BARBIE dolls are a staple in my toy box when I was a kid. I loved them because of their stylish outfits and beautiful hair. I loved everything about Barbie! I even danced to “Barbie Girl” by Aqua during my parents’ anniversary.
Now there is a new “Barbie” movie set to be released in theatres. Yet, it is in “hot water” over the nine-dash line issue. One of the countries that banned the movie is Vietnam. The movie contains an offending image of the nine-dash line.
The nine-dash line is China’s demarcation to claim virtually the entire South China Sea. China alleged that this is based on its historical rights.
The issue is not only limited to Vietnam but has especially been the case since Malaysia and our country, the Philippines, have begun to advance their respective claims to parts of the South China Sea, which overlap the nine-dash line.
To give light on this matter, I would like to share the reasons why the Philippines challenged the legality of China’s nine-dash line claim under the law of the sea.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a coastal state has the exclusive right to fish within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), an area 200 nautical miles from the coastal state’s baseline or edges.
As mentioned above, China says that the South China Sea has belonged to it for centuries. This is not true. It cannot exercise its historical rights over the waters, seabed, and subsoil beyond the limits of its entitlements under UNCLOS. The convention gives each coastal state an EEZ. It extinguished all historical rights of other states. Thus, the contention of China has no bearing on this dispute.
Under the convention, habitable islands can generate a 200-nautical-mile EEZ which cannot be applied to rocks. China relied on “rocks” to assert its claims in South China. It should rely on islands because it’s the one that generates entitlement to an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. China’s recent massive reclamation activities cannot lawfully change the original nature and character of an island.
The Philippines exercises its sovereign rights and jurisdiction, especially in the West Philippine Sea. China breached the convention because it interfered with the fishing activities of Filipino farmers.
Sadly, China is damaging the environment because it has built artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea. It has reclamation activities that greatly impact our economy.
While the Philippines won the legal argument that the nine-dash line has no basis in international law or the law of the sea, China refuses to respect the outcome of that case and continues to assert its South China Sea entitlements.
This is one of the reasons that the Senate urged the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to ban the movie “Barbie” where one scene showed an illustration of the supposed “nine-dash line’ of China in the South China Sea. However, MTRCB believes there is no basis to ban the movie.
Whatever it is, we always hope that we uphold the best interest of the Filipino people./PN
