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Manila vs Beijing in UN Arbitration
Topic Started: Jan 23 2013, 10:53 AM (462 Views)
Pasta
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Chief Engineer
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From the BBC with article copied below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21137144

China has for a long time been a bully in many respects. She fiercely guards her sovereignty and those of other nations with questionable approaches to human rights, as one example. This I believe gives China, in her mind, the right to do whatever she wants internally and attack/defy any external criticism.

China's growing economic might and vast foreign reserves give her a lot of clout and can intimidate even the mighty U.S. Her control of more than 80% of the production of strategic minerals including her recent statements of how China cannot supply the world, perhaps, due to domestic demand I viewed as a bit of a threat.

China's territorial claims in the South China Sea are, in my view, absolutely bizarre. Completely unfounded and in contravention of the relevant UN agreements China is a signatory to.

China blasts the U.S. and anyone else that offers any opinion that might support the legitimate claims of other SE Asian countries. Silly.

Now the Philippines is the first of what I expect many actions asking the UN for arbitration on territorial claims. No doubt the U.S. and other ASEAN countries are behind this decision.

There is a huge amount at stake and China stands to lose a massive amount of potential resources. Don't forget about the loss of face as well. I think if China went in better faith and negotiated with the other countries, instead of simply sending warships to protect the illegal fishing vessels it also sent, China might have gotten a better deal.

I am not sure if China could appeal any UN arbitration decision, but this is a significant development. The UN must, in all probability, decide in favor of the 200 mile territorial claim as China herself agreed to.

Well done Manila!!

Quote:
 
The Philippines says it will challenge Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea at a UN tribunal.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the decision came after Manila had exhausted "almost all political and diplomatic avenues" to resolve the maritime dispute with Beijing.

He said he hoped arbitration would help bring a "durable solution" to the row.

Tensions between the two have been high since a stand-off at the Scarborough Shoal - which both claim - last year.

China claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea; its claims overlap those of several South East Asian nations.

In a statement, the Chinese ambassador to Manila reiterated Beijing's position and "stressed that China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in [the] South China Sea and its adjacent waters", according to the AFP news agency.

"The Chinese side strongly holds the disputes on [the] South China Sea should be settled by parties concerned through negotiations," Ambassador Ma Keqing added.

In recent months Beijing has taken a more assertive posture on the issue, leaving ties with both the Philippines and Vietnam severely strained.

'Nine-dash line'

In a statement, Mr del Rosario said his office had summoned the Chinese ambassador in Manila to inform her of the move.

He said Manila would take Beijing to an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which both had signed.

Continue reading the main story
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
Came into force in 1994 and has 164 signatories
Aims to create stability, promote better management of ocean resources and address territorial disputes
Sets territorial maritime limits to 12 nautical miles (22km/14 miles) and gives states exclusive exploitation rights over all natural resources within 200 nautical miles of shore
Obliges all states to protect and preserve the marine environment
States are obliged to accept outcome of arbitration rulings except where issues of sovereignty are at stake
UNCLOS

He said in its submission, the Philippines had asserted that China's "nine-dash line" setting out its claims in the region was unlawful under UNCLOS.

China had "interfered with the lawful exercise by the Philippines of its rights within its legitimate maritime zones", it went on.

It said the Philippines wants the tribunal to declare China's nine-dash line invalid.

"We strongly believe that this action is the appropriate response to put our diplomatic relations in its proper context," Mr del Rosario said.

The Philippines said it expected legal proceedings to take between three and four years, based on previous cases.

Signatories to UNCLOS are obliged to go through an arbitration process in the event of a dispute with another party and to accept the resulting settlement, UNCLOS says on its website.

However, an exception is made where issues of national sovereignty are at stake.

Asean move

The Philippines is taking a risk with this move, says the BBC's Kate McGeown in Manila. It knows China will not like it and it is increasingly dependent on China economically.

But it also wants to safeguard its claim to what could be lucrative oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea, our correspondent says.

The row between Manila and Beijing has been rumbling since April 2012, when government vessels from both nations faced off for several weeks at the Scarborough Shoal.

Since then both the Philippines and Vietnam - which is in dispute with China over the Paracel islands - have sought to raise the issue through the Asean regional bloc, but claim Chinese pressure has forced the topic off the agenda.

China has in the past preferred to handle disputes on a bilateral level, rather than through regional groupings or international organisations.

China's claim includes almost the entire South China Sea, well into what UNCLOS recognises as the 200-mile-from-shore Exclusive Economic Zones of other claimants.

As well as the Philippines and Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims.
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H16 BRM
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I looked at the maps and how China can claim those islands seems very imperialistic to me. Being British I know a lot about being an imperialistic power.

<dunce>
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everythingoes
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Aren't China also at loggerheads with Japan over similar issues? I read a report where China has closed doors to negotiations and has placed an implicit threat of war over it.

I will try and find a link to the story last week. I think it was in the International Herald Tribune :s
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Red Andy
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There are lots of territorial disputes in that part of the world. The nearby Spratly Islands are disputed between China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. Naturally all of this has to do with various historical and cultural links, and nothing at all to do with the fishing and possible petroleum resources. <whistle>
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