Del Rosario urges gov’t to protest new Chinese districts in South China Sea

Former Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Sunday urged the Philippine government to protest China's establishment of two districts aimed at exerting control over the South China Sea, where the Philippines and other Asian nations have overlapping claims.

"We therefore respectfully urge our government to protest this recent action of China, as it rightly did over the sinking of the Vietnamese fishing boat on April 8, 2020," Del Rosario said in a statement.

He also accused China of exploiting the new coronavirus pandemic to advance its "illegal" claims in the waters.

"These recent events in the South China Sea remind us Filipinos to be eternally vigilant in the defense of our country’s territory and sovereign rights even as we confront a very grave threat as COVID-19," he said.

The South China Morning Post reported that the two new districts will be under the authority of the local government in Sansha, a city in the southern island of Hainan.

These new districts, the report added, "will govern the Paracels and Macclesfield Bank—an area claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan—as well as the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, where there are multiple overlapping claims."

"These show that China has been relentless in exploiting the COCID-19 pandemic as it continues to pursue its illegal and expansive claims in the South China Sea to the prejudice of Filipinos, the ASEAN States and the international community as a whole," Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario spearheaded the successful arbitration case that resulted in the 2016 legal victory for the Philippines in connection with the South China Sea disputes.

"As we struggle against a pandemic that poses a real threat to our lives, we must not also risk losing our national patrimony upheld by international law and meant for present and future generations of Filipinos," he said.

Over the years, China has expanded its presence in the South China Sea, turning several former reefs into artificial islands with military facilities, runways and surface to air missiles.

South China Sea analyst Carl Thayer called latest China's action "provocative," "illegal" and has no basis under international law.

"International law does not recognize sovereignty acquired through conquest," Thayer said by e-mail.

Beijing's move also violates the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) that was agreed to by China and ASEAN members in 2002.

Thayer pointed out Paragraph 5 of the DOC, which states that: "The Parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability" in the South China Sea.

"China’s unilateral action seriously complicates the dispute and affects peace and stability in the South China Sea," Thayer said. "Chinese administrators will issue regulations and directives that seriously affect the sovereignty and sovereign jurisdiction of both Vietnam and the Philippines."

He also warned that China’s declaration of a new administrative district in the Spratlys "is a pre-emptive move to push aside sovereignty claims by Vietnam and the Philippines."

China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan are locked in decades- long territorial conflict in the South China Sea, where oil and gas deposits have been discovered in several areas.

China insists it has historic rights and indisputable ownership over nearly the entire waters.

The South China Sea territorial disputes are crucial to Asian and Western governments, which use the strategic waters to transport their oil and other inputs that power their economies. — BM, GMA News