The Philippines wants an international tribunal to issue a decision as quickly as it can on a Manila complaint that questions the legality of China’s massive territorial claims in the South China Sea because the disputes continue to escalate.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Tuesday that the Philippines would ask its lawyers to petition the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands, to issue an earlier ruling after China said it would not get involved in the case, which should shorten the arbitration proceedings.
“I am hoping we could get something by next year ... because China is not participating and because the situation is getting worse every day in the South China Sea,” Del Rosario told reporters.
Photo: AFP
After China took effective control of a disputed shoal, which Taiwan also claims, the Philippines early last year started the tribunal process that questioned the validity under international law of China’s so-called “nine-dash line” claim, a rough demarcation of its territory on its official maps that envelopes most of the South China Sea.
Philippine officials have said it might take three to four years for the tribunal to issue a decision.
Even with the pending legal challenge, China has continued to expand and fortify its claims, including reclaiming land in disputed reefs that can be turned into offshore military bases, possibly with airstrips, Del Rosario said.
Early last month China deployed an oil rig guarded by dozens of escort ships in waters also claimed by Hanoi, igniting sea confrontations and anti-China protests in Vietnam.
The tribunal issued a statement early this month giving China until Dec. 15 to submit written arguments and evidence against the Philippine complaint, but Beijing said it would not join the arbitration proceedings.
Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia also have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea which have sparked confrontations.
Meanwhile in Puerto Princesa, Philippines, a court case against a group of Chinese fishermen facing jail in the Philippines for poaching was postponed for a third time yesterday, after the Philippine government accused China of frustrating the proceedings.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesman said on Tuesday that the Chinese embassy in Manila was partly to blame for the delays by not assisting in providing an interpreter.
The fate of the nine fishermen has worsened an already bitter row between the Philippines and China over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, because they were arrested last month in disputed waters.
Police detained the fishermen on May 6 near the Half Moon Shoal (Banyue Shoal, 半月暗沙) in the South China Sea, 111km off the westernmost Philippine island of Palawan.
They were charged with poaching an endangered species after hundreds of turtles were allegedly found on their boat.
A court that was meant to hear the case yesterday postponed the pretrial hearing until July 1 after their lawyer appealed for more time, prosecutor Alen Rodriguez told reporters.
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