© wikipedia.orgScarborough Shoal, S. China Sea
The Philippines is "gravely concerned" that
China might be planning to build an artificial island on Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, as
Beijing has decided to disregard the recent international court decision that barred China from the area. The ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12 said that
no one country had sovereign rights over activity in the Scarborough Shoal, after The Hague court ruled against China in the maritime dispute.
China refused to recognize the ruling and over the last few days
have [has] been increasing
their [its] presence over the shoal that is just of few rocks poking above the sea. "The presence of so many ships, other than coast guard in the area is cause for grave concern," Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Sunday after his country's air force plane
allegedly detected four Chinese coast guard ships, two barge-like vessels and two suspected troop ships near the shoal Saturday.
The minister noted that earlier this year the Chinese tried to bring in
dredging barges to turn Scarborough into an
artificial island. That attempt, Lorenzana said, was dissuaded by the United States. "If they try to construct anything in Scarborough it will have
far reaching adverse effect on the security situation," he added, pointing out that
Manila summoned the Chinese ambassador for an explanation.
Washington has publicly warned China against reclaiming waters around Scarborough Shoal, located 120 nautical miles from the Philippines and some 250 nautical miles northeast of the artificial islands Beijing has built in the disputed Spratlys archipelago.
China took control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippine navy.In April, the US flew three different air patrols near the shoal after
Washington warned China of crossing a "red line" with President Barack Obama threatening with "serious consequences" in March if China attempted to reclaim the land.
While the Chinese Embassy in Manila was not reached by Reuters or AFP for a comment over the summoning of its ambassador, following July's Hague decision, Beijing has made clear that the
South China Sea, which is home to forty percent of the world's shipborne trade, will be pursued by China. "We will never stop our construction on the
Nansha Islands halfway...no matter what country or person applies pressure," Adm. Wu told US Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson during a meeting in Beijing, the
official Xinhua News Agency reported in July.
On Friday, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said he intends to ask Beijing directly if it is building up the shoal in violation of international law. "The coast guard made some little trips near them and there are a lot of barges... What is the purpose of a barge?" Duterte said, adding that the
intelligence report "was unsettling." "They suspect that's going to be another construction somewhere," the president said.
"It could be a potential flashpoint, this China Sea."Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have been involved in disputes over ownership of territory in the South China Sea over natural resources.
Comment: The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea normally stipulates a 200 nautical mile zone of the coast for economic exclusivity. But China claims 90% of the area, a much larger zone. Did the decision bar China from the area? What was
the ruling in the South China Sea case?
The Hague tribunal (U.S.-initiated and unfairly slanted against China) overwhelmingly backed the Philippines in a case on the disputed waters of the South China Sea, ruling that rocky outcrops claimed by China - some of which are exposed only at low tide - cannot be used as the basis of territorial claims. It said some of the waters were "within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, because those areas are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China". The tribunal furthermore found China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights in those waters by interfering with its fishing and petroleum exploration and by constructing artificial islands.
One foremost issue is the detrimental environmental consequences of a) building artificial islands and b) the obvious risks involved in tapping subsea oil reserves, one of two reasons China is pushing for control. If claimed by China, military presence will theoretically extend China's 'border' and be perceived as an aggressive territorial threat. From China's perspective, like Crimea to Russia, the SCS represents an essential sea passage. If the U.S. were to control it (through vassals in Asia), Chinese movement would be crippled.
Comment: The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea normally stipulates a 200 nautical mile zone of the coast for economic exclusivity. But China claims 90% of the area, a much larger zone. Did the decision bar China from the area? What was the ruling in the South China Sea case?
The Hague tribunal (U.S.-initiated and unfairly slanted against China) overwhelmingly backed the Philippines in a case on the disputed waters of the South China Sea, ruling that rocky outcrops claimed by China - some of which are exposed only at low tide - cannot be used as the basis of territorial claims. It said some of the waters were "within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, because those areas are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China". The tribunal furthermore found China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights in those waters by interfering with its fishing and petroleum exploration and by constructing artificial islands.
One foremost issue is the detrimental environmental consequences of a) building artificial islands and b) the obvious risks involved in tapping subsea oil reserves, one of two reasons China is pushing for control. If claimed by China, military presence will theoretically extend China's 'border' and be perceived as an aggressive territorial threat. From China's perspective, like Crimea to Russia, the SCS represents an essential sea passage. If the U.S. were to control it (through vassals in Asia), Chinese movement would be crippled.