The Philippines on Sunday filed a formal plea to the United Nations challenging Beijing’s claim to most of the South China Sea, defying Chinese warnings, a day after a dramatic maritime stand-off with the Asian giant.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Manila has filed the plea before a UN arbitration tribunal to declare China’s claims over the strategic and resource-rich waters as a violation of international law. “It is about defending what is legitimately ours. It is about securing our children’s future. It is about guaranteeing freedom of navigation for all nations,” he told in a Press conference.
China’s claims over the South China Sea, believed to harbour vast oil and gas reserves, overlap those of the Philippines as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
The Philippines announced last year that it will ask the United Nations to declare China’s claims over the area illegal under the UN Convention on the law of the Sea. The tribunal had given Manila until on Sunday to submit its legal brief. Chief Philippine Government lawyer Francis Jardeleza said he expects the International Tribunal for the law of the Sea, based in the German city of Hamburg, to advise both parties on the next steps. He did not know when a ruling will be made.
Both officials declined to disclose the specifics of around 4,000 pages of documents that were submitted to the tribunal. China has refused to take part in the arbitration with its foreign ministry spokesman Hong lei last week warning that bilateral relations will suffer if the Philippines pursues the appeal. Hong also said China was “committed to managing and resolving relevant issues (in the South China Sea) through dialogue and consultation”.
Manila has argued that China’s claims cover areas as far as 1,611 kilometres from the nearest Chinese coast and interfere with the Philippines' exercise of its rights to its continental shelf. The Philippine filing came a day after a Filipino supply vessel slipped past a blockade of Chinese coastguard vessels to deliver supplies to, and rotate troops from, a remote and disputed South China Sea reef.