South China Sea Dispute Tests Philippines Ties With China

Last month, September 2014, a huge trade show opened in Nanning, China,
focusing on promoting ties between Southeast Asian countries and their largest
trading partner, China. However, for the second year in a row, the Philippine
president was not attending, following another tense year in the South China Sea.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose said an agreement in 2011
between President Benigno Aquino and then President Hu Jintao is what guides
Manilas relations with Beijing.
Both countries should not let the territorial dispute affect the overall relationship.
So on the part of the Philippines, we are willing to extract and isolate our territorial
dispute and deal with this separately, but at the same time we try to promote and
strengthen the other areas of our cooperation with China, said Jose.
Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the Manila-based Philippine Institute for
Peace Violence and Terrorism Research, said the sea dispute is hindering relations.
Its still in a very sour political state. The relationship is still at its lowest point,
said Banlaoi.
Still, the foreign affairs spokesman said, trade and tourism between the two
countries remains strong.
Banlaoi called the tourism increase miniscule and said Manila has been losing out
on Beijings ability to aggressively promote international travel. Besides, he added,
more Filipinos invest in China than the other way around.
Earlier last month, September, Chinas foreign ministry warned its citizens to avoid
visiting the Philippines following a foiled bomb plot allegedly targeting the Chinese
embassy and Chinese-Filipino owned businesses.

Banlaoi called the potential for violent incidents like the bomb plot a major
concern since they can fuel nationalistic sentiment and pressure governments to
take a harder stance.
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jose said the office reassured
the Chinese government the country is taking measures to ensure safety of their
embassy personnel.
While ships from the two countries jockey for position in remote islands of the South
China Sea, and officials in the capitals keep up the heated rhetoric, some analysts
think the situation will largely remain the same, mostly because of the Aquino
administrations push to expand its military relationship with Washington.
http://www.voanews.com/content/south-china-sea-dispute-tests-philippines-tieswith-china/2452426.html

Philippines Concerned About China, Leader Says

The president of the Philippines expressed concern on Tuesday about what he called
the hot to cold messages from China in the protracted territorial disputes with his
country and others in the region over areas of the South China Sea.
In an interview, the president, Benigno S. Aquino III, made it clear that the territorial
disputes had created a tense backdrop to the relationship between the Philippines
and China and a geopolitical point of contention that also has entangled the United
States, an ally of the Philippines.
China and the Philippines have been locked in a standoff over an area of the South
China Sea near the Philippines coast called Scarborough Shoal for more than two
years. Then, they became embroiled in another dispute over part of the Spratly
Islands known as Johnson South Reef. The Philippines has filed a case against China
with a United Nations tribunal, demanding arbitration of territorial disagreements.

The Chinese have sought one-on-one talks with the Philippines to resolve the
dispute, but Mr. Aquino has rejected that approach.
He described the relationship with China as confusing at times. While trade between
the two nations continues to grow, he said, a travel advisory is in force in China
discouraging visits to the Philippines.
At the end of the day, it goes from hot to cold, sometimes theyre very conciliatory,
sometimes they make very provocative statements, he said. We will confess we
dont understand some of the messages sometimes. Were not sure.
China has contended that ancient maritime maps from dynasties past support its
claim on the Scarborough Shoal.

On September 2014, the Philippines sought to rebut that claim by producing its own
maps, some dating to the 12th century, showing that China had no ownership claim
on islands below its southernmost region, Hainan, Philippine newspapers reported.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/world/asia/philippines-president-aquinoconcerned-about-china-president-says.html

China's Occupation On
Philippines Government

Disputed

South

China

Sea

Continues,

Says

A Philippines government photo claims to show Chinese construction work in the

South China Sea.
The Philippines government has released a latest picture of reclamation work being
done by China on one of the disputed Kennan [Chigua] reefs in the South China Sea.
"From the size, we can surmise, it's a military base," said Charles C. Jose, additional
secretary and the spokesperson of the department of foreign affairs in the
Philippines government told NDTV.
Chinese construction work is being carried out not just on Kennan reef, but also on
Mabini, Calderon and Gaven reefs. Reclamation work is on in full swing as the
Philippines registered a diplomatic protest and accused China of violating a 2002
agreement between parties on the dispute, that stated that no country shall further
inhabit any unoccupied area.
The Philippines has opted for international arbitration in the matter and has asked
for the dispute to be resolved through United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Seas (UNCLOS).
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/china-s-occupation-on-disputed-south-china-seacontinues-says-philippines-government-583997

Chinese Experts Reject Philippines Triple Action Plan

Chinese experts on issues surrounding the disputes on the South China Sea, on
September 25th 2014, rejected the Philippines proposed triple action plan (TAP) that
aims to reduce the escalating tensions among claimant countries over the
contested waters.
Experts from Chinas think-tank National Institute for South China Sea Studies
(NISCSS) told the Philippine media delegation at their main office here that the TAP
cannot be implemented since the Philippines already filed an arbitration case before
the International Tribunal on the Laws of the Seas (ITLOS) which is supposed to be
the final approach in settling the dispute over the overlapping territorial boundaries
of claimant countries.
Why did China had no response to the initiatives? (It is) because the Philippines
itself has not followed its initiatives. For example, according to the triple action plan,
the South China dispute (should be resolved in stages), Wu Shicun, president and
senior research fellow of the NISCSS, pointed out.
The Philippines now jumped out or skipped to the final stage to solve the South
China Sea by international jurisprudence or arbitration, he added.
Wu also expressed belief that the TAP was crafted by the Philippines after China
built artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea.
Wu also declared that the Chinese government would not abide by any decision of
the tribunal on the arbitration case.
Whether or not the tribunals judgment favors China, Wu does not think that the
dispute between the two countries will be resolved.

Last August, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced details of the TAP in
a bid to put up determined actions to reduce tensions and work to resolve the
disputes in the South China Sea.
The TAP underscores the need for settlement mechanism to bring the disputes to a
final and enduring resolution anchored on international law.
But Chinese scholars expressed belief that the TAP had similarities with the pitch of
the United States government on the South China Sea disputes.
Scholar Kang Lin raised concern that the US government had a hand in the crafting
of the TAP.
Wu also told visiting Filipino journalists that an option for the Philippines is to
withdraw the arbitration case as a good gesture to improve the strained relations
between Manila and Beijing.
The Philippines rejected Chinas unacceptable option. The DFA said the Philippines
would not slow down on the international arbitration effort seeking a legal and
lasting solution to the territorial dispute with China, as Manila is committed to see
the proceedings through to its conclusion.
The Philippines commitment to promote the primacy of the rule of law in the
South China Sea is unwavering. We are fully committed to pursue the arbitration
case to its logical conclusion, DFA spokesman Charles Jose said.
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/09/26/1373305/chinese-experts-reject-phltriple-action-plan

China Rejects Philippine Proposal On South China Sea Disputes

Beijing Refuses To Accept Plan, Claiming It Would Interrupt Ongoing
Conflict-Resolution Talks

In this March 29 file photo, a China Coast Guard vessel attempts to block a
Philippine government vessel from entering a disputed area in the South China Sea.
China, on August 2014, rejected the Philippines' proposed freeze on perceived
provocative acts that recently stirred tensions in contested Asian waters, signaling
its preference to tackle South China Sea disputes with diplomatic efforts that have
made little progress in the last decade.
In thinly veiled criticism of Manila's "triple-action plan," Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi said Beijing wouldn't accept proposals that would "interrupt" ongoing
conflict-resolution talks and "damage the common interests" of China and its
Southeast Asian neighbors.
"China is ready to listen to well-intended proposals on the South China Sea from all
parties," Mr. Wang told reporters after meeting his Southeast Asian counterparts.
"But these proposals should be objective, fair and constructive, rather than
contributing to new problems or be driven by ulterior motives."

Ahead of the weekend conference, organized by the 10-member Association of

Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines said it would promote a plan that seeks a
moratorium on activities that could "escalate tension," pushes for a speedy
conclusion of a code of conduct in the South China Sea and urges that disputes be
resolved through arbitration under international law.
In an interview, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario dismissed Mr. Wang's
criticisms, saying the triple-action plan conforms to principles that Beijing itself
signed up to in a 2002 Asean-China declaration, which outlines a framework for
resolving disputes in the South China Sea.
"They should have no problem with the planit's positive, it's constructive, it's
comprehensive," Mr. Del Rosario told The Wall Street Journal. "If China does not
accept this proposition, then they are rejecting the agreement that they had
signed."
The proposal came on the heels of heightened regional tensions, as the U.S. and
some Asean members accused Beijing of taking unilateral and provocative actions
to pursue claims in the South China Sea.

Manila's plan has won the backing of the U.S., which says a moratorium would help
maintain stability in the region.
"Our view is that any proposal that encourages greater restraint and reduction of
tensions is useful," said a senior U.S. State Department official traveling with
Secretary of State John Kerry, who met his Asean counterparts that didn't include
Mr. Wang.
Asean members, meanwhile, have expressed guarded support for the plan,
according to Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam.
China's foreign minister, however, said the Philippine plan duplicates existing
diplomatic efforts and criticized Manila's separate push to have its dispute with
Beijing settled through the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
"If the Philippines wish to pursue its three-step plan, it should withdraw its push for
international arbitration and return to the first step," Mr. Wang said. "They've
already skipped straight to the third stepTheir behavior already contradicts their
own proposals."
China hopes to reach consensus with Asean this year about their "commonalities"
on the contested waters, which could then facilitate talks on implementing the 2002
declaration and creating a code of conduct for the disputed waters, the Chinese

minister said. Mr. Del Rosario, however, said China should immediately cease
"provocative" actions that contravene the declaration, such as the construction of
structures on disputed islands.
Analysts don't expect the Asean-China talks to produce meaningful progress, as
Beijing remains unimpeded in its broad diplomatic strategy for the South China Sea
dictating the pace and content of talks to suit its interests, and preventing rival
powers such as the U.S. from influencing the process.
Asean, on its part, has struggled to define a common stance against China. While
Vietnam and the Philippines have urged a firmer stance against Beijing, other Asean
members typically demur, reluctant to antagonize a mighty economic partner over
territorial disputes that they have little direct stake in.
"China's plan has been to stonewall diplomatically and trap Asean in these endless
talks," said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force
Academy. "The Philippines had showed its hand by announcing its triple-action plan
ahead of the meeting, and China was prepared."
http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-rejects-philippine-proposal-on-south-china-seadisputes-1407574262