NATIONAL Security Adviser Eduardo Año yesterday said China’s declaration to establish a national nature reserve at Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea may lead to Chinese occupation of the contested shoal, about 124 nautical miles from mainland Zambales.
“It is a clear pretext towards eventual occupation,” said Año, who is also the chairman of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines is “strongly” protesting China’s plan and “will be issuing a formal diplomatic protest against this illegitimate and unlawful action by China as it clearly infringes upon the rights and interests of the Philippines in accordance with international law.”
China gained control of the shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal, in 2012 after a standoff with Philippine government vessels. The Chinese have since prevented Filipinos from fishing inside the shoal’s lagoon.
The State Council of China on Wednesday announced that Beijing will establish the “Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve,” using the name it uses for Scarborough Shoal. The council said the move “is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island.”
Año said, “This move by the PRC (People’s Republic of China) is less about protecting the environment and more about justifying its control over a maritime feature that is part of the territory of the Philippines, and its waters lie within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.”
Año called China’s declaration “patently illegal,” noting it violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the “final and binding” 2016 Arbitral Award, and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
Año said there was a clear “irony” in China’s declaration, citing evidence of “large-scale harvesting of endangered species and reef destruction” by Chinese fishermen since 2016.
“To now claim stewardship over an ecosystem that they themselves has damaged is both contradictory and misleading,” said Año.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, including the parts claimed by Manila as the West Philippine Sea, as well as those of Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
In 2016, the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected China’s sweeping claim in the disputed water under its so-called nine dash line, saying it has no legal or historical basis but Beijing refused to abide by the arbitral ruling.
Meanwhile, the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between Philippines and Japan entered into force yesterday, more than a year after it was signed by both sides.
The agreement provides the legal framework for the conduct of military exercises between Filipino and Japanese forces, and will effectively enhance the country’s deterrence capability, said the Department of National Defense.
The RAA was signed by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko in July last year.
