By Ding Duo
Following the recent announcement by the Philippines regarding the delineation of so-called "territorial sea baselines" around China's Huangyan Dao, Manila, along with certain Western countries and media outlets, has noticeably stepped up its clamor over Huangyan Dao and the broader South China Sea issue. The Philippines' move to delineate "territorial sea baselines" and submit "nautical charts" constitutes a "new variant" of its illegal territorial claims over China's Huangyan Dao, with its intentions laid bare and its tactics clumsy.
Manila is evidently orchestrating this maneuver as part of its hype surrounding the so-called "South China Sea Arbitration Award", putting on a show on the international stage on the tenth anniversary of the "award" in an attempt to capitalize on the lingering attention generated by a recent joint statement on the "award" issued by certain countries. However, illegal acts cannot generate legal rights, and the Philippines' words and actions will in no way undermine China's lawful rights in the South China Sea. Moreover, past experience shows that the more the Philippines engages in infringements and provocations in the South China Sea, the stronger and more robust China's countermeasures to safeguard its rights will become, leaving the Philippines with ever less room for such infringements and provocations.
Prior to the 1990s, the Philippines had never asserted any territorial claim over Huangyan Dao. In 1990, then Philippine Ambassador to Germany Bienvenido Tan Jr. explicitly stated in a letter to a German amateur radio enthusiast that, "According to the Philippine National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, Scarborough Reef or Huangyan Dao does not fall within the territorial sovereignty of the Philippines." However, around 1997, the Philippine government abruptly changed its position and laid claim to sovereignty over Huangyan Dao, seeking to create so-called "legal grounds" by issuing official documents and amending domestic laws.
Most egregiously, in November 1999, an old Philippine Navy warship deliberately ran aground on the northern side of the entrance to Huangyan Dao's lagoon, claiming that its engine room was flooded, in an attempt to repeat the rogue tactic it had used at Ren'ai Jiao in May of the same year, where it deliberately grounded a vessel and illegally kept it there. This time, however, under strong pressure from the Chinese side, the Philippines eventually towed the vessel away.
The Philippine's claims over Huangyan Dao are illegal, and its delineation of "territorial sea baselines" is likewise illegal, null and void. First, with regard to sovereignty over Huangyan Dao, the Philippines has successively advanced arguments based on geographical proximity and Huangyan Dao's location within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). However, so-called "geographical proximity" neither constitutes a basis for one state to encroach upon the territory of another nor is it a rule of international law governing the acquisition of territory.
Second, the "Arbitral Tribunal in the South China Sea Arbitration" exercised jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of the law; the so-called "award" is illegal, null and void.
Third, the Philippines' so-called "Maritime Zones Act" places China's Huangyan Dao and certain islands, reefs, shoals, and sandbanks of the Nansha Qundao under its jurisdiction and cites the illegal "award" as one of the bases for its maritime claims. This seriously infringes upon China's territorial sovereignty and violates international law, including the Charter of the United Nations. From a legal standpoint, a state's domestic legislation cannot alter the principles and rules of international law; nor may a state invoke its domestic laws to justify its failure to fulfill its international obligations or use provisions of domestic law as grounds for evading its international responsibility.
As evidenced by China's official statements and the Chinese PLA's joint sea and air exercises around Huangyan Dao, China has an unwavering will and determination to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and national security, maintain regional peace and stability, and uphold the international order based on international law. Any infringement or provocation by the Philippines will inevitably be met with more resolute and targeted countermeasures from China, while the Philippines' illusory claims to Chinese territory will inevitably be squeezed further until they collapse completely.
(The author is director and research fellow at the Research Center for International and Regional Issues, National Institute for South China Sea Studies)
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.