philippines refers to parts of the South China Sea as West Philippine Sea.

 

The destruction of 300 hectares of coral reef systems resulting from the reclamations, Jose said, is estimated to lead to economic losses to coastal states valued at US $100 million annually, citing a United Nations Environment Program study.

 

“China has pursued these activities unilaterally, disregarding peoples in the surrounding states who have depended on the sea for their livelihood for generations,” Jose said.

 

China, which is asserting ownership to at least 90 percent of the contested waters, is currently reclaiming seven disputed features in the South China Sea. Other claimants, apart from the Philippines, are Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

 

The Philippines strongly protested such activities, saying China violated the spirit of the 2002 non-binding agreement it signed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, called the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea or DOC.

 

Philippine officials said Chinese reclamation has included areas that are within Manila's territory.

 

The Philippines latest tirade against China reflects its continuing animosity towards Beijing despite previous pronouncements by the two Asian neighbors that it will work on improving its bilateral ties that was impaired by their competing claims in the resource-rich waters.

 

Manila sought international arbitration before a Netherlands-based tribunal to try to declare Beijing’s massive claim over the waters that extends up to Philippine territorial boundaries as illegal.

 

China says it does not recognize the country's case as it insisted on indisputable historical and sovereign right to the vast waters and its resources.

 

Jose said the Philippines is considering lodging another diplomatic protest against China for its destruction of marine biodiversity in the South China Sea.

 

The Philippines claimed China has “tolerated environmentally harmful fishing practices by its nationals” at the Philippine-claimed Scarborough Shoal, the site of a 2012 standoff between Manila and Beijing.

 

Jose said China’s acts breaches its obligations under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES.

 

The Philippines, he noted, is “especially concerned” by China’s statement last week that after completion of their reclamation activities in the South China Sea, the islands and reef would provide “comprehensive services to meet civilian demands and satisfy the need of necessary military defense.”

 

“Such statements by China only serve to raise the spectre of increasing militarization and threaten peace and stability in the region,” Jose said.

 

“We should not allow China to distract us from the real issues in the South China Sea, which are China's illegitimate 'nine-dash line' claim, and China's unilateral and aggressive behavior in asserting that claim, as exemplified by its massive and unrestrained reclamation.”

 

 China’s so-called nine-dash line is a U-shaped enclosure that covers nearly the entire South China Sea, including areas that fall within Manila’s territory.

 

Manila says China’s claims are baseless and violates international law. — KG/RSJ, GMA News