MANILA – China has granted its border patrol police the right to board and expel foreign ships entering disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), state media reported on Thursday.
The move comes after Beijing issued new passports containing a map showing its claim to almost all of the West Philippine Sea, infuriating its neighbors. Vietnam and the Philippines are refusing to stamp the documents.
The southern Chinese province of Hainan passed new regulations this week allowing local police “to board, seize and expel foreign ships illegally entering the province’s sea areas,” the state-run Global Times reported.
Activities defined as illegal by the new regulation include “illegally halting or dropping anchor . . . and carrying out publicity campaigns that endanger China’s national security”, the official
Xinhua news agency said.
Hainan province administers about two million square kilometers (800,000sq miles) of ocean waters including the Kalayaan (Spratly) islands, which are also claimed in whole or in part by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
The West Philippine Sea includes some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in fossil fuels.
The Global Times quoted Li Zhaojie, a professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, as saying that the regulation could lead to stricter enforcement of Beijing’s right to expel ships entering its territory illegally.
Li said that these rights were granted by a UN convention.
“In the past, when foreign ships broke the UN convention, the best thing our patrol could do was chase them out of China’s waters. The new regulation will change that and give the patrol force the legal means to actually do its job.”
China has been accused of ramping up tensions in the area in the recent past, with the Philippines and Vietnam raising the alarm over Beijing’s assertiveness.
It discourages multilateral talks on the issue and has refused to start negotiations on a code of conduct for the region, although US President Barack Obama discussed it with Southeast Asian leaders at a summit this month.
Pullout ships
A day after it announced that it will not stamp the new Chinese passport, the Philippines again asked China to withdraw three ships from the disputed Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said that while the Philippines withdrew its own ships from the shoal on June 4, as agreed by both countries, China’s three government ships remained in the area.
“They have three ships in the vicinity right now. They have never really left. We are continuing to ask them to honor our sovereignty and we are asking them to pull out their ships as agreed upon,” he said.
Government vessels from the Philippines and China began facing off over the shoal in April as both countries pressed their conflicting claims over the islets.
Del Rosario told ABS-CBN television that in an effort to ease tensions, both countries agreed on June 4 to pull out their ships. But while the Philippines kept its commitment, China did not, he said.
He said that in June, a Chinese embassy official initially said that the weather was too rough for their ships to move but did not say when they would leave.
Chinese embassy spokesmen could not be contacted for comment.
China and the Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, have overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea, which includes major shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in mineral and oil resources.
The Philippines has become increasingly vocal in opposing China’s claims, raising the issue in international meetings despite Chinese efforts to play down the matter.
Del Rosario said that China did not want to “internationalize” the issue by having the Philippines discuss it with other claimants, other countries or even with the press.
“Obviously that is not our position. Our diplomatic tools are very limited and internationalization must remain a viable tool for us,” he said.
Counterproductive
Indonesia’s foreign minister said on Thursday that new Chinese passports featuring a map laying claim to disputed islands were “counterproductive.”
Although it is not a claimant itself, Indonesia has mediated in the dispute between China and several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), using its position as the bloc’s biggest economy as leverage.
It is also a major supplier of commodities to China, which is increasingly exploring mines and constructing smelters in Indonesia to fuel its economy.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who has hopped between claimant nations this year over the issue, warned that the passports would worsen the already tense dispute and said that Jakarta would convey its position to Beijing.
“These actions are counterproductive and will not help settle the disputes,” he said in an interview with the Jakarta Post daily.
“We perceive the Chinese move as disingenuous, like testing the water, to see its neighbors’ reactions,” he said.
He said that Asean should concentrate on finalizing a code of conduct as a first step to alleviate tensions over the issue.
“I hope that we, Asean and China can focus on dialogue,” he said.
Beijing has infuriated its southern neighbors with its increasingly vocal claim to vast swathes of the West Philippine Sea, with Chinese maps showing a dotted line that runs almost to the Philippine and Malaysian coasts.
India has started stamping its own map onto visas for Chinese visitors as the passports also show the disputed border areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as Chinese territory.
Beijing has attempted to downplay the diplomatic fallout from the recently introduced passports, with the foreign ministry arguing the maps were “not made to target any specific country.”
Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/headlines-mt/36380-chinese-police-to-seize-foreign-ships-in-spratlys
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