China is a member of the United Nations. That is a fact. To attain a peaceful world order, every member nation must respect and follow the decision of the collegial body. That is the ideal situation.
It is confusing and frustrating that China has continued its claim over almost the entirety of the South China Sea. This despite the July 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, which ruled that China’s claim in the South China Sea, including its land reclamation activities, is unlawful and does not adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), which was signed in 1982.
China recently warned the Philippines against “interfering” with its patrols at Panatag Shoal, which is known as Huangyan Dao in Mandarin, Scarborough Shoal in English and Bajo de Masinloc in Spanish.
Beijing has asserted again that the shoal and its waters are part of Chinese territory.
Last March 2, a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel came dangerously close to one of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) patrol ships near the shoal in a “close distance maneuvering” incident that heightened the risk of collision, according to the PCG.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has said the shoal is part of China’s “inherent territory.”
Malacañang replied that the Philippines has “full sovereignty” over one of the many disputed maritime features in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine News Agency reported.
The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest over the recent incident with a CCG vessel. The protest is the latest of more than 200 diplomatic protests that the Philippines has filed against the East Asian country.
China and the Philippines are among the more than 160 signatories of the 1982 Unclos, which is regarded as the constitution that governs and stipulates the rights of countries in using the world’s oceans, according to The Associated Press.
As one of the signatories, China should have followed the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Peace would continue to be fragile as glass if there are nations, especially those that have superior military power, that defy international laws and disrespect UN bodies’ decisions.