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DFA chief: PHL ran into ‘dead end’ when it tried to resolve sea disputes with China
The Philippines ran into a "dead end" when it tried to resolve territorial disputes with China through bilateral talks, prompting the country to bring the long-simmering conflict to international arbitration, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday.
In an interview with ANC's “Headstart” program, Del Rosario cited the country's standoff with China over the Manila-claimed Scarborough Shoal in 2012, when Filipino officials engaged their Chinese counterparts with about 50 bilateral negotiations that he said ended nowhere.
The Philippines later withdrew its two ships from the shoal, which China has effectively taken over.
"We are for bilateral talks and we ran into a dead end in terms of using that approach," Del Rosario said when asked if the Philippines will pursue such an approach to resolve the territorial disputes, which Vice President Jejomar Binay has reportedly advocated.
"In the case of Scarborough Shoal, we had over 50 bilateral engagements with them and that did not work because the very first instance in every bilateral meeting with China they will say to you we have indisputable sovereignty over the entire South China Sea so that's the preface," Del Rosario said.
"You are already put in a corner and there’s no movement that you can undertake to get out of that corner," he added.
Competing claims by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan to the South China Sea, a strategic waterway believed to be sitting atop huge gas and oil deposits, have sparked occasional violence and now regarded as a potential regional flashpoint for armed conflict.
The Philippines has struggled to deal with the territorial disputes by raising the issue in international tribunal and trying to modernize its weak military, but it decided to seek a legal option through arbitration, saying it’s a durable solution that is accepted internationally.
United States
Del Rosario also said in the interview that there is a plan by the United States to send more Navy and Air Force assets to the region, but he declined to provide further details.
Under existing arrangements with the Philippines, the US can only deploy forces, equipment, and other military assets under existing bilateral defense agreements, such as the Mutual Defense Treaty or Visiting Forces Agreement, but are constitutionally barred from engaging in operation.
He said the plan was announced in April 6 by new US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who bared Washington’s "new phase" of strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region by investing in high-end equipment and artillery.
“We have not talked about to what extent this would happen, but with those equipment you could surmise there will be US presence,” Del Rosario told ANC, adding he intends to clarify such plan when he visits the US in two weeks to meet with US lawmakers and officials that may include Secretary of State John Kerry and Carter.
When asked to explain Carter’s announcement, Del Rosario told reporters at the Department of Foreign Affairs: “They said in order to strengthen the re-balance they have plans of sending military equipment to the Asia-Pacific and he outlined the equipment that they will send.”
“They are not sending it to us,” he clarified, adding “they are sending it to Asia-Pacific to ensure the political and security stability of the region.”
PHL needs support
Del Rosario said while in Washington, he hopes to sit down with Carter and Kerry to seek “more substantive support in terms of the critical situation that must be addressed in the South China Sea.
President Obama last week accused China of bullying its smaller neighbors with less military power and fellow claimants to the South China Sea, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, for its massive and rapid reclamation of disputed features in the waters.
“We are at this point seeking additional support from the US in terms of being able to take a stronger position in defending our position which is to uphold the rule of law,” Del Rosario said. “We need to show that the Philippines with the US as treaty allies can manifest a position that can uphold the rule of law.”
Both nations’ desire to bolster military cooperation came as Manila confronts China over disputed territories in the South China Sea and America’s so-called “pivot” to the Asian region after years of military pre-occupation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
China, which had long opposed any involvement of foreign countries, particularly the U.S., in the dispute, repeatedly warned Washington to keep out of the territorial row.
Although not a party to the sea disputes, the US has declared that it is in its national interest to ensure unfettered access to the sea and that conflicts are resolved peacefully.
China, which claims the waters nearly in its entirety, says its actions are within its sovereign right and jurisdiction. —KBK, GMA News
In an interview with ANC's “Headstart” program, Del Rosario cited the country's standoff with China over the Manila-claimed Scarborough Shoal in 2012, when Filipino officials engaged their Chinese counterparts with about 50 bilateral negotiations that he said ended nowhere.
The Philippines later withdrew its two ships from the shoal, which China has effectively taken over.
"We are for bilateral talks and we ran into a dead end in terms of using that approach," Del Rosario said when asked if the Philippines will pursue such an approach to resolve the territorial disputes, which Vice President Jejomar Binay has reportedly advocated.
"In the case of Scarborough Shoal, we had over 50 bilateral engagements with them and that did not work because the very first instance in every bilateral meeting with China they will say to you we have indisputable sovereignty over the entire South China Sea so that's the preface," Del Rosario said.
"You are already put in a corner and there’s no movement that you can undertake to get out of that corner," he added.
Competing claims by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan to the South China Sea, a strategic waterway believed to be sitting atop huge gas and oil deposits, have sparked occasional violence and now regarded as a potential regional flashpoint for armed conflict.
The Philippines has struggled to deal with the territorial disputes by raising the issue in international tribunal and trying to modernize its weak military, but it decided to seek a legal option through arbitration, saying it’s a durable solution that is accepted internationally.
United States
Del Rosario also said in the interview that there is a plan by the United States to send more Navy and Air Force assets to the region, but he declined to provide further details.
Under existing arrangements with the Philippines, the US can only deploy forces, equipment, and other military assets under existing bilateral defense agreements, such as the Mutual Defense Treaty or Visiting Forces Agreement, but are constitutionally barred from engaging in operation.
He said the plan was announced in April 6 by new US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who bared Washington’s "new phase" of strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region by investing in high-end equipment and artillery.
“We have not talked about to what extent this would happen, but with those equipment you could surmise there will be US presence,” Del Rosario told ANC, adding he intends to clarify such plan when he visits the US in two weeks to meet with US lawmakers and officials that may include Secretary of State John Kerry and Carter.
When asked to explain Carter’s announcement, Del Rosario told reporters at the Department of Foreign Affairs: “They said in order to strengthen the re-balance they have plans of sending military equipment to the Asia-Pacific and he outlined the equipment that they will send.”
“They are not sending it to us,” he clarified, adding “they are sending it to Asia-Pacific to ensure the political and security stability of the region.”
PHL needs support
Del Rosario said while in Washington, he hopes to sit down with Carter and Kerry to seek “more substantive support in terms of the critical situation that must be addressed in the South China Sea.
President Obama last week accused China of bullying its smaller neighbors with less military power and fellow claimants to the South China Sea, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, for its massive and rapid reclamation of disputed features in the waters.
“We are at this point seeking additional support from the US in terms of being able to take a stronger position in defending our position which is to uphold the rule of law,” Del Rosario said. “We need to show that the Philippines with the US as treaty allies can manifest a position that can uphold the rule of law.”
Both nations’ desire to bolster military cooperation came as Manila confronts China over disputed territories in the South China Sea and America’s so-called “pivot” to the Asian region after years of military pre-occupation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
China, which had long opposed any involvement of foreign countries, particularly the U.S., in the dispute, repeatedly warned Washington to keep out of the territorial row.
Although not a party to the sea disputes, the US has declared that it is in its national interest to ensure unfettered access to the sea and that conflicts are resolved peacefully.
China, which claims the waters nearly in its entirety, says its actions are within its sovereign right and jurisdiction. —KBK, GMA News
