ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – China rejected the Philippines’ move to seek UN approval to expand its continental shelf in the South China Sea and secure “exclusive” rights to exploit undersea resources, state media reported on Monday.
“The Philippines unilaterally filed a case regarding the delimitation of the outer continental shelf in the South China Sea, which violates China’s sovereignty and jurisdictional rights,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Spokesperson Lin Jian, according to the Global Times.
“This action violates international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and is contrary to the relevant provisions of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” he added.
Several Filipino diplomats at the UN submitted information to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on Friday to “register the country’s rights to the extended continental shelf, or ECS, in the West Palawan Region” of the sea, according to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.
However, under the commission’s Rules of Procedure, if a case filed by the Philippines involves disputed territory, the commission may not consider or recognize it, Lin said.
Relations between Manila and Beijing have soured over long-standing disputes over territory in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims vast maritime territory there based on a “nine-dash line” stretching hundreds of miles south and east of the southernmost province of Hainan, which the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration said in 2016 has no legal basis under international law .
However, China rejected the ruling and has been negotiating with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 2002 to establish a code of conduct in the disputed sea. (ATN)
Follow Us at Google News and WA Channel