VIENTIANE: The Philippines on Monday pushed its call for an international solution
to overlapping claims in the South China Sea at an Asia-Europe summit, saying
vital global shipping lanes were at stake.
Philippine President Benigno
Aquino raised the issue in bilateral meetings with leaders of the European
Union as well as with Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf and Norwegian
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Laos.
"We noted the increasing
importance of maritime security" in what Manila calls the West Philippine
Sea, said Aquino's chief spokesman Herminio Coloma.
"There was agreement that it
was a matter of international interest considering that a significant amount of
world trade passes through that body of water," he told reporters in the
Laotian capital Vientiane.
"Switzerland and the EU and
to some extent Norway indicated their firm support to the Philippines in terms
of our position that conflicts and disputes in that area are to be resolved
peacefully and following international law."
Coloma said Aquino is also likely
to raise the issue at a plenary session of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) later
Monday and in bilateral discussions with the leaders of Japan and Italy.
More than 50 Asian and European
leaders or their representatives are attending the ASEM summit, held every two
years.
Any instability in the South
China Sea, home to global commercial shipping lanes, will affect Europe because
it would lead to higher insurance premiums for their ships, Coloma added.
China claims nearly all of the
South China Sea, even waters near the coasts of neighbouring countries. The
Philippines and Vietnam have accused Beijing of becoming increasingly
aggressive in staking out its claims.
The Philippines has since April
been engaged in a stand-off with China over a disputed shoal. Vietnam, Taiwan,
Malaysia and Brunei also have claims to parts of the sea.
Aquino has insisted in the past
that solving the dispute needed a multilateral approach, but China has insisted
on solving the problem bilaterally with individual countries involved.
- AFP/de
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