souce: www.gmanetwork.com
A
visiting US congressional delegation expressed support on Tuesday to the
Philippine government’s decision to take long standing territorial disputes with
China before a United Nations arbitration body.
Foreign
Affairs Assistant Secretary Carlos Sorreta said the five-man US delegation led
by Congressman Edward Royce (Republican, California), chairman of the House
committee on Foreign Affairs, “expressed their full support” to Manila’s
efforts “to resolve the situation in a peaceful manner and in accordance to the
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
“There
were some discussion on the details of our actions and they were very
interested in the merits of our arguments. They’re very supportive of it,”
Sorreta told reporters after the group met Philippine officials led by
Secretary Albert del Rosario at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The
US lawmakers’ backing is among the first foreign expression of support to the
Philippine government’s filing last week of an arbitration case before the UN
to try to declare China’s expansive claim to the South China Sea, part of which
is known as West Philippine Sea.
China
has yet to officially declare if it would get involved in the landmark case,
Sorreta said.
From
Manila, the US delegation will proceed to Beijing and would likely discuss the
territorial disputes with Chinese officials, Sorreta said.
Other
members of the US delegation are Representatives Tom Marino (Republican,
Pennsylvania), Eliot Engel (Democratic, New York), Vern Buchanan (Republican,
Florida), and Matt Salmon (Republican, Arizona).
“They
are very, very interested in the issue. They asked us, they asked the Secretary
for details and the Secretary briefed them. They are very interested in the
peaceful resolution of this issue,” Sorreta said.
Philippine
Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia, who was present at the meeting, said Del
Rosario explained to the US lawmakers that Manila needed to go on a legal track
because the country’s efforts at diplomacy and moves to settle it through the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), “have not yielded any
results.”
Manila
has maintained that a rules-based approach is the only legitimate way in
addressing disputes through a legal framework such as the UNCLOS.
UNCLOS
is a 1982 accord by 163 countries that aims to govern the use of offshore areas
and sets territorial limits of coastal states. The Philippines and China are
both signatories to the treaty.
Alarmed
by China’s expansionist moves, which the Philippines called “unlawful” and
“invalid,” the government of President Benigno S. Aquino III took a bold step
last week when it elevated its long-standing maritime rift with Beijing before
the UN.
China
is citing historical entitlements as basis for its huge claims over the South
China Sea.
The
South China Sea is dotted with islands, shoals, cays, reefs and rock formations
and is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas. It is claimed in part or in
whole by China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
The
resource-rich waters is an international waterway where more than 50 percent of
the world's merchant fleet tonnage pass each year.
Many
have feared the conflicts could be Asia's next flashpoint. —KG, GMA News
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