MANILA:
The Philippine foreign secretary called
on other nations to take a stand on China's new aggressiveness in a simmering
territorial dispute over a shoal in the South China Sea.
Albert
del Rosario on Sunday warned in a statement that other nations would be
affected by China's claim over the mineral-rich area if they did not speak up
now, like the Philippines is doing.
"Since
the freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce in the (South China Sea) are
of great import to many nations, all should consider what China is endeavouring
to do in the Scarborough Shoal," del Rosario said.
"All,
not just the Philippines will be ultimately negatively affected if we do not
take a stand," he said in an SMS message sent to reporters.
He
added that China's efforts to claim the entire South China Sea as its territory
was "clearly baseless."
The
statement came amid increased tensions after China deployed ships near the
Scarborough Shoal, an outcropping in the South China Sea just about 230
kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines' main island of Luzon.
The
nearest Chinese land mass from Scarborough Shoal is Hainan province, 1,200
kilometres, (750 miles) to the northwest, according to Philippine naval maps
given to the media.
China
claims all of the South China Sea as its own on historical grounds, even waters
approaching the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.
The
rival claims have been a source of regional tensions for decades, and the
Philippines as well as Vietnam have accused China over the past year of
becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting its position.
The
latest flare-up occurred on April 8 when the Philippines found the eight
Chinese fishing boats at Scarborough Shoal, and sent its warship to arrest the
crew.
China
quickly deployed three civilian maritime vessels that took turns in blocking
the warship.
In a
bid to calm the situation, the Philippines pulled back its warship and replaced
it with a coast guard vessel and the fishing vessels later sailed away.
However
China has refused to withdraw its ships unless the Philippine coast guard
vessel retreats first. Two Chinese fisheries ships are now in a standoff with a
lone Philippine coast guard vessel at the shoal.
The
Philippines has been actively urging its fellow members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations to take a firmer stance on China's claim over the South
China Sea.
-
AFP/cc
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
Dear
Reader,
May I
invite you to visit our new blog: IIMS-Asean http://iims-asean.blogspot.com/
News
and activities of the International Institute of Medicine and Science Asean
Chapter of IIMS, Inc. California, USA - Health care, Life Science, Education,
Research, Philanthropy. Asean is the economic organisation of ten countries
located in South East Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. IIMS is a
non-profit organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment