China starts 10-day naval exercises in South China Sea, state paper reports

Published July 23, 2015 9:42pm

The Chinese Navy started a 10-day naval exercise in the South China Sea on Wednesday amid a continuing dispute over overlapping claims with the Philippines and other countries in the region, the state-owned Chinese daily Global Times has reported.

According to the article that was also posted on the website of China's Ministry of Defense, the military drills are held east of South China's Hainan province from July 22 to July 31.

China's defense ministry said that the drills were not meant to target any of the country's neighbors.

"The drills are regular military exercises scheduled in the annual plan, without targeting any other country," the ministry said in a statement.

China Arms Control and Disarmament Association senior consultant Major General Xu Guangyu also pointed out that the Chinese navy needs to strengthened through constant training.

"Unlike US military forces that can be trained in wars, Chinese navy strength, which lags behind ground forces, needs to be enhanced via regular drills," Xu said was quoted as saying.

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, added that the drills allow the Chinese navy force to share more international responsibilities with the United States in providing maritime security.

Rules-based approach

On Wednesday, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said he hopes the Philippines will withdraw its arbitration case against China.

The Chinese envoy also once again called on Manila to engage Beijing in bilateral negotiations to address the territorial row.

Coloma, however, said that the Philippines’ “rules-based” and multilateral approach to settling the dispute remains unchanged.

This month, the Philippines presented its arguments before the arbitral tribunal in The Hague on why it should exercise its jurisdiction over the arbitration case as regards its overlapping claims with China.

"Malinaw ang aming layunin na magkaroon ng ruling iyong Permanent Court of Arbitration para mabigyan ng sustansya ang nilalaman ng United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) kung saan signatory ang Pilipinas,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma told reporters in Malacañang.

"Nasa atin din naman ang determinasyon na itaguyod yung pagiging makatwiran ng ating posisyon,” he added.

The Philippines is using the UNCLOS, a treaty signed by over 160 countries, defining nations’ rights to use the world’s oceans, as basis of its arbitration case against China.

China, which uses the so-called “nine-dash line” to assert its claim over the almost the entire South China Sea, has refused to participate in the arbitration proceedings. -Tricia Macas/NB, GMA News

Tags: southchinaseadispute