Philippines, China to Set Up New Channels to Handle South China Sea Rows
Editor
17 July 2024 21:51 WIB
CHALLENGE TO CHINA
The Philippines last month accused China's coast guard of intentionally ramming and deliberately puncturing navy boats and seizing weapons to disrupt a resupply mission to troops stationed on the vessel grounded at the shoal, seriously injuring a Filipino sailor who lost a finger.
China said the Philippine vessel had illegally intruded on its territory and had "deliberately and dangerously" approached a Chinese ship resulting in a slight collision.
The agreement on communications channels is not the first, with the two sides establishing a line between respective maritime offices.
Antonio Carpio, a former Philippine Supreme Court justice, and a prominent advocate of Manila's maritime claims, expressed scepticism over the communication lines "because that will not resolve the dispute."
"We don't know if they will answer when we call, so we will have to wait," Carpio said. "It is good to have that but we should not expect miracles out of that."
The Philippines and China agreed during the recent meeting on the need to "restore trust" and "rebuild confidence" to better manage disputes.
The Philippine resupply missions, often accompanied by media, have riled China, which sees the Second Thomas Shoal as part of its territory, despite being 1,300 km (808 miles) off its mainland and within Manila's EEZ.
Beijing maintains it has sovereignty over most of the South China Sea based on its old maps and has deployed hundreds of coast guard vessels deep into Southeast Asia to assert its claims, disrupting offshore energy and fisheries activities of other neighbors, including Malaysia and Vietnam.
China has refused to recognize a 2016 international ruling that concluded Beijing's claims have no basis under international law.
The United States has backed the Philippines over the clashes, condemning what it calls Chinese aggression, while underlining its "ironclad" commitment to a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty under which it must defend its former colony if attacked. China has accused the United States of interference.
While China claims almost all of the vital waterway, where $3 trillion worth of trade passes annually, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam lay claims to parts.
REUTERS
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