THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday rejected China’s recent move of establishing two districts under the administrative jurisdiction of its self-declared “Sansha City” at the Kalayaan Island Group, a Philippine territory in the South China Sea.
The DFA said the creation of the Nansha and Xisha districts under Sansha City, which was announced by China on April 18, is a “violation of the country’s territorial sovereignty.”
“The Philippine government strongly protests the establishment of the so-called districts of ‘Nansha’ and ‘Xisha’ under the supposed administrative jurisdiction of its self-declared ‘Sansha City’ announced on 18 April 2020, by the People’s Republic of China,” the DFA said in a statement.
In the strongly worded statement, the DFA said the Philippines has protested since 2012 the establishment of Sansha City and the extent of its administrative jurisdiction, which it pointed out encompasses Philippine territory and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea.
It added that Manila does not recognize “Sansha” or its constituent units.
“The establishment and supposed extent of jurisdiction of ‘Sansha City’ of which the two new districts are part, violate Philippine territorial sovereignty over the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, and infringes on Philippine’ sovereign rights over the waters and continental shelf of the West Philippine Sea,” the DFA
said.
The West Philippine Sea covers areas claimed by the Philippines in the South China Sea. China claims the entire South China Sea. The Philippines claims it partly, like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
In 2013, the Philippines filed a case before the Permanent Arbitration Court in the Netherlands challenging China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
In 2016, the arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of Manila but Beijing refused to
honor the landmark decision and has even fortified some of the artificial islands it has constructed in the West Philippine Sea.
The DFA said: “The unanimous award issued by the Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the arbitration instituted by the Philippines has comprehensively addressed China’s excessive claims and illegal actions in the South China Sea.”
The DFA also protested the “illegal designation of Kagitingan Reef within the Kalayaan Island Group as administrative center for the so-called Nansha district.”
“Kagitingan Reef is within the Kalayaan Island Group and is thus an integral part of Philippine territory,” it added.
Likewise, the DFA called on China to adhere to international laws, including the UNCLOS as well as the Declaration of Parties in the South China Sea, under which parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate dispute and affect peace and stability in the area.
Last week, the DFA lodged two diplomatic protests over the pointing of a radar gun at a Philippine Navy ship by a Chinese navy warship and China’s move declaring parts of Philippine territory as part of Hainan province.
