THE bombing of a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship by the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) at a resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) has drawn criticism in Congress.
They have summoned officials from the Chinese Embassy to explain.
“What if we already exhausted all efforts? More than 200 diplomatic protests since the time of Pnoy [Former Pres. Aquino], dozens of note verbals, several instances of back channeling? Even Trillanes got involved. The latest was during the time of former President Duterte,” Rep. Erwin Tulfo said.
“This all stems from the unresolved status of the Spratly’s after World War II,” Sass Rogando Sassot, Foreign Relations Expert, said.
However, according to Foreign Relations Expert Sass Rogando Sassot, there is a deep history behind China’s claim to the disputed territory.
Based on a 1994 study by the University of Maine School of Law, France was the first contender to the Spratlys back in the 1800s.
This continued until the 1887 Delimitation of the Frontier.
One of the earliest treaties used by a nation to assert a claim over the Spratlys is the Convention respecting the Delimitation of the Frontier between China and Tonkin (Vietnam), signed by China and France in 1887).
However, in 1939, Japan occupied the Spratlys during World War II and renamed them the “Shinnan Gunto” archipelago.
In 1945, Japan left the area at the end of the war.
“And of course, Japan because they were the strongest nation during that time to stand against Western colonizers,” Sass Rogando Sasot added.
In 1956, a Filipino lawyer and businessman named Tomas Cloma claimed some islands in the Spratlys.
This marked the birth of the Kalayaan Islands.
According to Murphy’s book, the Philippines based its original claim to the Spratlys on this.
In the end, the settlers thought better of living on these remote islands, and the settlements disappeared.
Nevertheless, the Philippines bases its claim to these islands on the original Cloma claim.
In 1978, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. formally declared eight islands in the Spratlys, known as the Kalayaan Group of Islands, under Presidential Decree (PD) 1596.
The Philippines eventually occupied eight islands in the Spratlys, all but one of which was within the Kalayaan Group.
In 1988, China began exercising power in the Spratlys.
Vietnam also made claims during the same time, involving the Paracel Islands.
Several nations claimed parts of the disputed territory as part of their archipelagos.
According to Sasot, the Philippines faced challenges in its 2016 arbitration case against China over the WPS issue.
“The Philippines claims that what they listed as part of the Kalayaan Island Group would be dissolved by the case. It’s gonna be dissolved. It would reveal the true essence of the dispute, which is a territorial dispute and it’s not under the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court. So what they did is that they actually discarded PD 1596 and seemingly argued that United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) actually kind of preceded PD 1596 of Marcos,” according to Sasot.
“So now, what we are fighting for is sovereign rights over the shoal. Vietnam and China are fighting for sovereignty over the shoal because it is part of the archipelago they are claiming. So I hope people realize the difference between the two. And which one has the higher claim? It’s going to be Vietnam and China because they don’t care whether the Ayungin Shoal is a low tide elevation,’’ she added.
Regarding the water cannon incident, Sasot said that China and other countries also employ such tactics.
She said it was better that China used water rather than actual bullets and bombs to assert its claims in the disputed territory.
She also called on the PCG and those who want to challenge China, including the United States, to equip their coast guards with water cannons as well.
Practical response to Ayungin water cannon incident suggested
“Do you want to counter water with water, US military might? Oh, you’ll get shot. It’s like using a hammer to kill a fly. So that is not a proportional response. I’m not saying that the Philippines should accept this strategy. Well, if you want to fight, then equip our coast guards with water cannons as well. Let them engage in water cannon battles like the Japanese Coast Guards and the Coast Guards of Taiwan do,” Sasot said.