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Chinese structures and an airstrip on the Subi artificial reef in the Spratly Archipelago in the South China Sea are seen from a Philippine Air Force C-130 transport plane on Friday. —AP
MANILA, Philippines – Citing the Philippine victory in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the United Kingdom, France and Germany rejected China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea.
In a joint note verbale presented to the United Nations in New York on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), the three European nations said that China’s “historic” claims in the South China Sea do not comply with international law and regulations. of the United Nations Convention. on the Law of the Sea (CONVEMAR).
https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/mys_12_12_2019/2020_09_16_GBR_NV_UN_001.pdf
“France, Germany and the United Kingdom also highlight that the claims regarding the exercise of ‘historical rights’ over the waters of the South China Sea do not comply with international law and the provisions of UNCLOS and recall that the arbitration award in the case of the Philippines v. China dating from July 12, 2016 clearly confirms this point, ”it reads.
Furthermore, they said that all maritime claims in highly controversial waters “must be made and resolved peacefully in accordance with the principles and rules of UNCLOS and the means and procedures for the resolution of disputes provided for in the Convention.”
“This position is reaffirmed without prejudice to the competing claims of coastal states on disputed territorial sovereignty over naturally formed land features and continental shelf areas in the South China Sea over which France, Germany and the UK take no position “, his verbal reading note.
The United Kingdom, France and Germany are States parties to UNCLOS.
China has long been pushing for its extensive claims in the South China Sea.
It refuses to acknowledge the 2016 CPA ruling that invalidates Beijing’s claims over the entire South China Sea and upholds the Philippines’ rights to its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone under UNCLOS.
China’s recovery and militarization activities in the heavily contested area have also raised concerns about peace and stability in the area.
On the fourth anniversary of the ruling, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. called the historic PCA ruling “non-negotiable.”
In response, the Chinese Embassy in Manila claimed that the arbitration award was illegal and invalid.
“The South China Sea arbitration and the so-called award are illegal and invalid,” the Beijing embassy said in July.
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