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China's Position on the Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines

(GMT+08:00) 2014-04-04 08:59:53       CRI

5. The Nature of China-Philippines Disputes in the South China Sea

China has ample historic and legal basis for its sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. China was the first to discover, name, develop and operate on the Nansha Islands. It is also the first country that exercised and has been exercising sovereign jurisdiction over the islands, which has been long recognized by the international community including the Philippines. China resolutely safeguards national territorial sovereignty, sovereign rights and interests, and remains committed to maintaining regional peace and stability.

The Philippines' territory was determined by a series of international treaties, including the Treaty of Peace between the United States and Spain in 1898, the Treaty between the United States and Spain for Cession of Outlying Islands of the Philippines in 1900 and the Convention between the United States and Great Britain Delimiting the Boundary between the Philippine Archipelago and the State of North Borneo. All these documents state that the border line of the western part of the territory of the Philippines is 118° East in longitude. China's Nansha Islands and the Huangyan Island of the Zhongsha Islands do not lie within the boundary of territory delimited by any of the above treaties or conventions. Moreover, the 1935 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, the Treaty of General Relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America in 1946, the Mutual Defence Treaty between the the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America in 1951, the Republic Act No. 3046, an act to define the Baselines of the Territorial Sea of the Philippines in 1961, the Republic Act No. 5446, an act to amend Section One of Republic Act No. 3046 in 1968 reiterated the legal effect of the above three treaties or conventions and reaffirmed the scope of the Philippine territory.

In a long period of time after the WWII, there were no such South China Sea disputes between China and the Philippines, and the Philippine side never raised objection to the Chinese government's exercise of sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. Before the 1970s, there were neither legal documents nor speeches by national leaders of the Philippine side which mentioned that the Nansha Islands lied within the scope of the Philippine territory.

At the beginning of the 1970s, the Philippine side started to make territorial claims on certain islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands. In violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the basic norms governing international relations, the Philippine side conducted military operations four times respectively in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1980, and illegally occupied 8 Chinese islands and reefs, namely: Mahuan Dao/Nanshan Island, Feixin Dao/Flat Island, Zhongye Dao/Thitu Island, Beizi Dao/Northeast Cay, Nanyao Dao/Loaita Island, Xiyue Dao/West York Island, Shuanghuang Shazhou/Loaita Nan and Siling Jiao/Commodore Reef. The territorial disputes between China and the Philippines over certain islands and reefs of Nansha Islands thus came into being. This is the most fundamental and direct cause of relevant disputes in the South China Sea between the two countries. The Chinese side has always been firmly against the illegally infringement and occupation by the Philippine side, and has solemnly demanded the Philippine side over and again to withdraw all its personnel and facilities from China's islands and reefs.

On 11 June 1978, then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 1596, which announced major parts of Nansha Islands as Kalayaan Islands Group of the Philippines in an attempt to provide legal basis for its illegal claims and put approximately 65,000 square kilometers of waters adjacent to Nansha Islands under the Philippines' claims. In April 2012, the Philippine warship harassed the Chinese fishing boats and fishermen conducting regular operation by force, and inflicted severe inhuman treatment on the Chinese fishermen. The Chinese side has made resolute reaction against that.

The Philippine side willfully initiated the arbitration under UNCLOS, regardless of China's legal rights as a party to the UNCLOS, and ignoring the fact that the essence of the disputes between China and the Philippines is the territorial disputes caused by Philippines' illegal occupation of the islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands. The Philippines' arbitration proceeding completely confuses right and wrong, distorts the fact and diverts attentions. The aim of its move is to cover up the illegal nature of Philippines' infringement and provocative behaviour by the "Abuse of Process" against China, and to defraud the international community of its sympathy and support. Recently, by submitting the memorial to the arbitial tribunal, the Philippine side has launched a "Media Campaign" to smear the Chinese side by playing up the South China Sea issue and the arbitration proceeding. All these willful acts exposed the real motive of the Philippines' pushing for the arbitration proceeding.

The real purpose of the Philippine side's attack on the South China Sea dashed lines is to attempt to deny China's sovereignty over Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters, and cover up the illegality of the Philippines' occupation of some islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands, which the Chinese side will never accept. No matter how the Philippine memorial is packaged, the direct cause of the disputes between China and the Philippines is the latter's illegal occupation of some of China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea. At the heart of the matter are the disputes between the two sides on the sovereignty over islands and reefs. The most effective approach is to resolve the disputes through friendly consultations and negotiations.

China has never thought of taking the Philippine territory. It is actually the Philippines that occupies China's islands and reefs. Some people believe that these islands and reefs are closer to the Philippines, and therefore they belong to the Philippines. This has no basis in international law. Geographical proximity has never been a criterion that determines the ownership of territory. Many countries in the world possess territories far away from their mainland or closer to other countries. All countries, big or small, should abide by the rules and stick to the truth.

As for what has happened in the South China Sea in recent years, all were provoked by the Philippines. Take the 2012 incident at Huangyan Island as an example, the Philippines harassed unarmed Chinese fishermen with a Navy ship around China's Huangyan Island, and forced them to take off clothes and stand exposed under the scorching sun. Do you think it is China that bullies the Philippines? Another example is the Ren'ai Reef. A Philippine navy ship was "grounded" off the reef in 1999, over which the Chinese side has never stopped making representations. Initially, the Philippines stated that the ship was "grounded" due to "technical malfunction", and promised to tow it away. However, 15 years have passed, instead of carrying out its promise, the Philippines is now trying to transport rebar and cement in order to build facilities on the reef. The Chinese side certainly can not just sit idly by.

6. The Consensus between China and the Philippines on the South China Sea Issue

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