President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday told a regional summit hosted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping that the Philippines “abhors” a recent altercation with Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea and said the rule of law was the only way out of problems.
The Chinese coast guard on Nov. 16 blocked and used water cannon on Philippine boats bringing food supplies to Filipino soldiers stationed at Ayungin Shoal, part of the Kalayaan Island Group located 194 kilometers west of Palawan province.
“We abhor the recent event in the Ayungin Shoal… This does not speak well of the relations between our nations and our partnership,” the President said at the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-China special summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of their dialogue relations. It was co-hosted by Xi and Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the current Asean chair.
Duterte said the South China Sea issue was “a strategic challenge that cannot be solved by force” and called on stakeholders to “exercise utmost self-restraint, avoid the escalation of tensions and work toward the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law.”
The president said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), as well as the 2016 arbitral award on the South China Sea, should be used as the legal tools to resolve the conflicting and overlapping maritime claims in the region.
These “provide [the] legal clarity … pointing us to a just and fair solution to our disputes. We must fully utilize these legal tools to ensure that the South China Sea remains a sea of peace, stability and prosperity,” Duterte said.
The arbitral award stated, among other things, that the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal was within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone. China has rejected the award. (© Philippine Daily Inquirer News)
