Palace respects US decision to impose sanctions on Chinese individuals, firms for South China Sea activities

Malacañang said on Thursday that it respects the decision of the United States to impose sanctions on several Chinese companies and their officials for allegedly helping China build artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea.

The sanctions included visa restrictions and inclusion of 24 Chinese state-owned firms on the US Commerce Department's "Entity List" which allows it to block exports of US goods and materials to them, according to US government officials.

“Alam ninyo po iyang desisyon kung sinong papapasukin sa teritoryo ng isang bansa ay desisyon po iyan ng isang soberenyang bansa. So nirirespeto po natin iyang desisyon na iyan at hindi na po kinakailangang komentuhan,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a news conference.

China claims a huge swathe of the South China Sea as part of its territory, but the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated this claim in July 2016 following a case filed by the Philippines in 2013.

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

Beijing does not recognize the ruling which was temporarily set aside by President Rodrigo Duterte in pursuit of warmer trade and economic relations with the Asian powerhouse.

Aside from the Philippines and China, the other claimants include Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

Although the US is not a party to the disputes, it has declared that it is in its national interest to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in the strategic waterway. —Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News